Taycan 4S vs Model 3 Performance - German

Rcrewse7

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I thought this video was insightful as to the acceleration comparison of the Model 3P vs the Taycan 4S. Acceleration runs start at the 9:00 mark.

If you have a 4S and pull up to a Model 3 with red brake calipers who wants to explore the acceleration properties of their vehicle (I would NEVER street race in my en-route undelivered 4S), just know that they’ll probably take you off the line and stay ahead until you shift into second gear. Between this video, and of course the more viewed videos of the Model S Performance vs the Turbo S, it looks like the 2 gear transmission really sets the Taycan acceleration apart from the (current) EV competition at speed.

They also do a drift test and a slalom, however I think the abilities of the drivers could greatly influence how those tests turned out.

I know it’s been covered in the forum elsewhere how these cars target different markets, have different pros and cons, value propositions, etc...just thought I’d pass this along.

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SCSEV

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Certain Teslas may be faster in a straight line, but give me the car that handles superbly and looks like a Porsche on the interior. Not a fan of the Tesla’s interior, any Tesla.
 

TYKHAAAN

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Did both cars use launch mode or was it just mash the accelerators? I want to see what the 4S will do with the 3P in launch mode as most I’ve seen in video have not used it. If I get the chance, you bet I will race them!
 

daveo4EV

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Tesla’s a no doubt quick - and the Model 3 handles surprisingly well for a $45k 4 door sedan - and a set of aftermarket shocks make it handle even better…and you’ll still come in 1/2 the cost of a Taycan or even 1/3rd - if you don’t like the interior there is no fixing that....

the model 3 on track is also about equivilant to the Taycan and can run for about the same amount of stamina and consumption - the _ONLY_ place the model 3 is really slightly worse than the Taycan is acceleration at speeds above 70 mph - but I’ll argue you spend very little time in that range on the speedo - and lets keep in mind the Model 3 is no slouch and compared to most/all 45k gas cars it’s way way better - in the US if you do spend time in that speedo range it’s highly illegal and felony when they pull you over.

for all practical purposes the Model 3 is quicker, handles slightly worse but good enough, and has about the same track credibility as the Taycan - but it need some aftermarket shocks and brakes - but even with those mods it will come in way cheaper than the Porsche - and the Model 3 has a functioning fast charging network for road trips and already supports plug&charge - cause it always has worked that way - ROFL

the model 3 is also about a 1000 lbs lighter than the Taycan and I would expect similar lap times for the two cars - with non-street tires the Model 3 is running GT3 laps times @ laguna with a proper driver.

I’ve owned both, I’m keeping my Taycan - but let’s not kid ourselves the true differences in performance aren’t that great - but build quality and other attributes are and the Model 3‘s interior is a sparse design - which doesn’t appeal to everyone, but at least I can figure out how to make it charge on a schedule, and OTA updates work really really well.
 
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kreshi

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He is using the launch control/mode.

As a 4S owner of course it bothers me a little that the M3P can keep up/be quicker off the line. But doesnt the M3 need to set up the ludicrous mode, etc. which takes a good amount of fumbling over the screen? Still impressive. That is the big difference to european makers. They keep the wear on battery and motors in a "safe space" while Tesla literally tells you on screen that it will damage both when going full power.

Other than performance numbers, the outside and especially the inside of the M3 is (in my eyes) absolute poop. Most people call it the frog car with its odd shaped front and the interior is just extremely bad and boring. Things can be minimalistic and look good, they just saved on anything they could find. That steering wheel with the two little balls is just the worst looking steering wheel ive seen on any car .

Compare this to ICE cars and you can have similar results. A brand new aston martin vs. a Golf R with a 600$ tune would be very similar. These days little hatchbacks are getting very quick.

Porsche should have moved the 4S to a base 525hp and 580hp overboost. But then probably less Turbos would be sold.. Cant have everything I guess.
 


Mysta

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Tesla’s a no doubt quick - and the Model 3 handles surprisingly well for a $45k 4 door sedan - and a set of aftermarket shocks make it handle even better…and you’ll still come in 1/2 the cost of a Taycan or even 1/3rd - if you don’t like the interior there is no fixing that....

the model 3 on track is also about equivilant to the Taycan and can run for about the same amount of stamina and consumption - the _ONLY_ place the model 3 is really slightly worse than the Taycan is acceleration at speeds above 70 mph - but I’ll argue you spend very little time in that range on the speedo - and lets keep in mind the Model 3 is no slouch and compared to most/all 45k gas cars it’s way way better - in the US if you do spend time in that speedo range it’s highly illegal and felony when they pull you over.

for all practical purposes the Model 3 is quicker, handles slightly worse but good enough, and has about the same track credibility as the Taycan - but it need some aftermarket shocks and brakes - but even with those mods it will come in way cheaper than the Porsche - and the Model 3 has a functioning fast charging network for road trips and already supports plug&charge - cause it always has worked that way - ROFL

the model 3 is also about a 1000 lbs lighter than the Taycan and I would expect similar lap times for the two cars - with non-street tires the Model 3 is running GT3 laps times @ laguna with a proper driver.

I’ve owned both, I’m keeping my Taycan - but let’s not kid ourselves the true differences in performance aren’t that great - but build quality and other attributes are and the Model 3‘s interior is a sparse design - which doesn’t appeal to everyone, but at least I can figure out how to make it charge on a schedule, and OTA updates work really really well.
Yeah but there’s always a diminishing return on performance above that 60s/70s performance car, this is no different. I think the charging stuff isn’t a huge deal as i had my fair share of charging issues in my teslas. Heck, a 21 Supra beats a model 3 stock and 4 seconds off a taycan turbo s at lightning lap. Tune it and forget about it, none of these come close. Hopefully as EA matures the charging will become a non factor. Not to mention model 3 is dime a dozen, that’s always been another metric. Model 3 is great value but there’s a reason cars over 50k still sell.

Also, old model 3 performance owne are starting to report lower performance which tells me Tesla likely sacrified longevity to put a number on their site/viral marketing.
i mentioned this before the one thing i think they should do is make launch mode standard hp numbers for each one. Seems like a gimmick that can just be rolled into sport +
 
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Mysta

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Another bit of food for thought, a 2016-18 P100D S can hit 0-60 in 2.3/2.4 seconds and can be had for like 50k now, if you were driving a McLaren 720s(300k car) would you really be worried about a S P100D being able to wax you in a straight line? May sting a little but at the end of the day prestige matters. I think we'll get to a point where all new sports cars have the same acceleration and it really won't matter. Around 2s is really going to hit a mountain for cost per additional 1/10th of a second.
 

daveo4EV

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But doesnt the M3 need to set up the ludicrous mode, etc. which takes a good amount of fumbling over the screen?
yes ludicrous mode is “faster” but the Model 3 is super quick by just mashing the pedal - in fact I’m often embarassed by Model 3 and Model Y at stop light - cause I’m not in launch control - and the two cars in non-prep just mash the pedal mode - the Tesla is super quick.

for an unprepared launch I’m going to give the nod to the Tesla - keep in mind I don’t know that anyone is publishign the non-launch control numbers for the Taycan - and they are even slower when you are not in launch control...

we’re goign to have to give the Tesla’s the quicker off the line award - they are just in fact quicker for sooooo much less money.
 


Mysta

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I know it isn't the point of this post but the Rivian truck/suv may put up a fight in a test like this. quad motors is no joke, especially if they keep improving the software for road uses. being able to regen brake one side while the other side is propelling through the turn could be huge.
 

daveo4EV

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”software” differentials w/independent control of each wheel and power delivered is going to be a serious game changer - mechanical will fall even further behind…

the next few years are going to be very very interesting.
 

Mysta

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”software” differentials w/independent control of each wheel and power delivered is going to be a serious game changer - mechanical will fall even further behind…

the next few years are going to be very very interesting.
Yep, I want a Rivian but a lot of the cool stuff won't be on their early ones so I'll probably hold off and see who has 3-4 motors in a few years and enjoy the CT. That said ,Etron(not gt) has an s model in europe that has tri motor. They haven't really done a ton with it from what I understand but even that could be pretty fun.

Also Porsche is toying with it for SUVs
 
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Rcrewse7

Rcrewse7

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So another “feature” of the Taycan that I have mixed feelings about is the repeatability of the acceleration.

So I say mixed feelings because it’s fantastic that Taycans will do 0-60, quarter mile, etc with minimal variability in times regardless of the state of battery charge (at least I haven’t seen tests performed at very low states of charge). This is in great contrast to the current Model S which still sports a rear AC Induction motor which is harder to cool down than the permanent magnet motors Taycans use, and will only give a good run or two before killing off the fun quickly. To a lesser degree this applies to the Model 3 which does have permanent magnet motors and fares better than the overheating Model S. The Model 3 does however have a direct correlation between state of charge and acceleration times.

The Taycan performance battery plus voltage ranges from 835V when full, to 610V when depleted (nominal of 723V). Seeing as our cars acceleration remains constant throughout different states of charge, this must mean that Porsche is limiting the current at peak voltage, and then increasing it as the voltage sags in order to give us consistent acceleration. This appears to be in contrast to Tesla’s approach which gives you full current at 100% charge, i.e., everything the battery and motors can give, and then steps down in acceleration performance as you chew through the state of charge; There are actually detailed videos on YouTube of Tesla owners demonstrating this.

Seeing as Porsche excels at providing polished and refined products (except for some of the software and charging in the case of the Taycan) It’s not surprising to see that Porsche took this more level approach. With that said, I wouldn’t mind having the full potential our cars have to give us from 100% state of charge, even if it meant a gradual decrease as the voltage dropped.
 

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So another “feature” of the Taycan that I have mixed feelings about is the repeatability of the acceleration.

So I say mixed feelings because it’s fantastic that Taycans will do 0-60, quarter mile, etc with minimal variability in times regardless of the state of battery charge (at least I haven’t seen tests performed at very low states of charge). This is in great contrast to the current Model S which still sports a rear AC Induction motor which is harder to cool down than the permanent magnet motors Taycans use, and will only give a good run or two before killing off the fun quickly. To a lesser degree this applies to the Model 3 which does have permanent magnet motors and fares better than the overheating Model S. The Model 3 does however have a direct correlation between state of charge and acceleration times.

The Taycan performance battery plus voltage ranges from 835V when full, to 610V when depleted (nominal of 723V). Seeing as our cars acceleration remains constant throughout different states of charge, this must mean that Porsche is limiting the current at peak voltage, and then increasing it as the voltage sags in order to give us consistent acceleration. This appears to be in contrast to Tesla’s approach which gives you full current at 100% charge, i.e., everything the battery and motors can give, and then steps down in acceleration performance as you chew through the state of charge; There are actually detailed videos on YouTube of Tesla owners demonstrating this.

Seeing as Porsche excels at providing polished and refined products (except for some of the software and charging in the case of the Taycan) It’s not surprising to see that Porsche took this more level approach. With that said, I wouldn’t mind having the full potential our cars have to give us from 100% state of charge, even if it meant a gradual decrease as the voltage dropped.
Yeah i actually came to bring this up too. It’s a little sad to be at 20% and want to go spirited and feel like a totally different car.
 

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I currently have both a 2018 model 3 performance and a 2021 Taycan 4s. The model 3 maybe a little quicker 0-30 but the Taycan feels and drives 10x better. I’m keeping the model 3 to give to my daughter hoping the full self driving will be functional in 2 years but honestly the Porsche is a massively better overall driving experience.
 

Jhenson29

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The Taycan performance battery plus voltage ranges from 835V when full, to 610V when depleted (nominal of 723V). Seeing as our cars acceleration remains constant throughout different states of charge, this must mean that Porsche is limiting the current at peak voltage, and then increasing it as the voltage sags in order to give us consistent acceleration.
Does anyone know actual voltage specs for Taycan motors? 723 may not be nominal. It’s just an average. I’d be surprised to hear they’re clipping the voltage at the low end. I’d assume a lower motor rated voltage and constant current throughout to produce the consistent performance. But I don’t know anything for sure.
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