Raphie

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That all makes perfect sense, as they say “horses for courses” and it all depends on what you are looking for in a car. Esthetics, raw performance, convenience, utility, luxury? value for YOUR money.

There is no better or worse, there are absolute differences, how you value these are totally up to you. Others can merely point out what they are and what they mean to them.

This whole discussion shows what a huge variety of tastes people have, and what a big range of reasons they have for choosing a car, and options, and, to an extent, how big an influence the road conditions the buyer is familiar with have on their view of the importance of different performance aspects.

I have always noticed that there is a gulf between the expectations and requirements of customers between North America and Europe and always has been and always will be because the majority of the roads and road conditions are so very different.

So as a specialist in racing car design any comment I may have on my interest in styling, colour, options and so forth are just personal opinion. When it comes to vehicle dynamics, however, I can offer fact.

For vehicle dynamics lower weight is ALWAYS better. You can compensate for higher weight on acceleration with more power but everything else is and always will be worse.
Tyre load/grip curves are non-linear and whilst going to much bigger tyres helps, heavier gives less grip, so a heavier car will always have poorer brakes and roadholding. Always.

Yes electronic driver aids help a lot to mask shortcomings but they can't repeal the laws of physics.

Having written that, as a person who has been around a lot of race tracks as a passenger with F1 drivers, old Nurburgring with Keke Rosberg, Paul Ricard with Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill round Silverstone and Brands Hatch with Carlos Reutemann being particularly memorable, I know most people, including me, are nowhere near capable of driving their car anywhere near its cornering or braking limits so probably, for most people, flooring the throttle will be the only time they experience their car's limit. So straight line acceleration will realistically be the only thing they can experience to compare two versions.

Having written that my choice of CT 4S was basically because needing a shooting brake body for dog transport meant I was stuck with the heavy battery and AWD. I was happy with AWD though for efficient regeneration, given the Taycan is an EV. I decided the cost for power increment above the CT4 here in the UK was good value. Since I only can use full throttle around here for around one second at a time the extra for the Turbo power increment wasn't worth the much bigger price difference, to me.
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WuffvonTrips

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I guess similar arguments appear on other model-specific fora, though maybe the ability to option the base Taycan to equal or exceed many of the features of the top of the Taycan range makes it more pertinent.
I don't think the majority of the real world outside of this forum would congratulate someone for their wise purchase of an £80,000 car. I don't think the transition line between VFM and wasteful extravagance gets anywhere near the bottom of the Taycan price band.
 

Fish Fingers

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This whole discussion shows what a huge variety of tastes people have, and what a big range of reasons they have for choosing a car, and options, and, to an extent, how big an influence the road conditions the buyer is familiar with have on their view of the importance of different performance aspects.

I have always noticed that there is a gulf between the expectations and requirements of customers between North America and Europe and always has been and always will be because the majority of the roads and road conditions are so very different.

So as a specialist in racing car design any comment I may have on my interest in styling, colour, options and so forth are just personal opinion. When it comes to vehicle dynamics, however, I can offer fact.

For vehicle dynamics lower weight is ALWAYS better. You can compensate for higher weight on acceleration with more power but everything else is and always will be worse.
Tyre load/grip curves are non-linear and whilst going to much bigger tyres helps, heavier gives less grip, so a heavier car will always have poorer brakes and roadholding. Always.

Yes electronic driver aids help a lot to mask shortcomings but they can't repeal the laws of physics.

Having written that, as a person who has been around a lot of race tracks as a passenger with F1 drivers, old Nurburgring with Keke Rosberg, Paul Ricard with Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill round Silverstone and Brands Hatch with Carlos Reutemann being particularly memorable, I know most people, including me, are nowhere near capable of driving their car anywhere near its cornering or braking limits so probably, for most people, flooring the throttle will be the only time they experience their car's limit. So straight line acceleration will realistically be the only thing they can experience to compare two versions.

Having written that my choice of CT 4S was basically because needing a shooting brake body for dog transport meant I was stuck with the heavy battery and AWD. I was happy with AWD though for efficient regeneration, given the Taycan is an EV. I decided the cost for power increment above the CT4 here in the UK was good value. Since I only can use full throttle around here for around one second at a time the extra for the Turbo power increment wasn't worth the much bigger price difference, to me.
Agree 100%.

The problems on forums come when people are too fixated on their own circumstances and then start confusing their opinions as facts.

Possibly even unaware that other people's circumstances are so completely different.

This often entails diminishing/ridiculing/belittling anyone who doesn't agree with them.

Fortunately, this forum is mostly very positive and informative.
I have learned so much on here....and to be honest, I think it's necessary with a Taycan, as it's quite a complex ownership experience.
 

WuffvonTrips

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...as a person who has been around a lot of race tracks as a passenger with F1 drivers, old Nurburgring with Keke Rosberg, Paul Ricard with Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill round Silverstone and Brands Hatch with Carlos Reutemann being particularly memorable, I know most people, including me, are nowhere near capable of driving their car anywhere near its cornering or braking limits so probably, for most people, flooring the throttle will be the only time they experience their car's limit.
My first thought is total jealousy. Then I remember swiftly declining my instructor's offer of demonstrating the car's full capability at the SEC-it's not that I don't have 100% confidence in them and the car, it's that, without being focused on driving myself, my mind has too much time to imagine the imminent worst and I'm more aware of my body telling me that the world is spinning out of control😁
 

f1eng

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My first thought is total jealousy. Then I remember swiftly declining my instructor's offer of demonstrating the car's full capability at the SEC-it's not that I don't have 100% confidence in them and the car, it's that, without being focused on driving myself, my mind has too much time to imagine the imminent worst and I'm more aware of my body telling me that the world is spinning out of control😁
I started out being concerned but decided that:

1. They didn’t want to die any more than I did.

2. It was pretty well slow motion for them, compared to a formula 1 car.

I didn’t feel the need for a chauffeured lap at PEC though.

Micheal Schumacher did take one of the Cosworth mechanics out in his Bugatti EB110 and ended up scaring them both when he had total brake failure due to boiling brake fluid. It was at Circuit Paul Ricard, in 1993 iirc, and there were plenty of the old gravel traps there then.

Most powerful road cars are not capable of continuous flat out driving, Porsche are probably the exception.
 


PP7QNHV5

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For me it’s going to be my first Porsche and I made myself a limit of 120k Eur, so basically I ended up choosing a very good speced RWD or an ok AWD. I come from driving etron 55 in AWD and figured out, I am a very slow driver and comfort is more important. So I decided for the RWD, unfortunately I landed at 135k 🤷‍♂️

I almost changed to AWD because of the Bose Problem, but I am happy now I did not, delivery coming month.
 

PP7QNHV5

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….and I thought before Audi, BMW and Mercedes are crazy with their Option prices :eek:
 


Avantgarde

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We beat this topic to death, but one more very nerdy observation which may contribute to the varying experiences with RWD vs AWD. I noticed that Sport button makes a bigger difference in RWD vs other versions, and you feel larger power gap when driving both vehicles in normal mode. As I researched about this it all started to make sense and it has something to do with the transmission. (and the fact that Sport mode utilizes 1st gear a lot more). I think RWD disproportionately benefits from the first gear because of two reasons:

1- The 1.8X torque multiplication benefit of 1st gear vs 2nd gear applies to 100% of the power in the case of RWD (given entire power sits in the rear axle) vs the split of power in AWD versions between front and rear axle.
2- RWD utilizes 1st gear to higher speeds because of the much flatter torque curve. Numerous online videos show that RWD upshifts at around 80mph at flat out vs the 62 mph quoted by Porsche for Turbo S. I was always puzzled by this but i think i figured it out now: It all relates to the flat torque curve of RWD. Engineers can correct me if I am wrong but this is how the math works i think: A Turbo S has 1050nm of maximum torque that comes in at lower RPMs and starts dropping fast towards higher end. Until the torque drops below 580nm (1050nm divided by 1.8x 1st gear-2nd gear factor), the vehicle benefits from staying in first gear. This inflection point is around 9-10K RPM for a turbo S, which slightly passes this point before upshifting, hence the “second kick” drivers experience (briefly wheel torque is higher in 2nd gear vs top end of the 1st gear). Dynamic is much different in RWD. The torque does not drop below less than 1/1.8 of the maximum torque almost all the way to 15 thousand RPM. So the vehicle is materially better off staying in first gear up until max RPM similar to an ICE engine.

This makes sport chrono package (which i don't have) more relevant for RWD as you can program the individual setting to sport powertrain and everything else to comfort, and use it that way even in city/normal driving.
 
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DCYL725

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Jeeze who ever would’ve thought a guy liking a base model taycan would stir up so many emotions lol
Not surprised at all. The fact that the OP made the effort to convey quality thoughts and responses makes the thread even more worthwhile and informative.

Threads like this are what make forums great. I wouldn't expect anything less from Porsche owners to soon-to-be owners.

Thanks everyone for the spent on the responses, as opposed to just jumping straight into throwing dirt around!
 

Fish Fingers

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Two further questions from me, vaguely on topic....

For those in snowy / icy climates, how does the RWD perform in these conditions (without winter tyres) compared to the AWD / average RWD ICE car (say a 3 series) ?
Only asking as on a rare day when I might need to drive in these conditions, just wondering whether to take the Taycan or not?

I think all models use launch control for 0-60 times?
As I don't usually use LC, just wondering what the actual times are without it engaged?
 

WuffvonTrips

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For comparison, here are all the other variants timed by PDriveTV - unfortunately, the 4S is a glaring omission:
0-60kph0-100kph0-100kph60-110kph1/4 mile100kph - 0
Launch Controlno LC@ kph Vt
2022Taycan RWD3.065.285.582.89[email protected][email protected]
2022Taycan 4 Cross Turismo2.864.965.392.78[email protected][email protected]
-Taycan 4S------
2022Taycan GTS2.063.7442.09[email protected][email protected]
2021Taycan Turbo1.713.163.26-[email protected][email protected]
2022Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo1.673.213.371.97[email protected][email protected]
2020Taycan Turbo S-2.52----
 

gt3dude

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Guys, been a couple days of driving both the rwd and 4s one after another thought i would do a part 2. My RWD order is about to arrive in 2 weeks max and im having serious doubts.

I now feel like the regular Taycan is a "decent" accelerating car, and perhaps within 1-2 months I would really get bored of it. Yes i know it drives fantastic and with a gt3 in the garage i feel strongly ill be making a mistake with a RWD. I believe the 4s is the sweet spot for the Taycan. Its becoming a real challenge finding a new/used(specced right) 4s. It just pains me to pay 115k for such a slow car i think thats my biggest dilemma here.

Still trying to figure this out, dont want to make a decision ill regret.
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