Taking One Lap of the Country in my Taycan Turbo - 10k miles in 6 weeks Cross-Country Journal

[JayGT4]

Attention San Francisco Bay Area Taycan Forum members.

Don is coming into the area and I am organizing the lunch on February 12 in the San Jose general area.

If you’d like to attend, please direct message me through the Forum’s “email” function. I need a number by Monday evening please.

How did the first unofficial Taycan Forum meet go?! How many got together?

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[ron_b]

How did the first unofficial Taycan Forum meet go?! How many got together?

There were 4 of us from the forum plus Don. Thanks to the very welcoming sponsorship from Porsche Stevens Creek.
We had @BayAreaKen @Reg @artdept and myself. Lucky to also have the West Coast Taycan trainer available as well. Pictures coming soon.

 

[louv]

At least you smoked your friend!!! On his Ducati, no less! Well done.

I smoked him because he didn’t roll on any throttle.

 

[louv]

Hi Lou, I am curious if you would see a change in range in these CA temps versus your Canada winter adventure?

Yes. Because I don’t have to bake the battery up from -10 to 75°F !

 

[louv]

A few art pictures from this morning’s drive up highway 1.

 

[BayAreaKen]

Today at noon, four TaycanForum members (myself, Ron_b, Reg, and ArtDept) met up with Don (louv) at Porsche Stevens Creek in Santa Clara, CA. We stood around his car for a few minutes until it was whisked away to be detailed and for data to be uploaded to the mother ship (science!). After preliminary introductions and generally geeking out about all things Taycan (and a group photo), we went inside the showroom and stood around talking. We were fortunate to be joined, not only by PSC General Manager Brook Margraves, but also the West Coast (or the "west area") Taycan trainer, Paul Steinbruner.

When it came time to sit down for lunch, (lunch was in the showroom...oh the horror of eating around all the beautiful cars!) we took turns asking questions of the Porsche personnel and Don had a chance to relay some of his stories. I found it most interesting to learn how he, by himself, is navigating this long journey. I also appreciated Paul's perspective of this new car in the Porsche lineup. I know we've been following the car since the Mission-E, but there simply isn't that many of these things on the road presently. I learned that by the end of 2020, they hope to have about 9,000+ in the United States. One thing is clear: being an early adopter means we all will be learning as we go...and we will all be helping Porsche make this a better car.

After lunch, we went back outside where Don's car was waiting for him, all clean and shiny. It was a beautiful day, about 73 degrees outside. We took a few more photos and went our separate ways. I had a chance to talk to Don individually and can attest that his sense of humor which is evident in his posts is as clever in real-time as it is on the internet. And that he's a genuinely down-to-earth, quality guy. I hope our paths cross again some day.

A huge shout out to Brook at PSC for lunch and for making this happen. Oh, and the gifts! We were all handed a bag of Porsche goodies (pic below) courtesy of (according to Brook) "Porsche" but I will give him full credit. And ArtDept even made us some custom shirts!

All in all, a wonderful couple of hours with Taycan enthusiasts who are patiently waiting for our vehicles to arrive. Incidentally, of the five of us TaycanForum members, precisely zero have owned a Porsche before. This is quite the coup for them, to attract so many new customers. Don and I actually had a conversation about his "Porsche experience" thus far, and he claims (and I believe him wholeheartedly) it is in a league far above any auto experience he's had before. That is, the buying experience and all of the first class people he's met along the way. He feels Porsche people are trained better for the level of service they provide. I know this car is expensive, but if the experience is qualitatively better than other high-end manufacturers, then I'm even more excited than I was before. I manage other people's investments and money for a living, and I find that the best use of money over the course of a lifetime is that it buys access to wonderful experiences. If my car can bring me joy, even when it's in the shop (because the Porsche personnel are world class), then I'm on board. August can't come soon enough for my 4S to arrive!!

Thank you Paul and Brook and Porsche for a wonderfully exciting afternoon!

 

[BayAreaKen]

In the pics above (in list order...sadly, not chronological)
(1) Ron-b, me, Reg, Louv, ArtDept, and the Porsche Stevens Creek test Taycan
(2) the Porsche schwag + ArtDept's black on black Taycan shirt (thank you!)
(3) Don on his Panther
(4) Don's navigator and co-pilot (R2D2)
(5) Don's TeslaTap (50amp)
(6) The two gentlemen in the upper right are Paul (sportcoat) and Brook (white shirt) and Don's car
(7) The room where it happened

 

[saronian]

by the end of 2020, they hope to have about 9,000+ in the United States

Good stat, can't wait to start seeing Taycan's of all styles & colors. Maybe at "Drive Electric Earth Day 2020"

 

[Reg]

Today at noon, four TaycanForum members (myself, Ron_b, Reg, and ArtDept) met up with Don (louv) at Porsche Stevens Creek in Santa Clara, CA.

Summary: Generosity and enthusiasm

It was really generous for Porsche to spend their time, host us and provide us those goody bags. It was really generous that Don spent time on his adventure with a bunch of strangers from the internet (my mom always warned me about that), especially since he has family in the area. It was also really generous for ArtDept to make shirts for all of us - what a combo! How cool is that?

The enthusiasm from us was obvious and expected, but what was really nice is how enthusiastic the Porsche folks were. They had a lot of questions, made sure our questions were answered and were really genuine in their excitement about the Taycan. They mentioned that the thing about the Taycan is that it is a Porsche first that happens to be electric (forgive the paraphrasing). Judging from all the reviews coming out, they clearly accomplished that and they are excited about that achievement.

I find that the best use of money over the course of a lifetime is that it buys access to wonderful experiences.

Well stated. As empty nesters, we have been in the process of decluttering, and not just the kids stuff, but also things we have collected over the years that we don't think our kids would value or appreciate if they eventually inherit it (like who wants a 14th century bagpipe collection anymore?). Buying the Taycan is not about buying a thing, it is about buying the experiences that it will bring. Don made an excellent point to me that he hopes his adventure motivates others to take their own adventures - he certainly accomplished that and I look forward to my first road trip!

Thanks to everyone who made this happen and made it such a fun time.

 

[martinihoudini]

Nice report Ken!

Don, Love the Andre the Giant sticker under the hood! Long time posse member here!

 

[felixtb]

great write up. Thanks for making this a whole community trip in both VR and live.

 

[louv]

Today at noon, four TaycanForum members (myself, Ron_b, Reg, and ArtDept) met up with Don (louv) at Porsche Stevens Creek in Santa Clara, CA. We stood around his car for a few minutes until it was whisked away to be detailed and for data to be uploaded to the mother ship (science!). After preliminary introductions and generally geeking out about all things Taycan (and a group photo), we went inside the showroom and stood around talking. We were fortunate to be joined, not only by PSC General Manager Brook Margraves, but also the West Coast (or the "west area") Taycan trainer, Paul Steinbruner.

When it came time to sit down for lunch, (lunch was in the showroom...oh the horror of eating around all the beautiful cars!) we took turns asking questions of the Porsche personnel and Don had a chance to relay some of his stories. I found it most interesting to learn how he, by himself, is navigating this long journey. I also appreciated Paul's perspective of this new car in the Porsche lineup. I know we've been following the car since the Mission-E, but there simply isn't that many of these things on the road presently. I learned that by the end of 2020, they hope to have about 9,000+ in the United States. One thing is clear: being an early adopter means we all will be learning as we go...and we will all be helping Porsche make this a better car.

After lunch, we went back outside where Don's car was waiting for him, all clean and shiny. It was a beautiful day, about 73 degrees outside. We took a few more photos and went our separate ways. I had a chance to talk to Don individually and can attest that his sense of humor which is evident in his posts is as clever in real-time as it is on the internet. And that he's a genuinely down-to-earth, quality guy. I hope our paths cross again some day.

A huge shout out to Brook at PSC for lunch and for making this happen. Oh, and the gifts! We were all handed a goody-bag of Porsche goodies (pic below) courtesy of (according to Brook) "Porsche" but I will give him full credit. And ArtDept even made us some custom shirts!

All in all, a wonderful couple of hours with Taycan enthusiasts who are patiently waiting for our vehicles to arrive. Incidentally, of the five of us TaycanForum members, precisely zero have owned a Porsche before. This is quite the coup for them, to attract so many new customers. Don and I actually had a conversation about his "Porsche experience" thus far, and he claims (and I believe him wholeheartedly) it is in a league far above any auto experience he's had before. That is, the buying experience and all of the first class people he's met along the way. He feels Porsche people are trained better for the level of service they provide. I know this car is expensive, but if the experience is qualitatively better than other high-end manufacturers, then I'm even more excited than I was before. I manage other people's investments and money for a living, and I find that the best use of money over the course of a lifetime is that it buys access to wonderful experiences. If my car can bring me joy, even when it's in the shop (because the Porsche personnel are world class), then I'm on board. August can't come soon enough for my 4S to arrive!!

Thank you Paul and Brook and Porsche for a wonderfully exciting afternoon!

BayAreaKen,

I couldn’t have said it better myself! Thanks for a great write up of an excellent meetup of Taycan fans and future owners!

Brook was a wonderful host, and Paul gave us lots of answers to all sorts of questions. I even learned a trick for how to operate one of the features of my car!

Thank you to ArtDept for the shirts! Bonus! As a new customer of the brand, my wardrobe needed more Porsche shirts!

R2D2 (my navigator) and I say, THANKS!

 

[Miwa]

Looks like I should've went, to have at least one Porsche owner there.

 

[artdept]

Nice report Ken!

Don, Love the Andre the Giant sticker under the hood! Long time posse member here!

martinihoudini, if I only knew... 7.4 520 lbs #weareeverywhere

 

[Dee]

Nice to see the kind of people who buy Taycans!
I, myself, never owned a Porsche before so I didn't have any idea what a Porsche owner would look like, lol!
Just kidding, it's nice to see these are "normal" people and share their passion in cars, same for me.
I'm home.

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