Taycan RWD loud whine from drivetrain?

[Scandinavian]

Hi,

My car is in for a second service as per service schedule as 2022 clocked up a lot of kilometers.

I got a nice RWD Sedan 3with PB+ as a loaner and could compare specs to my own 2020 Turbo. The loaner is a 2023 Model. There are some extras in the spec for the loaner with air suspension, electric mirrors, heat pump, 22 kW charging options etc. But it also makes me appreciate the difference between the standard spec and Turbo spec. Standard interior and full leather and also standard seats vs Sports seats. etc etc. The RWD is a very nice car to drive and enjoyable but there are diffences And reflected in the price difference.

My main issues are the differences in the noise level, whine from the drive train. At low speeds below 40 km/h it is very loud and irritating. When driving in congestion it is not nice on ears. If this had been my first test drive in a Taycan I would not have considered buying a Taycan! That is how irritating I felt it.

Is this something owners of RWD sedan have experienced? Is this normal? The service advisor agreed with me about the noise but said it was as per spec??

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[kawazydude]

I also have the RWD and agree that the electric whine was initially a bit annoying. I also test drove a 4S several times and felt the electric whine was noticeably less at lower speeds (below 30mph). I read somewhere on this forum and this might actually be due to the dual motor versus a single motor and when it shifts from first to second. I guess with the single motor on the RWD, the car remains in first gear longer and at higher speeds (hence the louder whine), versus the 4S which goes into second gear faster at a lower speed (hence a lower whine). I just remember reading this somewhere, and it seemed to make sense based on what I was experiencing in terms of a lower electric whine on the 4S versus the RWD.

Having said all that, I'm now used to the whine and forget about it whenever I drive. I still do wish it was lower and more quiet at lower speeds (and hope Porsche could just update that via software later down the line), but it's not too annoying to me anymore because I got used to it.

 

[Scandinavian]

Thanks for your response.

My wife needs hearing aids and it was bothering her even more. Perhaps some interaction with her hearing support?

It could well be the issue on the gearbox, but I felt that the car was in 2nd gear most of the time in normal mode. When I put it in Sport mode it got a bit better, but I think the car lowered so I hit the speed bumps ant 25 km/h and had to go back to normal??

I was quite surprised at the sound?

 

[Donlam]

This is not normal. Mine is very quiet and not noticeable any whine sound at low speed. It might be a problem on yours drive chain. Also, don't feel any gear change instantly to higher speed, feel like only one single gear.

 

[Scandinavian]

This is not normal. Mine is very quiet and not noticeable any sound at low speed. It might be a problem on yours drive chain. Also, don't feel any gear change instantly to higher speed, feel like only one single gear.

Thanks for response! As I said it is just a loaner so I was surprised. I might try to record it tomorrow? But really not my problem. The service guy sent me an email and he said he also reflected on it but that Porsche France had said it was normal? Does not sound normal to me and I would never accept it had it been my vehicle.

And it is not the pedestrian warning sound either since that is heard outside of the car and different

 

[boxrbus]

Mine is also very quiet and I can't hear or feel any gear change. It is extremely smooth!

 

[mandoyoda]

Strange! No whine or noise in my RWD at any speed.

 

[McgR]

No whining noise in my 4 CT. I do have tire noise at lower speeds it was more present with my winter tires and more on bad Belgian roads.

Gear changes are present when accelerating fast. Especially when changing from normal to sport under heavier load like going uphill in the mountains. I feel and hear a kind of clunck. At normal speeds I can still feel it when shifting from normal to sport at lower speeds. Had a loaner CT 4 that did the same.

 

[McgR]

Thanks for your response.

My wife needs hearing aids and it was bothering her even more. Perhaps some interaction with her hearing support?

It could well be the issue on the gearbox, but I felt that the car was in 2nd gear most of the time in normal mode. When I put it in Sport mode it got a bit better, but I think the car lowered so I hit the speed bumps ant 25 km/h and had to go back to normal??

I was quite surprised at the sound?

The suspension is at the same height in normal and sport mode. It is only lowered in sport plus. When I switch from normal to sport at lower speeds I can feel a gear switch.

 

[MConte05]

Mine has the same terrible whine, but good luck getting a dealer to say anything but "thats normal!" or "you must just have the sport sound on", it will take a lot of persistance, and requesting that techs drive two cars directly back to back. I've pretty much given up on trying to get Porsche to fix it at this point, and just waiting for my new car to arrive.

 

[PDACPA]

No whine on mine either. You feel it shift into the 2nd gear at 78 mph like clock work and the sounds give it a little blip of throttle sound. Also, I notice a downshift in the 50's. But the only sounds are the Porsche Electric sound. No whine.

I have the Premium package so I have the 14 way seats and like them. I have the Limestone Beige interior (not the leather) and get compliments on it all the time. I would have liked them to make the seat backs black and the center of the rear seats black to make the two rear seats stand out like separate buckets.

 

[4thPcar]

My RWD is so quiet that I wonder if its run out of gas....

 

[Marcad80]

My RWD has terrible drive train gear noise. I used to be a NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) engineer at GM. I used to specifically work on rear differential hypoid gear noise reduction. I will tell you this RWD car is very bad. I don’t have the fake sound option, and I can clearly tell it is gear noise because I can hear engage, disengage and engage again when I toggle the accerator causing the drivetrain to lash engage the front and back side of the gear teeth.

I have assumed Porsche has probably never worried about hypoid gear mesh noise because they’ve never wanted a quiet engine…. I really understand why they created the fake sound option now.

I do plan on talking to the dealer about this, but I’ve spent a lot of time with gear mesh design, and this is just a really bad gear design coupled with really bad noise isolation.

btw, just for you techy folks. The gear noise is amplified because at lower speeds that create that frequency, standing waves are created between the front and back windshields. I doubt Porsche has ever had to worry about this before, and boy do they have a lot to learn. They should make the fake sound standard, not disable-able, until they can figure this out.

 

[4thPcar]

I find this really odd as this forum has been around for some time and I've never heard of this problem before from previous posts (granted I could have missed it). The vast majority of owners don't have this issue or it would have come up sooner. But it seems a significant number do have the issue. I am not adding any new info here, I just find this really strange with several model years out there.

If you have the problem I wish you luck and encourage you to give em hell!

 

[tomtom901]

I find this really odd as this forum has been around for some time and I've never heard of this problem before from previous posts (granted I could have missed it). The vast majority of owners don't have this issue or it would have come up sooner.

I know about 1 owner who had a similar problem;

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/deep-hum-between-50-70-km-u-16-23-mph.11825/
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...-h-and-why-we-should-notify-porsche-ag.12368/

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