Part 3: The Quest for the Perfect Tune

[StellarOats]

Review of the MapEV one pedal calibration: In short, love it on my turbo S.

I live in Los Angeles, and we never get to drive anywhere with coasting. Prj has set this up to be very smooth, and I am able to navigate most traffic situations without moving my feet around. I know it seems simple, but honestly this is instantly less fatiguing. Sure, it isn't what Porsche intended, but driving in gridlock isn't what Porsche intended. The mapping that he found does indeed use enough pedal travel to make it easy to modulate the braking after getting used to it for 10 minutes and not make it a vomit comet. I am sure some people will not be able to manage this as I know some drivers continuously stab the accelerator and then lift fully as a normal way of maintaining a steady speed. I shudder to think about their fuel economy, but if that is you I can say you will likely not like OPD. It regens pretty hard when lifted despite engaging smoothly.

I previously tried to use the auto regen function for around town driving, but frankly it scares me. The rate at which you can be approaching much slower traffic, or how hard they hit their brakes leads the car to plow into slower traffic at a relative speed that causes me to chicken out and take over negating the benefit of the auto regen function which I assume Porsche intended to leverage in lieu of OPD mode. With the new mapping, I can easily drive in traffic and control distance without wondering if the car will kill me. I didn't know this about my own habits but I find always driving with the pedal versus ACC/auto regen in heavy high-speed traffic is less fatiguing than constantly scaring me.

Best part of this is that he has mapped this to only function when regen is on. The car coasts as usual when regen is off and coasts per usual when auto regen is on and nobody is in front of you. For me, this is a perfect solution. When I take the Taycan up to the 2 or the track it will be no different than before as I wouldn't have regen on.

Prj, if I had ANY ask at this point, it would be to see if you can tweak auto regen to allow no pedal driving in stop and go traffic (with hard stops and high speed differences) to not cause me to chicken out and hit the brakes. It is something Porsche should have done (just like this feature) but failed at.

I also laugh that people claim this is stupid because efficiency. The J1.1 is the least efficient electric car I have ever owned and the range is atrocious. But damn if this mod hasn't made it an awesome drive in Los Angeles. Thank you Prj! You should honestly be credited with saving the used Taycan market as people should buy 4S or GTS specs and just install this controller and have fun.

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[freeforall]

Best part of this is that he has mapped this to only function when regen is on. The car coasts as usual when regen is off and coasts per usual when auto regen is on and nobody is in front of you.

Does this mean that after the update there is no way to get Porsche standard Regen on?
Based in the last feedbacks, it looks like Prj setup is a great option for one pedal driving in the city especially with stop and go heavy traffic or annoying red lights. However I always used Porsche Regen for sporty driving to mimic ICE high rev feeling when I lift the accelerator. I also think that Porsche thought about it this way because it is enabled by default in Sport Plus
Question for @prj : do you have a way to keep both options possible (your regen and std Porsche Regen)? Example configure your new one pedal mode on the Auto Regen mode instead of Regen and keep the Regen as it is today?
this way we can have both worlds: convenience of one pedal driving in the city and sportiness of Porsche standard Regen depending in the situation

 

[prj]

do you have a way to keep both options possible (your regen and std Porsche Regen)? Example configure your new one pedal mode on the Auto Regen mode instead of Regen and keep the Regen as it is today?

No, and also no to all questions about auto regen. The auto regen uses the radar, ACC, speed limits, road curvature etc and has a completely different logic in the ASG as well.
It might be possible to increase the peak allowed deceleration rate for the adaptive drive - it's done completely differently there.

For the main regen - it is possible to set regen per driving mode.
So if it's only about keeping sport plus with the default level, then that's possible.

 

[Mr.Smith]

@prj what flaws do see in the architecture that you would change in the next generation Taycan?

 

[prj]

@prj what flaws do see in the architecture that you would change in the next generation Taycan?

That's way too deep and offtopic for here, sorry.

 

[Emm]

Dmitri, when we discussed regen modification earlier, we talked about an increase of 30-40% (+0.3-0.4x), but if I understand correctly, you have now come to the conclusion that 400% (+4.0x) feels fine—can you elaborate a bit on the perceived difference between an increase of +0.4x (slightly more than original) and +4.0x (vastly more), i.e. how the driving experience is different? Is +4.0x just like Tesla One Pedal Drive, while +0.4x is barely different from Taycan original?

Also, if I understand correctly, it would be possible to have the following setup:

1) Normal mode: Regen OFF (i.e. coasting) by default, but can be switched ON manually via the Recuperation button

2) Sport mode: Regen ON (and configured by you to mimic OPD with +4.0x)

3) Sport Plus mode: Regen ON (and kept as current Porsche programming, i.e. without any further modification on your part)

If this is correct, then I think that sounds like a perfect setup (given that the interface doesn't allow for the driver to modulate the level of recuperation from 0 too 100).

What do you think, do you see any drawbacks with such a setup, or do you too think it encapsulates the best of all worlds (no regen, OPD mimicking regen, and OEM regen, depending on driving mode)?

 

[StellarOats]

Why would you want high regen in sport plus? I can't think of a better way to oversteer off the road than lifting too far mid corner and having that much regen. It would be like stabbing the brakes mid corner fairly hard.

But regardless, he currently has it set to be in this high regen mode when non-auto regen is on, in any mode. You can select regen to be on or not on by default in sport and sport plus in the menu settings I believe. (or is that just on individual? I can't remember) Either way, you can still control it via the button to be on or off in any mode if you have that programmed.

You absolutely would not want to track the car with this much regen, and I also don't think you should be in sport plus for normal driving unless you hate the inside tread of your tires.

 

[mystermykee]

Why would you want high regen in sport plus? I can't think of a better way to oversteer off the road than lifting too far mid corner and having that much regen. It would be like stabbing the brakes mid corner fairly hard.

But regardless, he currently has it set to be in this high regen mode when non-auto regen is on, in any mode. You can select regen to be on or not on by default in sport and sport plus in the menu settings I believe. (or is that just on individual? I can't remember) Either way, you can still control it via the button to be on or off in any mode if you have that programmed.

You absolutely would not want to track the car with this much regen, and I also don't think you should be in sport plus for normal driving unless you hate the inside tread of your tires.

I believe he meant to keep the stock overrun recuperation level for SportPlus.

 

[mystermykee]

Some additional thoughts to @StellarOats 's review of MapEV's "OPD Flash"

I had total about 45min drive time with the OPD flash, and feeling just a tad bit nauseous (more on that in a bit). My biggest takeaway from this OPD implementation, given the Taycan's ABS system NOT being able to engage the brakes automatically at a stop like @prj mentioned, kind of defeats the purpose of OPD imo. For stop and go traffic, where you have to come to a complete stop many times, you are still going to have to step on the brake pedal anyway. In heavy traffic where cars slinky and come to a complete stop, the Taycan's OPD serves no purpose and it is easier to just keep your foot on the brake pedal--none of this nonsense of slowing the car down by lifting off the accelerator then having to get over to the brake pedal to completely stop.

Where it is convenient, are those situations where you need more decel than standard overrun recuperation, but never actually come to a complete stop e.g medium to light Bay Area traffic with some speed changes.

Where traffic is light or non existent, I find coasting much less fatiguing than having to keep my foot on the accelerator.

As for being nauseous, I found myself on one occasion having to brake hard because the car in front of me decided last minute to not run the yellow traffic light. In trying to be smooth, I underestimated how much decel I needed.
*Takes foot off the accelerator with heavy regen. Applied the brakes for MORE regen. Oops to much brake pedal. Heavy regen still there. Don't need this much regen. Steps on the accelerator just a bit*

I got a bit a nauseous from the split second my foot was transitioning off the accelerator to the brake pedal. I'm expecting little to no force on the car (other than typical "engine braking") when neither pedal is being touched. I'm not new to OPD, but I guess that would be my biggest gripe with heavy regen or OPD--it's difficult to brake hard, smoothly, especially in emergency situations and spirited driving, where your foot needs to switch from accel to brake pedal, but not necessarily come to a complete stop. I see it all the time, from the flickering of brake lights of OPD EVs, to sudden hard braking when that much braking wasn't really required.

Edit.
Trail braking is also counterintuitive and damn near impossible to execute properly.

 

[prj]

IMO having two pedals is just better because you can have better control. I personally just use the auto regen and it works really well for me. OPD feels like I'm driving like a grandma.

But many people have asked for it, so I did it. I was sure that some would like it, some others would not. It's great to have feedback on it.

 

[mystermykee]

IMO having two pedals is just better because you can have better control. I personally just use the auto regen and it works really well for me. OPD feels like I'm driving like a grandma.

But many people have asked for it, so I did it. I was sure that some would like it, some others would not. It's great to have feedback on it.

Definitely. Appreciate all the work you've put into this. Obviously, nothing against you lol.

We can all speculate as to why Porsche decided not to at least have OPD as an option. I'll give it another go tomorrow when traffic is a bit worse. I may just decide to revert the OPD flash.

 

[Emm]

Again, would the following configuration be possible:

1) In Normal mode (for leisure driving like running local errands), one would have regen OFF by default, but if one turns it ON, it would then be +4.0x of the original regen value ("OPD mimicking")

2) In Sport mode (for more inspired driving at a higher tempo when surrounding traffic is low), one would have regen ON by default, and it would then be +4.0x of the original regen value (and switched to coasting if the regen button is turned OFF)

3) In Sport Plus mode (for track driving and more intense driving on the street if/when the conditions so allow...), one would have regen ON by default, but it would always be the original value (±0; i.e. not the customised +4.0x)

With such a setup, one would have either coasting (no regen) or "OPD mimicking" regen (+4.0x) depending on whether the regen button is ON or OFF (OFF by default in Normal mode, ON by default in Sport mode), except for when driving in Sport Plus mode where regen would be the original value (i.e. ±0, not +4.0x).

Would this setup be possible, or can the regen value *only* be set at either ±0 or +4.0x (I believe you mentioned earlier that you could set different regen values for different driving modes, unless I mistunderstood that)?

I'm not sure if I'd like this "OPD mimicking" +4.0x regen, but it would be great to know what different configurations would be possible for regen and perhaps worth testing .

 

[StellarOats]

1 and 2 are how it works now. 3 isn't how it is now. I would also welcome the stock regen settings in sport plus more from preventing a oops moment by accidentally turning it on high regen in sport plus by accident. (I for example have regen linked to diamond button on wheel)

 

[mystermykee]

1 and 2 are how it works now. 3 isn't how it is now. I would also welcome the stock regen settings in sport plus more from preventing a oops moment by accidentally turning it on high regen in sport plus by accident. (I for example have regen linked to diamond button on wheel)

If by regen, you mean overrun recuperation, why is it that you have it mapped to the diamond button? For redundancy?

 

[whitex]

If by regen, you mean overrun recuperation, why is it that you have it mapped to the diamond button? For redundancy?

No dedicated regen button on J1.2 steering wheel (they went with dedicated track skip instead)?

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