Tell me everything bad about the 2026 Taycan 4CT.

[babylou66]

I want to know everything bad about the Taycan 4CT. I'm considering placing an order for a 4CT with Rear Steer, Torque Vectoring and Active Ride. Probably do a tune like MapEV or Redshift. I actually would prefer something a bit roomier than a Taycan CT and something with a proper 2" receiver hitch. to haul bikes.

I'm all over the place with my car decision! Had a Rivian truck and dumped it because there is no way for hands free messaging, decent hands free calls or hands free mapping. Bought a Volvo EX30 as an interim vehicle and it is fun because it's so damn small. I really, really like sweet handling cars with great steering precision at sane speeds on a daily basis. Thus, I have owned a plethora of Miatas and am having a 100% new original Mini with a RWD Honda K20 being built in England. Other vehicles I'm considering are mid '26 available Cayenne EV and the upgraded 26/27 Polestar 3. I also have a deposit on a Telo truck.

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[ze_shark]

Several press articles have raised criticism about the RWS/PAR combination on Cross Turismo. Waiting patiently to see whether a defective rear hydraulic servo resolves (and therefore explains) my own but the fact that it is not isolated is concerning.

Going for a Taycan 4 with MapEV tune sounds like a net 10k$ saving, but with the ever present warranty question/risk which i personally would not take. Especially on a Taycan.

If you like accuracy and poise, it is difficult to see what else would meet your expectations ? I find SUVs utterly hopeless.

 

[prj]

Going for a Taycan 4 with MapEV tune sounds like a net 10k$ saving, but with the ever present warranty question/risk which i personally would not take. Especially on a Taycan.

It's not a 10k$ saving, it's a 70k$+ saving. You would have to get the Turbo S to get comparable performance.
As for the warranty risk - there basically is none. I don't know of a single car that had their warranty denied whether with the HGP, Redshift or our modified controller even when going with the modified controller to the dealer.
Our contact at Porsche Engineering confirmed that the warranty check before parts replacement does pick up if a modified controller is installed at that moment in the car, but that it is a decision to not deny the warranty based on it.

The car even passes the 111 point check in EU for official warranty extension... I did that myself. What else is there to say?

@babylou66 if you have owned miatas and like well handling cars then there is nothing that compares to the Taycan on the market. Go for it.

I'm doing the exact same thing at the moment, CT4 with all the toys, delivery in December.

 

[ze_shark]

As for the warranty risk - there basically is none. I don't know of a single car that had their warranty denied whether with the HGP, Redshift or our modified controller even when going with the modified controller to the dealer.

I hear you, but I personally have two reservations with this assumption:

- it may be the current policy in the US or Europe, but does Porsche APAC and the Malaysian importer apply the same policy, and even if they do, that could change. Your product is recent, i don't know about Red Shift. Proliferation could trigger a policy change.

- it does not make much sense. In the US, Porsche is known for pretty draconian stances on warranty coverage, so why would they give a pass on a car that has already been so problematic for them ?

 

[prj]

- it may be the current policy in the US or Europe, but does Porsche APAC and the Malaysian importer apply the same policy, and even if they do, that could change. Your product is recent, i don't know about Red Shift. Proliferation could trigger a policy change.

First of all, let's get one thing straight. The importers are completely irrelevant, the dealers are completely irrelevant.
The decision is made on Porsche's central servers. The importer and dealer have NO clue and NO influence whatsoever on how any of this works. They just push a button and the system tells them if the warranty is valid or not. The knowledge of the entire process is as top secret as it can get. The only reason I know about it is a source code leak at VAG and additional inside information.

Apart from the server the warranty result data from the car can only be decoded via a smart card at Porsche HQ, and there is very limited access to that.

- it does not make much sense. In the US, Porsche is known for pretty draconian stances on warranty coverage, so why would they give a pass on a car that has already been so problematic for them ?

Because read above.

Either way, all of this is only important if you go with a tuned controller to the dealer. If you swap it, then you're not flagged. Component protection is supposed to prevent swapping units on MLB Evo, but since the unit polices itself that can be just defeated inside the unit.

Furthermore, this assumption that dealers want to deny your warranty is complete bullshit. It's good for them to do warranty work - they get paid for all the labor, and it's not the importer paying for it, but Porsche Central, hence Porsche Central also decides whether the warranty is valid.

 

[lcarron]

I want to know everything bad about the Taycan 4CT. I'm considering placing an order for a 4CT with Rear Steer, Torque Vectoring and Active Ride. Probably do a tune like MapEV or Redshift. I actually would prefer something a bit roomier than a Taycan CT and something with a proper 2" receiver hitch. to haul bikes.

I'm all over the place with my car decision! Had a Rivian truck and dumped it because there is no way for hands free messaging, decent hands free calls or hands free mapping. Bought a Volvo EX30 as an interim vehicle and it is fun because it's so damn small. I really, really like sweet handling cars with great steering precision at sane speeds on a daily basis. Thus, I have owned a plethora of Miatas and am having a 100% new original Mini with a RWD Honda K20 being built in England. Other vehicles I'm considering are mid '26 available Cayenne EV and the upgraded 26/27 Polestar 3. I also have a deposit on a Telo truck.

If you only need text messaging and phone capabilities, the Kia EV6 has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which are perfect. Third of the price, third of the power, but you can text and use your phone touchless.

Porsche and Apple CarPlay work too.

 

[Tooney]

Bad = Taycan service experience as @Fish Fingers summarized

 

[W1NGE]

I want to know everything bad about the Taycan 4CT. I'm considering placing an order for a 4CT with Rear Steer, Torque Vectoring and Active Ride. Probably do a tune like MapEV or Redshift. I actually would prefer something a bit roomier than a Taycan CT and something with a proper 2" receiver hitch. to haul bikes.

I'm all over the place with my car decision! Had a Rivian truck and dumped it because there is no way for hands free messaging, decent hands free calls or hands free mapping. Bought a Volvo EX30 as an interim vehicle and it is fun because it's so damn small. I really, really like sweet handling cars with great steering precision at sane speeds on a daily basis. Thus, I have owned a plethora of Miatas and am having a 100% new original Mini with a RWD Honda K20 being built in England. Other vehicles I'm considering are mid '26 available Cayenne EV and the upgraded 26/27 Polestar 3. I also have a deposit on a Telo truck.

Roomier? All CTs are the same size and if you option the panoramic roof then a little extra headroom is available.

Rear cycle mount must be optioned to fit the rear Porsche cycle carrier.

If you want roof bars / rails then you must option the panoramic roof.

I would have thought that any car which supports either CarPlay or Android Auto would support handsfree texting / WhatsApp / messaging.

 

[Fun TC Driving]

Yet not one OEM has built a perfect car, e.g, why every one including +$1M exotics come with a warranty.

But if one wants a fun EV daily driver, all Porsches fill that bill

 

[Dave Birch]

As Jeremy Clarkson argued against a BMW 6 coupe versus an Aston Martin ‘You wouldn’t want to lick a BMW’. I too like the look of the Polestar 3 and especially the 5 but the reviews of ride quality are poor. So I will continue to lick my CT4S. Sufficient room, exciting when needed, planted on the road, beautiful inside. SOD the Miata and Rivian.

 

[babylou66]

Roomier? All CTs are the same size and if you option the panoramic roof then a little extra headroom is available.

Rear cycle mount must be optioned to fit the rear Porsche cycle carrier.

If you want roof bars / rails then you must option the panoramic roof.

I would have thought that any car which supports either CarPlay or Android Auto would support handsfree texting / WhatsApp / messaging.

I said roomier than a CT not how can I make a CT roomier.

Rivian does not offer CarPlay or Android Auto and they do not have ANY native messaging or ANY voice control of navigation. They have their software nerdpod focus on super useful feature like animations on the screen or special lights for Halloween.

 

[Hirschaj]

The absolute WORST thing about the Taycan 4CT is that you will just want to drive it all the time. You'll ignore your family and leave to drive basically anywhere, even if you don't have any reason to. It's horrible.

 

[babylou66]

Several press articles have raised criticism about the RWS/PAR combination on Cross Turismo. Waiting patiently to see whether a defective rear hydraulic servo resolves (and therefore explains) my own but the fact that it is not isolated is concerning.

Going for a Taycan 4 with MapEV tune sounds like a net 10k$ saving, but with the ever present warranty question/risk which i personally would not take. Especially on a Taycan.

If you like accuracy and poise, it is difficult to see what else would meet your expectations ? I find SUVs utterly hopeless.

Should my takeaway from your post mean I should avoid the RWS or RWS/PAR Combo or even PAR on its own?

 

[ze_shark]

Honestly, I do not know.

What i have established is:
- I have been complaining about this since delivery. Now my car is in the shop waiting (8 weeks ...) for the replacement of a defective PAR servo. I will not know whether the two were related or not until Xmas at best.
- Editors from C&D and Motor1 echoed similar criticisms on two different Porsche NA press cars (links)
- Owners of sedans and sport turismos on this board have not made similar complaints

So is it CT+PAR alone, CT+PAR+RWS, CT+RWS independently from PAR, i have no factual basis to assert. It always felt like a rear wheel steering wiggle, but it is most disturbing when the road undulates a bit in a gentle curve at moderate to higher speeds (50mph+) and Normal mode, so conditions where PAR tries to "do different things".

I therefore hope that it is was tied to this servo that ended up crapping out completely after 5 months, but that would also imply that it is sort of epidemic if two Porsche NA press cars suffer from the same symptom ?

 

[prj]

I will get my CT with PAR+RWS end of December, so if it does the same we will know for certain.

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