Fake gear shifts coming to 2027 Taycan (and big PCM update)!

[whitex]

I personally think it is very gimmicky and part of the reason I changed over both our cars to electric was the drivetrain 'feel', but I am totally fine with whatever gimmicks need to be implemented to get people out of gar/petrol cars and into electric ones.

I’m fine with the gimmicks, as long as they can be persistently disabled (i.e. the setting is remembered by the car, not forgotten when the car shuts off). It would irritate me, probably to a point of not wanting to buy a car, if ny EV always started in the artificially noisy, power cutting simulated gear shift mode and I had to disable it every time I drive.

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[Sace]

I'm very much not Porsche's traditional enthusiast base, and I wonder how many others who bought Taycan have a background/story like me. It feels like most comments I read here are people who are traditional Porsche fans who regret or begrudgingly accept that they miss an ICE experience.

I can't say my story is the same but the result is. I have been a car guy my whole life. Grew up at a car dealership. But over the years I realized that 99% of the time I'm in a car I prefer it to be quiet and comfortable while still entertaining to drive. That is exactly what the Taycan is to me. It's still fun to drop it in Sport Plus and take a twisty road and I do that often. But I just enjoy the smooth and silent ride for the most of it.

Currently I have an Audi A5 TDI loaner while getting my bumper fixed. It's laggy, noisy and the seats suck compared to mine. 5 years ago I bought a car in exactly the same configuration - Now I would never own one again.

Would I like to have a Cayman or 911 for summer fun? Sure. But I would need to have it as a second car as I would not daily it.

I do live in a country where taxes on performance cars are crazy. A base 911 is more than double the price of a base Taycan (close to 3x actually). So having ICE cars that actually sounds good is also relatively rare here which makes it easier for people to switch to EV's. A 1.5 Petrol or 2.0 Diesel does is just not entertaining

I do agree that if it can get more people to switch I have no problem with it. As long as it can be turned off (like Electric sport sound etc).

 

[whitex]

I was reading a few threads yesterday (many of the replies were years old, many were newer) with responses stating how they miss the sounds/feel of gas engines after buying a Taycan. I almost made a thread to discuss it, but I didn't. So I'll say a tiny part of what I've been thinking here.

I've likely missed a lot, but yours is the first post I've heard someone explicitly mention that they enjoy the Taycan because it is silent, and that resonates so strongly with me. I've never been a car guy in my entire life, I hate hearing obnoxiously loud cars, and I hate the idea of drawing attention to myself due to obnoxious engine noises. I love EV performance and stealth - I feel badass knowing I'm flying under the radar and more of a "blink and you'll miss me flying by" person on the road. As far as Porsche is concerned, I do love their badge prestige, body styles (Taycan being my favorite body style), and handling/performance.

One of my friends is a big car enthusiast, and I used to tell him I wish we had cars that would lean into turns and he'd roll his eyes at me. Now I'm driving one (PAR). I never thought I'd spend more than $40K on a car, but this thing is literally my dream car I never expected to exist.

I'm very much not Porsche's traditional enthusiast base, and I wonder how many others who bought Taycan have a background/story like me. It feels like most comments I read here are people who are traditional Porsche fans who regret or begrudgingly accept that they miss an ICE experience.

I've been a "car guy" all my life. but the noise wasn't part of the appeal. Got my first custom build 911 25 years ago, best car I ever drove up to that point, but again, the engine noise was not part of the appeal, it was just there (I also didn't put playing cards in mu bicycle spokes as a kid, so no reason to make noise while riding, and technically take away power from my bike). The great handling and overall driving performance of 911 was what I loved. As a matter of fact, when I moved from California to Washington. I got rid of the 911 partially because Washington roads suck so bad. I remember thinking to myself I'd get another one just for the track, because daily driving the 911 sucked in WA compared to CA. I always liked the "sleeper car" idea, keeping my cars as low key as possible, with max performance I could get. I love the silent, butter smooth power of EV's, which is why I drove Model S'es for a decade. Taycan is an awesome car for me.

 

[cometguy]

Just to make it clear. It is not only about the sound but the shifting feel. It will simulate the shifts by an 'interrupted" pull on upshifts and engine brake under downshift, mimicking how the PDK works. Testers as Andreas Preuninger (head of GT development) said it is almost impossible to make a diff between real PDK and future "fake shift Taycan". The final stages of the developments were made by the team who tuned the PDK system as well to make the feel as close as possible.
This will need serious software mods, not only the sound and paddles on the steering wheel.

The only reason/purpose I'd want for paddle shifters on a BEV would be to shfit between full 2-pedal driving to full 1-pedal driving, with (say) 3 variations in between. Having owned an EV with one-pedal driving (where you can come to a complete stop without touching the brake pedal), I really miss that in my Taycan. One area where it's very important and practical (just as with a manual ICEV, including PDK Porsches with paddle shifters) is when going down steep hills -- where good one-pedal EVs mean you don't have to use the brake pedal at all. I live in a hilly area where I daily miss one-pedal driving in my Taycan just for the going-downhill aspect. I'd love for Porsche to put in paddle shifters in all its EVs to allow the driver to quickly go to 1-pedal driving, or to 1.5-pedal driving, or back to full 2-pedal driving (instead of having to push buttons/icons on a screen).

 

[babylou66]

The only reason/purpose I'd want for paddle shifters on a BEV would be to shfit between full 2-pedal driving to full 1-pedal driving, with (say) 3 variations in between. Having owned an EV with one-pedal driving (where you can come to a complete stop without touching the brake pedal), I really miss that in my Taycan. One area where it's very important and practical (just as with a manual ICEV, including PDK Porsches with paddle shifters) is when going down steep hills -- where good one-pedal EVs mean you don't have to use the brake pedal at all. I live in a hilly area where I daily miss one-pedal driving in my Taycan just for the going-downhill aspect. I'd love for Porsche to put in paddle shifters in all its EVs to allow the driver to quickly go to 1-pedal driving, or to 1.5-pedal driving, or back to full 2-pedal driving (instead of having to push buttons/icons on a screen).

Your idea seems like a perfect use for a paddle. Chevy Bolt used a paddle to temporarily increase regen from low to high. I like a toggle logic from Low Regen (like ICE) - Smart OPD - Full OPD. Maybe the second paddle is used for drive modes instead of the rotary knob? Both paddles = launch mode?

 

[Bognar67]

One pedal drive is not for a sports car. There are two pedals built in, just use them. You can control the car much much better (on higher level) with two pedals than one.
There are many EVs with one pedal driving just choose from them.
Personally I hope Porsche will never make a Tesla (thing).

The big lesson to learn, Porsche is not for everybody.

Masses think differently than how the sports car works. That is why no mass sports car maker.
They will have to produce less cars for more enthusiasts.
I don't measure SUVs as a sports car, happy to have, keeping up the company financially.

 

[Mr.Smith]

Do you have a source? The 960 turismo concept, that evolved into the taycan, started on a 918 platform. Was ment to be a 4 door sport sedan.

In a SavageGeese video on the Taycan, a Porsche engineer said it was a modified Panamera platform

 

[jk981]

It has a transmission tunnel in the chassis too. See here:

 

[babylou66]

EV's are surely good business for valve, hose and clamp suppliers!

 

[whitex]

EV's are surely good business for valve, hose and clamp suppliers!

The "spaghetti" of pipes was replaced with a single piece manifold for MY21 and later.

 

[jk981]

The "spaghetti" of pipes was replaced with a single piece manifold for MY21 and later.

Yeah this was an early 2020 model. I wish they'd do a follow-up video with J1.2.

 

[Dl1]

I still use the electric sports sound as sensory feedback on my throttle position and speed. Not for any nostalgia at all.

They need hardware changes for the pedals behind the wheel though. It sort of tells the original owner still craves the past, even settling to an emulated one. Of course, whatever floats their aircraft carrier.

There are features that a high voltage battery enables. Active ride is one of them. Vehicle to Load is another. Underbody suction fans will be a good performance feature too.

 

[cometguy]

One pedal drive is not for a sports car. There are two pedals built in, just use them. You can control the car much much better (on higher level) with two pedals than one.
There are many EVs with one pedal driving just choose from them.
Personally I hope Porsche will never make a Tesla (thing).

The big lesson to learn, Porsche is not for everybody.

Masses think differently than how the sports car works. That is why no mass sports car maker.
They will have to produce less cars for more enthusiasts.
I don't measure SUVs as a sports car, happy to have, keeping up the company financially.

A lot of Porsche EV enthusiasts (probably most) would disagree with you about one-pedal driving. Porsche should provide one-pedal driving as an option on its EVs, period; then the driver can elect whether to use it or not. Saying that sports cars shouldn't have one-pedal driving is absurd. And saying to go look for a non-Porsche because Porsche doesn't have one-pedal driving is equally absurd, because nobody makes cars like Porsche does (one-pedal or not). Oh, and you also forget that ICE Porsches allow you -- through gear shifts -- to go down steep hills without using the brake pedal, also.

 

[Bognar67]

A lot of Porsche EV enthusiasts (probably most) would disagree with you about one-pedal driving. Porsche should provide one-pedal driving as an option on its EVs, period; then the driver can elect whether to use it or not. Saying that sports cars shouldn't have one-pedal driving is absurd. And saying to go look for a non-Porsche because it doesn't have one-pedal driving is equally absurd, because nobody makes cars like Porsche does (one-pedal or not). Oh, and you also forget that ICE Porsches allow you through gear shifts to go down steep hills without using the brake pedal, also.

No, absurd, not correct. Period.
Oh, and you also forget about the regen button on the left side of the steering wheel with 3 modes, one of them simulates the engine brake, one of them is rolling out and the 3rd mode is the adaptive one. No ICE car/Porsche that has as strong engine brake as a one pedal driving system, which is effectively braking from the 20-30% of the released throttle pedal progressively.

 

[prj]

A lot of Porsche EV enthusiasts (probably most) would disagree with you about one-pedal driving. Porsche should provide one-pedal driving as an option on its EVs, period; then the driver can elect whether to use it or not. Saying that sports cars shouldn't have one-pedal driving is absurd. And saying to go look for a non-Porsche because Porsche doesn't have one-pedal driving is equally absurd, because nobody makes cars like Porsche does (one-pedal or not). Oh, and you also forget that ICE Porsches allow you -- through gear shifts -- to go down steep hills without using the brake pedal, also.

I did full OPD on the Taycan, with massive amounts of regen.

Almost nobody liked it. Why?
Because the accelerator pedal needs to be physically much softer for that to work.
If you drive a Tesla and a Taycan back to back you will see what I am talking about.

On the Taycan with the OPD implementation your foot gets tired very quickly.
So apart from a software feature you would need to have a completely different pedal feel - swappable springs or something of the nature inside the pedal.

MEB cars have a "B" mode, and the pedal is much softer to accommodate. The Tesla pedal is even softer.

That said - OPD is inefficient and it was done on the Tesla because they couldn't blend the brake pedal. So every time you touched the brakes it went straight to the friction brakes. Only the latest Model Y can actually do brake blending now.

Just use the ACC on the Taycan, imo that works quite well (or Auto mode). I'm all for options but it's not always a software only thing.

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