GTS Ride Quality with or without Active Ride

[dcp10]

I recently took a test drive in a Gen-2 GTS equipped with Porsche Active Ride (PAR). Whilst this was great fun, I did find that in “Normal” mode the ride was a little on the “firm” side: even slightly rough around town; it wasn’t as smooth or serene as a 4S on the same route.

I'm curious as to how the low-speed ride quality in a GTS without Active Ride would compare. Would it be even firmer (rougher) around town?

My dealer initially said it wouldn't make any difference; Active Ride merely keeps the car level on sporty drives - but he's now changed his tune and seems to be trying to "upsell" this feature to me. I'm not sure I want to spend that much - hence my question about the "regular" GTS without PAR.

Sponsored

 

[prj]

The reason why it was firm to you is because you're comparing 20" wheels to 21" wheels on performance tyres with super stiff sidewalls.
That's what you felt, not the difference between AR and non-AR.

What AR does is dampen the large body movements, not the micro bumps. Those are 99% down to the tyres.

What you feel from e.g. speed bumps shrinks to half. You can take them at a much faster speed.
Also the car is much more level in corners and during hard acceleration.
Same goes with large unevenness in the road.

So if you want to see the difference between AR and non-AR try taking some speed bumps at increasing speeds, and the higher the speed the more dramatic the difference will be.

 

[dcp10]

Super-helpful, thanks!

 

[TAYC4S]

The reason why it was firm to you is because you're comparing 20" wheels to 21" wheels on performance tyres with super stiff sidewalls.
That's what you felt, not the difference between AR and non-AR.

What AR does is dampen the large body movements, not the micro bumps. Those are 99% down to the tyres.

What you feel from e.g. speed bumps shrinks to half. You can take them at a much faster speed.
Also the car is much more level in corners and during hard acceleration.
Same goes with large unevenness in the road.

So if you want to see the difference between AR and non-AR try taking some speed bumps at increasing speeds, and the higher the speed the more dramatic the difference will be.

True but not entirely correct. You are also comparing a GTS with 4S. Totally different propositions where it comes to suspension feel and setup. The GTS is naturally firmer than a 4S regardless of whether it is with Active Ride or not.

 

[prj]

True but not entirely correct. You are also comparing a GTS with 4S. Totally different propositions where it comes to suspension feel and setup. The GTS is naturally firmer than a 4S regardless of whether it is with Active Ride or not.

Hard disagree. J1.2 GTS is not noticeably firmer.
The information I gave is 100% correct, it is down to the tyres.

 

[Mr.Smith]

Hard disagree. J1.2 GTS is not noticeably firmer.
The information I gave is 100% correct, it is down to the tyres.

You're saying the J1.1 GTS had stiffer suspension, but the J1.2 was not tuned that way?

 

[prj]

You're saying the J1.1 GTS had stiffer suspension, but the J1.2 was not tuned that way?

J1.1 GTS had stiffer ARB, but a J1.2 GTS with AR has no ARB.
I am also fairly convinced that the majority of the difference people feel between a 4S and a GTS is from having 21" wheels.

Certainly going from a Turbo or Turbo S to a GTS even on J1.1 there was very little difference.

 

[gnr3312]

How do you all know the OP was posting about 4S and 20” wheels? His post mentions none of it.

 

[prj]

How do you all know the OP was posting about 4S and 20” wheels? His post mentions none of it.

He posted 2 other threads at the same time where he mentioned it

Here:
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/steering-feel-in-gts-vs-rest-of-range.33379/

 

[dcp10]

As the OP I just wanted to clarify that my question was primarily about the Gen-2 GTS: specifically whether choosing a GTS without Active Ride would feel firmer (rougher) at low speeds.

I felt that the GTS with Active Ride was on the edge of what I’d consider acceptable as a daily driver on Oxfordshire’s diabolical roads - so certainly wouldn’t want a car with a rougher ride.

(I mentioned the 4S, because this was noticeably smoother under the same conditions - though less fun in the twisties and with relatively-numb steering)

 

[SoccerMan94043]

The reason why it was firm to you is because you're comparing 20" wheels to 21" wheels on performance tyres with super stiff sidewalls.
That's what you felt, not the difference between AR and non-AR.

What AR does is dampen the large body movements, not the micro bumps. Those are 99% down to the tyres.

What you feel from e.g. speed bumps shrinks to half. You can take them at a much faster speed.
Also the car is much more level in corners and during hard acceleration.
Same goes with large unevenness in the road.

So if you want to see the difference between AR and non-AR try taking some speed bumps at increasing speeds, and the higher the speed the more dramatic the difference will be.

Why did you assume there was a wheel size difference. While that may be true, it's not clear to me based on the OP.

Edit: Answered my own question here... it was from a different post. I agree the ride is softer on 20s than 21s and specific tires may also have some impact. Porsche has this in the marketing for the GTS, but it's hard to know what's really different:

I suspect AR is doing more dampening than that, based on the Panamera videos, but it's hard to know how they've tweaked in the Taycan GTS.

 

[Mr.Smith]

As the OP I just wanted to clarify that my question was primarily about the Gen-2 GTS: specifically whether choosing a GTS without Active Ride would feel firmer (rougher) at low speeds.

I felt that the GTS with Active Ride was on the edge of what I’d consider acceptable as a daily driver on Oxfordshire’s diabolical roads - so certainly wouldn’t want a car with a rougher ride.

(I mentioned the 4S, because this was noticeably smoother under the same conditions - though less fun in the twisties and with relatively-numb steering)

Where you in Normal mode? The modes make a difference with PAR.

On the Weissach, I don't drive it on Normal because it feels a little too soft for me, unless it's horrible road.

Daily drive in Range for less suspension play

 

[dcp10]

Where you in Normal mode? The modes make a difference with PAR

Yes, I was driving in "Normal" mode when I observed that the ride wasn't quite as smooth as I would have liked (I also tried Sport and Sport Plus of course: great fun on winding country roads - whilst dodging potholes).

Again, the big question is whether Active Ride has any effect on fine-scale irregularities at lower speeds (totally accept its advantages over bumps, etc.) - so if I were to save £7K by not ordering Active Ride, would I end up with something worse at lower speeds?

Thanks for your support and advice: much appreciated!

 

[Mr.Smith]

Yes, I was driving in "Normal" mode when I observed that the ride wasn't quite as smooth as I would have liked (I also tried Sport and Sport Plus of course: great fun on winding country roads - whilst dodging potholes).

Again, the big question is whether Active Ride has any effect on fine-scale irregularities at lower speeds (totally accept its advantages over bumps, etc.) - so if I were to save £7K by not ordering Active Ride, would I end up with something worse at lower speeds?

Thanks for your support and advice: much appreciated!

PAR makes a difference in side to side, lateral movement in slow speeds.
There is a section I test slow driving suspension at a shopping center. I drive at an angle, there is a deep dip, immediately followed a poorly designed speed dump.
In every car my head will sway into the window almost violently, not the the Taycan with PAR.

Pitch/Dive you really notice it at high speeds.

 

[Avantgarde]

On the latest generation panamera GTS they tuned the air suspension so stiff, many early reviews complain that the ride is borderline uncomfortable vs a silky ride in the 4S. There has to be a suspension tuning difference between GTS and 4S for taycan too. I’ve seen couple other people finding new Active ride GTS stiff but assumed it is more “GTS” aspect rather than the “active ride” aspect causing it. 20 vs 21 inch known to make a difference too. Not sure which one causes bigger impact.

Sponsored