What's the best alternative to the Taycan?

[Fish Fingers]

After 10 pages I feel I should add a sit-rep to this thread, rather than just “liking” various comments!

My drivers window now doesn’t go fully back up when entering the car. So add that to the list of issues (along with what seems like a slow puncture in one tyre, though that isn’t Porsche’s fault at all).

However I also took the car for a spirited drive along my very favourite road and Happy Place (military road on the Isle of Wight for those wondering) and the car reminded me how good it is to drive. So it’s won back part of my heart.

I’ve contacted Audi to go on the list to test drive the new RS5 Avant (yes I know, plug in hybrids are rubbish, I read the posts). I also know the Taycan needs money spent - new rear tyres, now a front one I expect, warranty extension, MOT in May - so in the absence of a better option before then I might be forced to invest in the car and buy another year with it. Which is sad because while I enjoy driving it I don’t trust it, and it’s developing more issues almost every day at the mo

Thanks for that update Dabz.
I am firmly in the pro Phev camp.

Mrs has an X1 30e and its an excellent combination for her needs.
Loads of pottering about locally (nearly always electric as 40-50 miles range) then monthly long business trips with little time in between (petrol).
And any holidays to Cornwall etc its ideal (petrol).

Its really nippy too and very practical.

The cherry is, its held its value really well as people want Phev's.
All in all, a great buy.

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[Dabz]

Thanks for that update Dabz.
I am firmly in the pro Phev camp.

Mrs has an X1 30e and its an excellent combination for her needs.
Loads of pottering about locally (nearly always electric as 40-50 miles range) then monthly long business trips with little time in between (petrol).
And any holidays to Cornwall etc its ideal (petrol).

Its really nippy too and very practical.

The cherry is, its held its value really well as people want Phev's.
All in all, a great buy.

That’s really useful feedback, thanks. I do lots of short journeys during the week so the battery range would be fine for the majority of my use. It’s definitely worth a test drive

 

[WuffvonTrips]

I was going to sell my Prius when the Taycan came but stories on here during my 17 months wait for its delivery convinced me to keep it, and I still have it but mainly because my dog hates travelling in the Taycan - no idea why.

My senior dog who enjoyed travelling (always on back seats, even in the CT) in other cars wasn't as keen in the Taycan, even though I always took it easy with her. I assume more sensitive to the sounds (maybe even magnetic fields?), possibly also it didn't follow her learnt relationship between sound and motion? Now we have a young pup we'll see how he copes- one long journey home had too many extentuating circumstances to draw conclusions and since then just a short return trip to vets which didn't phase him.

 

[WuffvonTrips]

I was pleasantly surprised at how cheap it was to hire a "Focus-sized" car for a few days for a 400 mile round trip I had to make while the Taycan was awaiting replacement wheels for those buckled beyond repair. I had the advantage of being within a couple of miles of the hire place. I was given a Peugeot something or other hatch, perfectly adequate performance under the circumstances, amazing fuel economy and similarly distractingly inefficient software control of important functions such as climate as the Taycan.

 

[DerekS]

I had promised myself never again another Taycan… ended up with Jen 1.2 .

Same here on both counts. I feel like a hostage though because there’s nothing else remotely close in the EV space. I’d jump ship if I could.

 

[f1eng]

Never heard this before, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a high pitch sound that the car makes that we can’t hear.

My dog is able to sleep on the back seat, maybe the hatch area is different.

I think it is because he doesn't get a good view out.
In the Prius there is a window below the spoiler and he lies with his chin on the tailgate ledge and can see through this window. In the Taycan he can only watch the world go by if he is sitting up.

 

[Leccy61]

I’m a serial car changer so our 11 and 16 year old dogs have used many cars for transportation locally as well as trips away. They’re perfectly happy in the trunk of the CT, they can sleep comfortably or see over the back seat, rest their heads and look at us if they so chose.

 

[f1eng]

I’m a serial car changer so our 11 and 16 year old dogs have used many cars for transportation locally as well as trips away. They’re perfectly happy in the trunk of the CT, they can sleep comfortably or see over the back seat, rest their heads and look at us if they so chose.

Mine does sit up with his chin on the back seat headrest and look out for a while sometimes, but he can't see out when he is lying down. He hates the Taycan and has to get a lot of encouragement to get into it so we only "insist" for long trips since he goes with us everywhere.
The Prius is his now...

 

[Irv09]

I ended up with the Macan Turbo. I had picked up a Panamera GTS when I had my Polestar P2. I loved my 2020 Tacan Turbo, but it was a pain. . .

 

[bluesky]

I ended up ordering an 2025 i5 M60 soon after I bailed out from waiting for a J1.2 allocation in Fall 2024 (I waited an entire year and the dealer couldn’t give me one). I test drove i4 M50 and several different i5 M60’s.

The i5 M60 with the Dynamic Handling Package (DHP) was noticeably better. I didn’t like the car without it, but dealers seldom stock inventory cars with this option. I finally got an hour in one and liked it. The dampers and/or tuning is different, steering seems tighter and it adds active roll bars and rear wheel steering. Ride quality is better than in my 2014 M5 with KW suspension, and has remarkably flat cornering. A nice step on the way to an active suspension. Anyway, the comment towards the beginning of this thread is sort of accurate: yes I’d agree the i5 M60 without the suspension option isn’t good, but also they probably didn’t try with DHP.

I enjoy the car and have a lot of fun in the canyons, having gotten used to the car now, and gotten over the new car inhibitions. I’ve also found that the car does not bottom out on the ruts and roots along the rough sections so I don’t have to worry about battery dents like that alarming scandal in 2024 with the 3mm underbody dent on a Taycan. The Taycan chassis options are better, that’s still a Porsche forte, but M60 has considerable poise and with the fake sounds turned off, is very enjoyable to run through the backroads in EV silence (there is no motor sound in the cabin, no RPM-related motor whine audible). There is a boost paddle on the steering wheel which give launch control level power for 10 seconds with a countdown, like push-to-pass. I rarely use it.

I have had the car a year now, with no problems or recalls. Nothing has ever not worked, and the car has always unlocked and driven. The tech is modern, phone as key, apple watch as key, hands-free level 2 self-driving on divided roadways up to 85 mph, remote parking, better cameras, OTA updates 4 times a year, sometimes bug fixes in between, voice recognition, CarPlay/Android, AirConsole, native Spotify app with integration into entertainment and HUD.

It’s kind of more like I wanted the Taycan to be, but Porsche just couldn’t deliver, and with each year, the Taycan‘s old Audi tech is getting older and older and there is the specter of unreliability over Taycans rolling off the line even after this many years of production. Probably Taycan would be a little more fun when whipping through the canyons than the i5, but that’s really a fringe activity and the BMW fits my real world needs better for half the money.

I understand prioritizing chassis over other considerations, which probably explains Derek’s (what is it now) 3rd Taycan? That’s a compromise I wasn’t willing to make, still won’t, especially at cuckoo Porsche prices (still charging big time for power increments as if complicated mechanical ICE engine engineering was part of the picture).

I look at this forum occaionally to get a feel for what Porsche is going to do. Seeing if there’s anything visible beyond J1.2, maybe J2.1. I guess not.

Beyond the i5, I’m curious to see what the M3 EV might be like. BMW has their “heart of joy” controller concept and their active suspension. We’ll see.

 

[Leccy61]

Great write up @bluesky helps sort the wheat from the chaff.

For me Porsche have always been the best daily driving sports cars. Taycan epitomises that when working. I forgive “it’s got rather old tech” if the other half of the sentence is “but it’s rock solid”.

That’s been my experience for the past year, but it’s been in the shop now over a week for a simple update that’s triggered another fault. If this is a one-off fine, but BMW looks attractive.

 

[d00d]

Beyond the i5, I’m curious to see what the M3 EV might be like. BMW has their “heart of joy” controller concept and their active suspension. We’ll see.

Me too, but they don't appear to have an active suspension, at least not comparable to PAR.

https://www.bmwblog.com/2025/02/16/bmw-heart-of-joy-dynamic-performance-control/

 

[prj]

For PAR there are very few cars that have anything similar. From EV the Niio ET7 has it, I am not sure what else.

 

[Leccy61]

Watching a couple of YouTube reviews about the new BMWs, including an in depth by Kyle out of spec with some BMW engineers and they talk about optimising conventional suspension and not going down the active route in order to keep things simple and energy efficient. Interesting to see if that will be the case with the M versions.

 

[Maximilian]

I am replacing mine with Panamera 4 e hybrid! Despite of all the fun I had driving electric for 3 years, i just don't feel like the car suits my long journeys. Just fed up with public chargers not working or even Ionity having sometimes to try 2-3 chargers before it starts charging wasting time with slower than expected charging (not to mention navigation, which h s not working))

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