EV throttle response

[Zcd1]

Reviewers have mentioned the 4S’s soft initial throttle response ever since it was introduced. It certainly seems to be an intentional choice Porsche made in order to maintain performance separation between the 4S and the more expensive trims…

My sister owned an F-Type R and you’re right - it’s crazy responsive, though still not as lightning quick to respond as the EVs we’ve owned…

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[69Mach390]

Yeah, the only real comparison is foot-to-the-floor, surely? As others have said: less acceleration at small pedal movements gives better control.

It’s not the only comparison though.

Just for the point of this thread I tried playing around with pedal movement and narrowed things down to what I would like-

Linear power delivery.

As it stands it works more like an on/off switch and it’s actually pretty hard to get my normal/preferred “medium to hard” acceleration.

It’s pretty non-responsive for the first half of pedal movement then explosive above that.

For an ICE comparison- half throttle gets you to shift around 4k rpm. This feels like it’s in economy mode and short shifting unless you close to floor it and then it’s an absolute rocket.

 

[MrJones02]

For day to day driving, I certainly prefer the taycan's setup for the responsiveness. You don't want to do stop-and-go traffic in a car that always wants to go go go.
There's a (small) difference between normal and sport, but feel it still could have been better.
Maybe some slider where you can select the responsiveness per drive mode, from super chill all the way up to vomit-inducing

 

[WuffvonTrips]

It's similar to "velocity curves" for electronic music keyboards/drums/midi guitars, which determine the level of control signal sent by the instrument to sound generators in response to a particular level of strike force-

I don't remember what the Taycan's throttle response curves look like (presumably they differ between drive modes), but I personally prefer the pedal finesse of my Turbo CT MY22 to anything else I've driven (on road or track). It's so easy to control all the way from crawling in traffic to flat out acceleration and balancing the throttle around corners.
Keyboards and/or sound generators curves can often be tailored by the user, but I suppose allowing drivers to do similar with throttle mapping would risk loss of control or damage to transmission.

 

[69Mach390]

It's similar to "velocity curves" for electronic music keyboards/drums/midi guitars, which determine the level of control signal sent by the instrument to sound generators in response to a particular level of strike force-

I don't remember what the Taycan's throttle response curves look like (presumably they differ between drive modes), but I personally prefer the pedal finesse of my Turbo CT MY22 to anything else I've driven (on road or track). It's so easy to control all the way from crawling in traffic to flat out acceleration and balancing the throttle around corners.
Keyboards and/or sound generators curves can often be tailored by the user, but I suppose allowing drivers to do similar with throttle mapping would risk loss of control or damage to transmission.

It’s easy to control crawling or flooring it.

The hard part to control is in the middle. From that chart, my guess is it’s somewhere like #6 but not quite as extreme.

I do disagree with your last point though. Adjusting the mapping would have zero effect on the drivetrain. The only difference would be how far you have to move your foot to get a given result, but the “results” would be unchanged.

 

[WuffvonTrips]

I do disagree with your last point though. Adjusting the mapping would have zero effect on the drivetrain. The only difference would be how far you have to move your foot to get a given result, but the “results” would be unchanged.

I was taking a simplistic view without considering other control systems between the pedal and the motors, where a mapping that more readily surges from low to full power (possibly even unintentionally) could put more strain on components between the motor and the tyres (well, tyres as well I suppose, but they're more expectedly consumable).

 

[Crazymind]

The throttle response is completely alined to ICE porsche. Jumping from the 911 to the taycan it is the same feel! You need to push more the pedal to get more… and it’s particularly satisfying when you need to input power through corners. With more responsive pedals in other cars I find difficult to drive fast and effortless through corners.
Aggressive drive doesn’t suit the heavy and large taycan, it’s not a hot hatch. That response suits better the more compact and furious Jaguar FR.

 

[Argo]

I guess it's time to upgrade to the Turbo S...

Just to confirm, the Turbo S does not seem to suffer from a lack of throttle response

 

[69Mach390]

Just to confirm, the Turbo S does not seem to suffer from a lack of throttle response

Is it more linear or is it still very muted for the first half of the pedal movement?

Try this experiment- from a stop in 1st gear, ease into the throttle and keep increasing pressure until you’re floored.

In my 4S if you do this for the first half of pedal movement the car isn’t that quick then you hit some threshold around 50% throttle and it all of a sudden takes off. The difference above that point and totally floored isn’t that much.

I’m actually half tempted to buy one of those cheap “tuners” that just adjust throttle input settings.

Something like this:

 

[irrelevant]

Be thankful you don’t have a Turbo or Turbo S model, because then you’ll have turbo lag in addition to the throttle unresponsive ness.

 

[Emm]

It’s not slow by any means……

It’s just less responsive than other cars I drive, which is surprising considering my tuned 4S runs a 10.9 at 129 mph in the 1/4 mile.

To be clear I’m only talking about part throttle responsiveness. At full throttle is absurdly fast.

At part throttle it just feels like it’s lacking torque. You really have to put your foot down.

I completely agree with this assessment! I have a 2023 GTS Sport Turismo with the MAPEV tune, and although of course now vastly improved over original, I too still lack the responsiveness when pressing the accelerator fast but only partly. In order for the car to be significantly more responsive, my experience is that I have to press the accelerator all the way, but then the car accelerates more than I would sometimes want...

Ideally, a quick "jab" at the accelerator would provide the sharp responsiveness I'm looking for, making the car behave a little more "nervously" (but of course only in Sport and Sport Plus mode; in Normal mode I think the current somewhat "sluggish" response to only half-throttle is fine).

Is this added "nervousness" something that can be integrated into the tune, or would doing that equate to having to fiddle with the anti-surge damping function, which is perhaps considered off-limits for tuners?

 

[RAHRCR]

You guys just need to be more assertive. Taycan has a 2 speed gearbox. It needs clarity on whether or not you want the kick down for full beans . If you are unsure, check in with your wife’s boyfriend. He should be able to provide the clarity you require.

…..I will see myself out.

 

[Zcd1]

At the risk of offending some members here, our Teslas' throttle response is extremely well-judged and progressive, IMO... I think that has to do with the fact that Tesla is always optimizing for electric drivetrains, because that's all they make, after all...

Porsche (and other legacy mfrs.) seem to have decided that mimicing an ICEV's throttle response was the right thing to do. To me, this makes zero sense - why would I want an incredibly-responsive electric motor to be de-tuned so that it responds similarly to a fundamentally compromised method of propulsion (an ICE/transmission combo)??

 

[69Mach390]

At the risk of offending some members here, our Teslas' throttle response is extremely well-judged and progressive, IMO... I think that has to do with the fact that Tesla is always optimizing for electric drivetrains, because that's all they make, after all...

Porsche (and other legacy mfrs.) seem to have decided that mimicing an ICEV's throttle response was the right thing to do. To me, this makes zero sense - why would I want an incredibly-responsive electric motor to be de-tuned so that it responds similarly to a fundamentally compromised method of propulsion (an ICE/transmission combo)??

Way less offensive than bro above talking about my wife’s boyfriend!

For sure this was a tuning choice. I’m just surprised the throttle response between normal and sport isn’t more pronounced. Especially since you’re in 1st gear in sport.

 

[69Mach390]

I completely agree with this assessment! I have a 2023 GTS Sport Turismo with the MAPEV tune, and although of course now vastly improved over original, I too still lack the responsiveness when pressing the accelerator fast but only partly. In order for the car to be significantly more responsive, my experience is that I have to press the accelerator all the way, but then the car accelerates more than I would sometimes want...

Ideally, a quick "jab" at the accelerator would provide the sharp responsiveness I'm looking for, making the car behave a little more "nervously" (but of course only in Sport and Sport Plus mode; in Normal mode I think the current somewhat "sluggish" response to only half-throttle is fine).

Is this added "nervousness" something that can be integrated into the tune, or would doing that equate to having to fiddle with the anti-surge damping function, which is perhaps considered off-limits for tuners?

I think they can tune it, but you’d have to go back and forth with MapEV to fine tune to your preferred amount and then it’s that way all the time.

That’s why I’m tempted to just spend the $200 for one of those plug and play throttle tuners with an app that allows tons of different settings. I just wish we had more reviews. Only found a couple Taycan reviews of them on the internet.

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