E-Shift (virtual gear shift) "Surprisingly Convincing" Review

[Sar]

Doesn’t this guy hate EVs? How did he get access?

Maybe explicitly to reach the audience of car buyers who hate EVs. Porsche is not developing this for EV enthusiasts. they want to convince petrol heads that EVs can be cool. So they should target the influencers who think it's cool to hate on EVs - as long as they're able to convince them...

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[whitex]

Personally I would probably skip as I don't like this type of thing and hated the Electric Sport Sound.

I would absolutely skip it (perhaps even pay to exclude it if I had to turn it off manually every drive - shhhhh.... don't tell that to Porsche marketing).

However, while I hated ESS during my test drive, and would have never ordered it on purpose, it came with the performance package on my Taycan, so I have it. Over the last 3+ years I learned that it does have good uses, I keep my steering wheel diamond button set to ESS toggle (also helps to toggle it off quickly when switching to SportPlus mode):

1. It works really well at scaring deer, and probably other animals, so I always turn it on when driving on rural roads at night and/or sparse traffic.
2. It works great as a pedestrian warning, I always click it on when I suspect pedestrians might need audible warnings, like parking lots, or driving in a narrow street with cars parks on both sides.
3. When passing people who drive slowly on highways. It reduces the chances of them being startled by a flying Taycan passing them (I prefer to overtake cars with a large speed differential to discourage them from instinctually speeding-up and to make the passing maneuver as fast as safely possible). I did a road trip recently, using the ESS to pass people, but then I forgot to turn it off for about a minute after passing, and that attracted attention from a passing police car (I didn't get pulled over, but me accelerating by him in the opposite direction with the ESS on caused him to turn on his instant-on rear radar, as indicated by my radar detector). So I passed the next car without the sport sound on, and I felt bad I might have given the driver a heart attack - he was driving under the speed limit on a single lane highway, taking in sights I presume but maybe checking his social media on the phone, so when the road allowed passing, I passed him with a significant speed differential (also needed as there were approaching cars). In my rear view mirror I realized he got startled and drove half way onto the shoulder right after I passed him. I started using ESS more diligently after that - it gives people warning there is something fast about to fly by them.

 

[SoccerMan94043]

I would absolutely skip it (perhaps even pay to exclude it if I had to turn it off manually every drive - shhhhh.... don't tell that to Porsche marketing).

However, while I hated ESS during my test drive, and would have never ordered it on purpose, it came with the performance package on my Taycan, so I have it. Over the last 3+ years I learned that it does have good uses, I keep my steering wheel diamond button set to ESS toggle (also helps to toggle it off quickly when switching to SportPlus mode):

1. It works really well at scaring deer, and probably other animals, so I always turn it on when driving on rural roads at night and/or sparse traffic.
2. It works great as a pedestrian warning, I always click it on when I suspect pedestrians might need audible warnings, like parking lots, or driving in a narrow street with cars parks on both sides.
3. When passing people who drive slowly on highways. It reduces the chances of them being startled by a flying Taycan passing them (I prefer to overtake cars with a large speed differential to discourage them from instinctually speeding-up and to make the passing maneuver as fast as safely possible). I did a road trip recently, using the ESS to pass people, but then I forgot to turn it off for about a minute after passing, and that attracted attention from a passing police car (I didn't get pulled over, but me accelerating by him in the opposite direction with the ESS on caused him to turn on his instant-on rear radar, as indicated by my radar detector). So I passed the next car without the sport sound on, and I felt bad I might have given the driver a heart attack - he was driving under the speed limit on a single lane highway, taking in sights I presume but maybe checking his social media on the phone, so when the road allowed passing, I passed him with a significant speed differential (also needed as there were approaching cars). In my rear view mirror I realized he got startled and drove half way onto the shoulder right after I passed him. I started using ESS more diligently after that - it gives people warning there is something fast about to fly by them.

I feel the same generally and have it through no fault of my own. However, I didn't realize it was loud enough to do any of those three things (I assumed #2 in a really quiet area would work).

 

[Fun TC Driving]

That old motorcycle riders expression, “loud pipes save lives.” Loved our Vance and Hines exhausts on our Harleys.

 

[Sar]

I feel the same generally and have it through no fault of my own. However, I didn't realize it was loud enough to do any of those three things (I assumed #2 in a really quiet area would work).

I also wasn't sure if #2 worked (if the sound was loud enough), but I did experiment with it last Halloween. I turned it on in my neighborhood when I came near a large party of trick-or-treaters, and every single one of them turned to look at me. I'm guessing the sound was indeed loud enough and it sounded weird enough that it caught them off guard (everyone knows what a normal car sounds like, and this isn't it).

I laughed and have kept that use case in mind ever since.

 

[whitex]

I feel the same generally and have it through no fault of my own. However, I didn't realize it was loud enough to do any of those three things (I assumed #2 in a really quiet area would work).

ESS is louder outside than inside, and it’s on down to zero speed. Try it out with windows rolled down, or simply watch the pedestrian reaction as you activate it near them.

 

[Crazymind]

With 8.5 billion of cash In Hands, Porsche needs to be better at being Porsche…or just become a Full time Bank . Leave the real engineering to China.

 

[PorscheTaycan]

My pastor at our church yelled when I drove past with ESS on “that’s loud for an EV” lol.

 

[SoccerMan94043]

My pastor at our church yelled when I drove past with ESS on “that’s loud for an EV” lol.

Couldn't have been that loud if you could hear him

 

[PorscheTaycan]

Couldn't have been that loud if you could hear him

lol he told me to wind down my window

 

[Fish Fingers]

Surprisingly Top Gear magazine love it and are converted.

But interestingly they say, rather than just a gimmick, it has real world advantages:

So it's not just the physical aspect of improving car control. It's psychological – and that's just as important. It improves your perception of speed. Judging corner entry, or indeed knowing where you are relative to the speed limit, is very hard in an EV. To know you're in a second-gear bend, or that you've accelerated towards the top of third and need to ease off, is really helpful. You simply drive better.

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews...kw-105kwh-4dr-rwd-e-shift-revised/first-drive

 

[SoccerMan94043]

Oddly enough, I was watching a Doug DeMuro video on the ST GTS and it he he mentioned that the only thing the car was missing was shifting sounds like the Hyundai (he felt the Taycan really needed it) and he expected all EV manufactures to make it an option including the next Taycan. He called it early.

 

[PorscheTaycan]

Surprisingly Top Gear magazine love it and are converted.

But interestingly they say, rather than just a gimmick, it has real world advantages:

So it's not just the physical aspect of improving car control. It's psychological – and that's just as important. It improves your perception of speed. Judging corner entry, or indeed knowing where you are relative to the speed limit, is very hard in an EV. To know you're in a second-gear bend, or that you've accelerated towards the top of third and need to ease off, is really helpful. You simply drive better.

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews...kw-105kwh-4dr-rwd-e-shift-revised/first-drive

Very good points. Even the ESS seems to help me when I’m driving around corners. Psychologically and probably placebo.

 

[Fish Fingers]

Very good points. Even the ESS seems to help me when I’m driving around corners. Psychologically and probably placebo.

Having read the Top Gear article, I've converted from thinking it is totally useless to possibly very useful.

I didn't know it added some vibration as well.

In fact, every article I've read is positive about it.

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