Another Munro teardown video: Base Taycan

[f1eng]

Here in the USA I have never heard Du cat ee. Always Du Cot ee. Motul by some mo-tool by most.

Never ever heard Du-cot-ee anywhere myself, Motool is maybe a slight step towards the French pronunciation but almost certainly wrong accent, english speakers are notoriously bad at pronouncing French words correctly.

If in France I speak French as correctly as I can but I use the English phonetic pronunciation if discussing French places or words in English with English people.

I would pronounce fillet de boeuf “fillay” in France but not in England (I notice fillay being used in the US - a surprise when I first heard it)

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[WasserGKuehlt]

In Greek it sounds more like Monaco than München to me.

In Greek it's "Mykonos", no?

I worked with engineers from BMW and Toyota Europe (in Cologne - Koln)am pretty familiar with huge variations of pronunciations even within Germany where the dialects are strong and varied, the idea of standardised pronunciation or even language is absurd.

Yea, we can't even standardize spelling..

It is pretty silly and pointless getting wound up about pronunciation IME.
[...]
Scotland has a huge range of dialects, [...] such a strong accent and so many dialect words few native English speakers understand it.

That's exactly why pronunciation is important..

Well, let's dig in a little bit:

21" is not going to be more than 2x the price of 20" wheel. That suggests to me that $500 difference in cost between a set of 19" and 21" tires+wheels is not out of the question at all.

I'll grant you the other points, but a) these wheels are probably of a different grade than aftermarket knock-offs, and b) as I'm sure you know, the increase in diameter does not translate into a linear increase in either the material cost or the cost of manufacturing. The diff in surface area alone (i even considered the same rim width) is 24%. If you priced tires (retail) alone, the diff between 19 and 21 for a set would be > $1k.

Now why Porsche owners then think this is negative I dont know, it's more negative for Ford I would say, with so small margins.

It's bad because this is unmitigated greed. (If it were true, which I'm still not convinced.) A profit margin of 90% on something trivially made is .. bad (I'd say outrageous, but I work in software..)

As to the cost of the wheels, I will defer to the Munro folks as they work with lots of automakers and costing out parts is literally their business. That said, it’s possible that they’ve confused the specific wheels with something cosmetically similar but much cheaper.

Exactly; a few other folks earlier in the thread said "they must be knowing what they're talking about". But, for being such experts, there were a lot of comments of the "haven't seen this before", "this is interesting", "not sure" nature. Ffs, one of them couldn't understand on camera why a tunnel provides more rigidity than a flat surface, or why a bolted brace made more sense than a cast piece. (And, again, I work in software..) The point is there was enough self-declared uncertainty to refrain from making flippant remarks about costing.

I was happy to see a Taycan on the Munro lift, but disappointed to find that it wasn't a full tear-down, and that it was a base model with none of the interesting suspension bits.

Um, I did get a whiff of "this base model must be driving like shit" on their part, which tells me they have not done much research on the car prior to their mini-teardown. Reviewers as respected as Henry Catchpole stated clearly the RWD on steel springs drives as well or better than the air-suspensioned cars. And, as I'm sure you will have noticed, the essential suspension bits - the knuckles, geometry, links are all shared across the model range. I'm always skeptical of 'active' components as the key to good handling and/or ride. (Okay, maybe air is better for ride.)

All in all, the car seems to be very well engineered, and costs were not attempted to be cut in areas that matter: platform/suspension, traction, comfort. (Not that this should be news to anyone, but I read here every now and then how this is a "cheaply made car" because it's not full leather, and the software, oh my..)

What I did learn from this video was the clever recovering of the space lost with the foot garages by hosting the extra battery modules under the rear seats, on top of the battery. I've seen pics of the 'plus' battery before, but didn't make the connection until this video showed the underside.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

Never ever heard Du-cot-ee anywhere myself, Motool is maybe a slight step towards the French pronunciation but almost certainly wrong accent, english speakers are notoriously bad at pronouncing French words correctly.
[...]
I would pronounce fillet de boeuf “fillay” in France but not in England (I notice fillay being used in the US - a surprise when I first heard it)

It is, ever was, and forever shall be "Du ka ti" - all short vowels. "Du" like the German 'you', not like the Russian 'da'. (Grr. trying to spell pronunciation is useless, I give up..)

Americans make up for the correct pronunciation of 'fillet' by butchering 'coupé'.
(I'll see myself out, though I'll keep an eye on a thread dedicated to pronouncing.)

 

[blame.latitude]

The big takeaway I took from this video is that the cooling system has hundreds of potential failure points. So many clamps, hoses, connectors, etc. These cars are going to be constantly leaking coolant when those coolant hoses reaches the end of their life. For those planning to keep their Taycan for a long time, I hope in 10 years the aftermarket steps in with simplified or upgraded cooling solutions to make maintenance of that area easier.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

The big takeaway I took from this video is that the cooling system has hundreds of potential failure points. So many clamps, hoses, connectors, etc. These cars are going to be constantly leaking coolant when those coolant hoses reaches the end of their life. For those planning to keep their Taycan for a long time, I hope in 10 years the aftermarket steps in with simplified or upgraded cooling solutions to make maintenance of that area easier.

I did not see a single clamp? The 'bowl of spaghetti" referenced in the video are hard pipes. This won't leak any more than the plumbing in your house..

 

[f1eng]

The big takeaway I took from this video is that the cooling system has hundreds of potential failure points. So many clamps, hoses, connectors, etc. These cars are going to be constantly leaking coolant when those coolant hoses reaches the end of their life. For those planning to keep their Taycan for a long time, I hope in 10 years the aftermarket steps in with simplified or upgraded cooling solutions to make maintenance of that area easier.

It was an early car it seems.
That bundle of spaghetti has been replaced by a manifold already.

One thing few people know is that there is update to non-cosmetic design details, which is probably going on all the time, it is rarely mentioned.

 

[gtm]

Ask your Porsche to navigate to the local dealer. The car pronounces it Porsch.

Hadn't noticed that. I will certainly be paying attention next time. Even their own car can't get it right but now I have to wonder which way is right.

 

[whitex]

I'll grant you the other points, but a) these wheels are probably of a different grade than aftermarket knock-offs, and b) as I'm sure you know, the increase in diameter does not translate into a linear increase in either the material cost or the cost of manufacturing. The diff in surface area alone (i even considered the same rim width) is 24%. If you priced tires (retail) alone, the diff between 19 and 21 for a set would be > $1k.

I was curious, looked up two similar staggered wheels on tirerack, 20" MSW Type 41 - $280.52 for front/$290.52 for back, 21" MSW Type 48 $272.86 front/$282.97 for back, so actually tiny bit cheaper. I'm sure there might be slightly different amount of material (24% surface area diff, but the spokes are just an inch longer, there is just more space between them at the edge), etc. but if the same manufacturer is selling 20" and 21" at about the same price, it tells me there isn't a significant difference between 20" and 21" in cost, despite what some car manufacturers would have you believe.

Porsche prices have little to do with the cost (as do prices for a most businesses, costs just set the floor). If you compare the same options for different countries you will find they can vary quite a lot in price, for the very same Taycan option. Also, sometimes when you look at the option price vs. component price (from Porsche at Porsche pricing) you might scratch your head a little; for example the option for "Light Strip with Porsche Logo in Black" is $850. The entire set of 3 tail-lights for the back, yes with the logo in black, is $975. Actually, just the middle tail light part is, surprise, $850. In other words, you could buy a Taycan with stock tail-lights, then buy (retail) a second set of tail-lights with a logo in your color of choice for about the same price as upgrading at the factory build time. They bet it's not worth while for people to do the work in order to gain a set of spare tail-lights.

Last but not least, I'm sure there are quality differences between brand wheels, but IMO most of the price to consumer is the brand, the costs are not that different. In the end, the wheel must be balanced or else it will not work at all, and it must not break under usual driving stress (since in extreme situations all wheels will break, I've read on here about Taycan OEM wheels bending and requiring repair or replacement after dealing with Seattle potholes), and they should be visually appealing. I change my own wheels between winter and all-season tires, I must tell you, visually the aftermarket wheels I got my wife appear just as good quality as my Porsche OEM ones.

As for tire price difference, I think that is where majority of the cost for 19"-21" upgrade comes from. IMO the wheels cost difference are a very small part of the cost, tires are it. At volume, I can see Porsche paying $500 more for 21" vs. 19". I still say that Porsche total cost of the components to upgrade 19" to 21" is well under a $1,000, closer to $500.

 

[whitex]

Ask your Porsche to navigate to the local dealer. The car pronounces it Porsch.

Hmm... I haven't tried it, but if that's true, @Vercingetorix is about to ostracize his car from his garage.

Here in the USA you would be ostracized at any Porsche event for saying Porsch.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

I did not see a single clamp? The 'bowl of spaghetti" referenced in the video are hard pipes. This won't leak any more than the plumbing in your house..

My apologies, @blame.latitude - I took a closer look at the leading image, and indeed there's 2 bags of clamps right there, which will fail. On the bright side, they seem easily accessible. (Ask me sometime about the cooling and/or oiling routing on 944 turbos, Macans, 996s..)

 

[bsclywilly]

My apologies, @blame.latitude - I took a closer look at the leading image, and indeed there's 2 bags of clamps right there, which will fail. On the bright side, they seem easily accessible. (Ask me sometime about the cooling and/or oiling routing on 944 turbos, Macans, 996s..)

Coolant is operating at much lower temperatures and pressures than an ICE car so they may infact be well overbuilt.

 

[DynamoCappo]

I stopped watching the second he said Porsch.

Do you not have a problem with him pronouncing aluminium without the second "i" then?

If you're going to review parts, you better learn how to pronounce the metal properly.

 

[Vercingetorix]

Do you not have a problem with him pronouncing aluminium without the second "i" then?

If you're going to review parts, you better learn how to pronounce the metal properly.

I’m a Teamster and drive and complain about vehicles, the metal guys are a different union.

 

[TXSchnee]

I will throw my two cents in on the pronunciation debate. Since it is the founders last name, there certainly is a correct way to pronounce it. As someone with a very German maiden name, one that only native German speakers (and my German teachers in high school) can pronounce correctly, I would hate to have it stamped on the back of a vehicle and everyone deciding how they pronounce it is correct. Now if I was making Porsche margins, maybe I would be fine with you saying however you wanted.

 

[whitex]

I will throw my two cents in on the pronunciation debate. Since it is the founders last name, there certainly is a correct way to pronounce it. As someone with a very German maiden name, one that only native German speakers (and my German teachers in high school) can pronounce correctly, I would hate to have it stamped on the back of a vehicle and everyone deciding how they pronounce it is correct. Now if I was making Porsche margins, maybe I would be fine with you saying however you wanted.

Would your grandkids be willing to cancel all sales to people who cannot pronounce your last name? Would that be considered a good business decision by the shareholders?

The global village is shrinking fast. Languages and nationalities are mixing. Companies grow internationally and their names are pronounced differently in different regions. Such is life on an international entity.

Full disclosure, I have a very German last name. I have lived in a number countries in my life (never lived in Germany, don't speak German, only visited there twice in my whole life). People often don't pronounce it correctly, it never bothered me. But then again, I never get offended as a rule, since I believe getting offended is a losing proposition - either the other party did not intend to offend me, so I got offended for no reason, or the other party did intend to offend me, in which case getting offended is playing straight into their hand - logic says, getting offended is always a losing proposition. My wife and daughter tell me I'm too nice because I don't get offended, even though it has nothing to do with niceness, just plain pragmatic approach to life. Yes, I am an engineer.

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