Conquering Mount Taycan

[DerekS]

If you’ve followed my TX->CA road trip thread you might have seen this picture:

This is the driveway at my new home, which (so far) I’ve been afraid to attempt in the Taycan. When I rolled up on the edge it felt like I was going to drive right off into an abyss!

So far I’ve been parking at the top of the hill, but that’s not sustainable.

Last night my fearless friend rolled up with her Lexus 350e and just YOLO’d straight down the thing and right back up, with no issue and no scrapes.

This got me analyzing cars, wheelbases, and ride hight.

Lexus (her car): 9ft 3in wheelbase, 5in ground clearance

Ok, how will my wife’s new Model 3 compare to that?

2024 Model 3: 9ft 5in wheelbase, 5in ground clearance

Ok. Blood pressure going down. Her car is only 2 inches longer, so that will probably make it.
Now let’s look at the Taycan GTS.

2023 Taycan GTS: 9ft 6in wheelbase, 5.83in clearance (5 without smart lift)

This was a surprise. All 3 cars have the same 5 inch ground clearance, but with smart lift it makes the Taycan the tallest of the bunch! I have 3 inches longer wheelbase than the car that made it and 1 inch longer than the Tesla.

Doing the math on this has lowered my blood pressure considerably. I’ll still want a spotter the first time, but we’ll see how it goes.

I have really high confidence the Tesla will be fine, and if that’s fine it’s just a +1 inch delta on mine.

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[violuma]

Welcome to the neighborhood!

I had to check out the road trip thread to understand that I hadn't gone totally crazy, because I looked at that photo and thought "wow, that looks pretty similar to my street".

I convinced a downhill neighbor to come test out my charger, which got installed while my Taycan was still swimming across the Atlantic, which was true as it goes, but I also wanted to see if I had anything to worry about in terms of ground clearance, because I've got some steep angles into the driveway and crazy narrow roads too.

Turned out that was a good strategy, because she bottomed out on the first attempt, but had no problems once the suspension was raised. I was worried I might actually have to back out of the deal if it couldn't enter the driveway safely even when lifted.

I'm also on the downhill side of the street, but my driveway then slopes up from the road, which is a good thing for flooding concerns, but less so for cars with tight ground clearance.

 

[DerekS]

Welcome to the neighborhood!

I had to check out the road trip thread to understand that I hadn't gone totally crazy, because I looked at that photo and thought "wow, that looks pretty similar to my street".

I convinced a downhill neighbor to come test out my charger, which got installed while my Taycan was still swimming across the Atlantic, which was true as it goes, but I also wanted to see if I had anything to worry about in terms of ground clearance, because I've got some steep angles into the driveway and crazy narrow roads too.

Turned out that was a good strategy, because she bottomed out on the first attempt, but had no problems once the suspension was raised. I was worried I might actually have to back out of the deal if it couldn't enter the driveway safely even when lifted.

I'm also on the downhill side of the street, but my driveway then slopes up from the road, which is a good thing for flooding concerns, but less so for cars with tight ground clearance.

This makes me feel less crazy that it wasn’t just me concerned with things like this.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

A quick search for the breakover angle of the Taycan (i assume this is what worries you, as opposed to approach or departure) yielded zero results, surprisingly difficult to find. I’m not (anywhere) near my car atm, but I’m pretty sure the user manual has this info.

 

[DerekS]

A quick search for the breakover angle of the Taycan (i assume this is what worries you, as opposed to approach or departure) yielded zero results, surprisingly difficult to find. I’m not (anywhere) near my car atm, but I’m pretty sure the user manual has this info.

I was unfamiliar with that term, but googling it I found a calculator for it:

 

[bluesky]

Breakover angle is listed in the “technical specs” for the model listings on the Porsche website or also in the configurator. once you have ”technical specs”, it’s under “Terrain Features”.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

Breakover angle is listed in the “technical specs” for the model listings on the Porsche website or also in the configurator. once you have ”technical specs”, it’s under “Terrain Features”.

I thought I remembered seeing it. I’m currently traveling, and porsche.com serves a market-specific page which only lists the approach angle. (And I didn’t bother checking the US site.)

 

[DerekS]

It turned out OK. The Model 3 made it with no issue, and after doing the math to see I have +1 inch wheelbase and +0.85 lift, I had the confidence to try the Taycan.

It's not fun going up and down that steep hill, but it somehow works!

 

[Hirschaj]

It turned out OK. The Model 3 made it with no issue, and after doing the math to see I have +1 inch wheelbase and +0.85 lift, I had the confidence to try the Taycan.

It's not fun going up and down that steep hill, but it somehow works!

The left side of your garage is beautiful.

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