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

[TehPenguin]

Porsche's obsession with low-profile tires certainly doesn't help with the road noise.

Sponsored

 

[Dee]

I've heard the sound of the shifting and it's quite convincing.
Very well done but then again, would you wear a fake Rolex?

At least the original two-speed Sport Sound is enhanced, it's not fake.
I prefer that cuz it gives the Taycan it's unique sound and character.
I'm engaged all of the time, what are they talking about anyway?!

 

[Hirschaj]

I've heard the sound of the shifting and it's quite convincing.
Very well done but then again, would you wear a fake Rolex?

At least the original two-speed Sport Sound is enhanced, it's not fake.
I prefer that cuz it gives the Taycan it's unique sound and character.
I'm engaged all of the time, what are they talking about anyway?!

I wouldn't hesitate to wear a fake Rolex, but I have no intention of ever doing so. I'm not sure what that says about me, nor do I care.

 

[Crazymind]

That sound is actually not fake. It’s highly smart engineered live sound rather than prerecorded.
The same way engineers tune the exhaust note, porsche has tied the noise to the rear engine and gearbox, using a synthesizer and played through the speakers. The shifter is a simulation… so it is the world where we live…

 

[Dee]

That sound is actually not fake.

The shifting is fake though, so is the sound.
I don't like fake.
A gearbox is there to compensate the shortcomings of an ice engine.
Why would you carry that into an EV?
It's just stupid.

 

[f1eng]

What would be the alternative to a multi ratio gearbox though?
I thought CVTs aren't compatible with high torque engines.

I don't really understand your question.
CVTs are so much objectively better than the multi ratio gearbox needed for a piston engined car they were banned in Formula 1, but more expensive.
It is the fact that a piston engined car has such a narrow power band it needs multiple ratios. For me that is a shortcoming of all piston engined cars not suffered by EVs, hence a bug, but I am forever reading and seeing videos of journalists drooling over manual gearboxes as if they were a feature, to use software nomenclature.

 

[f1eng]

DAF Varomatic (rubber band car) perhaps.. remember those??

There was a similar but more complex system where the "belt" was a string of profiled compression links on a steel band, it was used on some cars but was expensive, and the Formula 1 version was banned before it raced.

 

[f1eng]

I'd like to see how long people continue to 'use' this feature once the novelty has run out.

When I had a demo of the Taycan the sales person demonstrated the sound and I put up with it for about a minute, decided it was totally pointless and did not put it on my spec and have never regretted it.

 

[Crazymind]

It’s pointless from an engineering point of view. However some people (including me) find seamless EV torque emotionally flat and want the rhythm back. It’s an honest entertainment feature, not a pretend necessity.

 

[f1eng]

Tyre noise on 911 and Taycan is probably because the suspension mounts are relatively stiff for fast response and handling and therefore transmit noise to the structure more effectively.
Some nice soggy rubber bushes would fix it but it would "fix" the handling and response too.

 

[PorscheTaycan]

For some it’s a transitional comfort feature for people who are accustomed to and enjoy driving ICE cars switching to an EV. I bet if the technology was available during the turn of the century the first cars would have had fake galloping noises and bounced up and down higher at faster speeds lol.

 

[Dee]

and I'd like to see how long people continue to 'use' this feature once the novelty has run out.

I always drive with the Sport Sound on, 6 years already.
It engages me in the driving so Porsche is right about that.
I just love the downshifting with actual rev matching, it's real sound but enhanced and underlayered unlike the new Virtual E-Shift Sound which is totally made up.
The horror!

 

[PorscheTaycan]

I always drive with the Sport Sound on

Same here. Love it.

 

[bluesky]

Currently driving 2025 BMW i5 M60. It’s very quiet, quieter than Taycan. There is no RPM or speed related motor or mechanical sounds, no transmission. There is some road noise depending on surface, and also lack of double-paned side windows lets freeway noise in the side windows, though I don’t drive much on freeway.

I really love the quietude. I find that despite having emphasized music capability in my previous cars, I don’t really listen to music that much now, even during canyon carving when I liked to have a rhythm playing. The Hans ZImmer fake engine noises are turned off of course, and I just can’t imagine anyone really wanting to mess up the spaceship environment with ridiculous fake ICE noises.

That said, I do see the appeal of some extra driver involvement in terms of driving controls. EVs require no shifting, and unlike ICE cars with automatics (that can be put into sport mode and/or dropped into a manual shifting mode), most EV’s don’t have any other extra little bit of dancing besides the standard two pedals and the wheel.

So initially I thought the E-shift concept was silly, but actually I would consider it. Though really just for the shifting aspect, and I would want to turn off the engine rev noises.

 

[Fun TC Driving]

We look forward to our 2027 Taycan GTS having E-shift. If others choose not, or even actively hate the thought/concept of it, nice that Porsche has provided another option to choose “yes or no” from.

Sponsored