GTS Ride Quality with or without Active Ride

[SoccerMan94043]

Car and Driver did a great test to show this:
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a63410460/ride-quality-test/

Final graphic from that article shows how PAR greatly reduced low frequency (<4Hz) changes, but doesn't do much better than traditional suspension for higher frequency shaking and buzzes:

From that article (which I really like and haven't seen, so thank you @TehPenguin!), after comparing the different cars back to back, it stated this "The worse the road, the better the Taycan feels."

That's a pretty powerful statement.

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[taycan_ct]

Also interested in hearing people’s thoughts to this post on Instagram by Matt Farah (TheSmokingTire), claiming the GTS with AR is on par with the Turbo GT’s agility & makes his CT4 J1.1 feel like driving a waterbed.

 

[prj]

Car and Driver did a great test to show this:
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a63410460/ride-quality-test/

Final graphic from that article shows how PAR greatly reduced low frequency (<4Hz) changes, but doesn't do much better than traditional suspension for higher frequency shaking and buzzes:

But it's not the job of PAR to do that.
The PAR replaces the spring not the damper. The job of PAR is to keep the body level, so larger motion.

The high frequency stuff is the stiffness of the bushings, the amount of tyre on the wheel and the dampers, also the ARB's (but absent with PAR). Since the car is setup somewhat sporty, then all that can't be like on e.g. a MB S-Class or other float-o-barge.

The most comfortable ride is on a CT with 20" wheels. It is much better in all respects than my Audi S8 was, it is honestly quite close to the S-class comfort wise.

 

[Gkwan]

Why did you assume there was a wheel size difference. While that may be true, it's not clear to me based on the OP.

Edit: Answered my own question here... it was from a different post. I agree the ride is softer on 20s than 21s and specific tires may also have some impact. Porsche has this in the marketing for the GTS, but it's hard to know what's really different:

I suspect AR is doing more dampening than that, based on the Panamera videos, but it's hard to know how they've tweaked in the Taycan GTS.

thanks for this by the way, in the video it's quite obvious the Active Ride is doing a great job at keeping the car "stable" (?)

 

[Gkwan]

Absolutely not.
I actually have a car with AR. @Mr.Smith is telling you exactly the same thing, and he also has a car with AR.
Ask anyone that has AR on their car - it massively increases comfort. Especially in the UK where you have speed bumps every 50 meters the difference is going to be massive.

No offence but how about actually driving one?
You can literally go over speed humps at almost twice the speed with less body movement. Not to mention heavy cornering or acceleration feels completely neutral.

As for performance - I am coming from a Turbo S with PDCC. Before flooring the car in normal made it squat like mad, with AR even in normal it's completely flat. Not as much difference in cornering (the PDCC was doing some heavy lifting), but a massive upgrade in comfort.

As for GTS being stiffer - at least on J1.1 going from a Turbo to a GTS and driving them both back to back I barely noticed the difference. It's very minor.
What OP is describing here is 100% the difference between the Dynamics package that has 21" extra sporty tyres vs 20" on PS4. That difference is absolutely massive. It's also why the Sporty tyres are a separate option, they're even stiffer than the normal 21". Would not recommend unless you live in an area with perfect roads.

Thanks @prj so if I understand correctly, the maximum comfort on everyday roads in the city, as well as good handling in the countryside is : Cross Turismo MY25 or later + 20'' tires + Active Ride ?
Will it be as good with a J1.2 sedan ? (I really don't like the look of the CT :-( ).
In other words : which J1.2 sedan version is going to be the most comfortable with 20" + AR ?

 

[prj]

Thanks @prj so if I understand correctly, the maximum comfort on everyday roads in the city, as well as good handling in the countryside is : Cross Turismo MY25 or later + 20'' tires + Active Ride ?

Maximum comfort is indeed CT J1.2 + 20" + PAR. This is because the CT has more suspension travel.

Will it be as good with a J1.2 sedan ? (I really don't like the look of the CT :-( ).
In other words : which J1.2 sedan version is going to be the most comfortable with 20" + AR ?

Anything except the GTS and Turbo GT. The CT is always going to be softer than the Sedan.

 

[TehPenguin]

But it's not the job of PAR to do that.
The PAR replaces the spring not the damper. The job of PAR is to keep the body level, so larger motion.

The high frequency stuff is the stiffness of the bushings, the amount of tyre on the wheel and the dampers, also the ARB's (but absent with PAR). Since the car is setup somewhat sporty, then all that can't be like on e.g. a MB S-Class or other float-o-barge.

100% agree - I'm not saying that this is a failing of PAR, it's doing exactly what it was designed to do, and doing a great job at it.

But when folks ask if they should get PAR, that article and graphic does a good job as setting expectations for the Taycan's suspension as a whole feels like. The data shows exactly what you've been saying: big movements get evened out, sharper/faster bumps transfer through (so you still need sidewall to absorb them).

 

[taycan_ct]

Will a Taycan with 20’’ alloys potentially not handle as well due to the less wide tyres compared to 21’’?

 

[prj]

Will a Taycan with 20’’ alloys potentially not handle as well due to the less wide tyres compared to 21’’?

Yes, but I'd argue that unless you're tracking it, it's not going to matter too much.

 

[SoccerMan94043]

It's better to look good than feel good. And 21" RS Spyders look mah-velous.

 

[Fun TC Driving]

21” RS SPyders are great looking but if either you travel a lot on bad roads, or have a driving partner that doesn’t like their vehicle to be firmly spring…

 

[Avantgarde]

21” RS SPyders are great looking but if either you travel a lot on bad roads, or have a driving partner that doesn’t like their vehicle to be firmly spring…

Odd fact on tires, 21 inch rears have the lowest overall tire diameter. 2.7% smaller than the 20 inches. Was not expecting them to exactly match but this is a surprisingly large difference, means the 21 inch set up will have a slightly higher tractive force

 

[dcp10]

21” RS SPyders are great looking but if either you travel a lot on bad roads, or have a driving partner that doesn’t like their vehicle to be firmly spring…

I think we're all agreed that Active Ride is a great idea! The issue is ride comfort at slower speeds on less-than-ideal roads (e.g., much of the UK) - and clearly 20-inch wheels give more leeway. The big question for me is whether that would then ruin the sharp, responsive steering I experienced in my GTS test drive (PAR + 21-inch performance tyres)?

To get the best steering feel without compromising low-speed ride comfort, should I either:

(a) Configure a GTS with PAR + 20-inch wheels;

or

(b) Go for a fully-loaded 4S with PAR + 21-inch wheels?

As I've noted before, I was underwhelmed by a J1.1 4S fitted with 20-inch wheels. I think the GTS has its own special magic, but I don't know how much of this is wheels vs steering rack settings. @prj?

Thanks again for all the great feedback!

 

[prj]

If ride comfort factors into it significantly, then always 20". Just takes the harshness/edge off.

I see no point in the GTS then though. The steering feel is not going to be any different between a GTS and a 4S with PAR. Just set the 4S into sport or sport plus then ...

In fact I'd say there's like no difference in steering feel itself between a J1.1 GTS and my CT4 with PAR, just the J1.1 GTS suspension is unnecessarily harsh in comparison due to the stiff ARB's.

As to how the car reacts to turn-in - with PAR it's completely neutral anyway. Like having the stiffest ARB's in the world, but without paying the price. The 21" is more grippy though - but again, on the road I don't think the difference between 20" and 21" in performance will be something that's relevant.

Generally on the J1.2 I'd say the sweet spot by FAR bang for the buck wise is the 4S Black Edition. Don't want to offend anyone but GTS seems kinda pointless unless you like the alcantara inside. Because the next step is really the Turbo with the different body kit.
This is completely the opposite of J1.1 where the GTS with the larger rear motor, plentiful standard options and the smaller price tag was by far the best price/quality model in the lineup.

 

[dcp10]

In fact I'd say there's like no difference in steering feel itself between a J1.1 GTS and my CT4 with PAR, just the J1.1 GTS suspension is unnecessarily harsh in comparison due to the stiff ARB's.

As to how the car reacts to turn-in - with PAR it's completely neutral anyway. Like having the stiffest ARB's in the world, but without paying the price. The 21" is more grippy though - but again, on the road I don't think the difference between 20" and 21" in performance will be something that's relevant.

Generally on the J1.2 I'd say the sweet spot by FAR bang for the buck wise is the 4S Black Edition. Don't want to offend anyone but GTS seems kinda pointless unless you like the alcantara inside. Because the next step is really the Turbo with the different body kit.

This is really useful feedback - thanks.

However, there was a really big difference in steering feel between a J1.1 4S and the J1.2 GTS I drove… Maybe it was simply the stiffer rubber on the GTS car's 21-inch performance tyres? But even in Sport or Sport Plus I simply couldn't get the 4S to replicate this. Can this really just be the tyres - or does the GTS simply have more direct steering?

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