Long term Taycan owners: Are you still enjoying the car every day? Does it still feel special?

[f1eng]

no sports sound, shitty base brakes, etc.

One of the reasons I got a 4S is because I despise carbon fibre as cosmetic trim and know from my Formula 1 experience that cast Iron brakes are the best for a road car (functionally rather than cosmetically) and the GTS didn’t suit me in other ways.
The carbon-ceramic brakes would definitely be better for racing. Plated discs are not for me.

I have a car with a screaming V8 petrol engine for a good sound (in small short journey doses, natch) and the 4S was available without the crap faux noise generator

So the 4S suited me best and saved a few quid.

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[stonecold926]

My wife had a Lexus that the HUD was not visible whatsoever with polarized sunglasses on, even on the highest brightness. We have Audi has a HUD that shows up perfectly with the same sunglasses on. The Taycan HUD is fairly visible, right in between the other two and is quite usable with both Oakley and Maui Jim polarized.

The HUD on my BMW 640i was totally not visible when having polarized sunglasses on either. That's why I didnt option HUD on my Taycan cuz I feel it is practically useless, especially in California where there is barely a chance you don't wear shades while driving.

 

[007]

One of the reasons I got a 4S is because I despise carbon fibre as cosmetic trim and know from my Formula 1 experience that cast Iron brakes are the best for a road car (functionally rather than cosmetically) and the GTS didn’t suit me in other ways.
The carbon-ceramic brakes would definitely be better for racing. Plated discs are not for me.

I have a car with a screaming V8 petrol engine for a good sound (in small short journey doses, natch) and the 4S was available without the crap faux noise generator

So the 4S suited me best and saved a few quid.

Either one of us is probably not using much of our brakes, except at the stop sign. So yes, I’m the idiot with the overpriced carbons. But then again, I bought my TTS used and saved a ton on initial depreciation.

I have to say, coming from a base MY09 Cayenne, the cayenne’s standard brakes were the worst in any car that I’ve ever had. Not only did they squeak at slow speeds, but also on the freeway they had a high pitched noise when NOT used. In the winter/snow/rain, they often had no initial grip after 20+ mins of no use (ie freeway)… scary as s**t in certain situations. Even after replacing all rotors and pads, same sounds, same performance. And the Porsche folks always explaining that this is normal, not covered under warranty.

No squeaks with the carbons now. And they seem to work rain and shine.

Yes, noise is fake now. But no need to fill up at the gas station to make “real” overpriced noise and smoke. And coming back from 2 months in central California with all these loud pickups, my fake noises are better than the tacky real ones.

Carbon exterior bits not necessary, but nicer than plastic, of course in my opinion.

End of the day, everyone’s happy with their own. I plan to drive this thing into the ground.

 

[EddieD]

I have HUD on Range Rover and the Discovery but my biggest gripe is that if you wear sunglasses it's almost impossible to see hence why did not order on Taycan as presumed would be the same but in hindsight that may not be the case

If you wear non polarized sunglasses they're no problem seeing HUD.

 

[diegomedinaf]

Highly opted ‘23 RWD owner.
Only regret better brakes.
I feel like standard brakes could be better, maybe because im running 21’s.
Other than that I enjoy my car every single drive.

 

[irrelevant]

Polarized sunglasses suck.

 

[charliemathilde]

Seems overly positive from all the responses. So it doesn’t have anyone looking for something else to scratch the itch

No car is perfect for all people in all conditions. The 911 TTS comes the closest, to me, but being a jack of all trades sports car is also master of none.

the taycan is just outstanding as a daily driver with rush hour traffic. So comfortable, quiet, smooth, fast. No clutch slip at low stop and go speeds. Infinite torque. Get the massage seats, adaptive cruise control, air suspension, and a nice sound system.

It’s like someone turned your own personal roller coaster into a Mercedes S class.

it pairs nicely with a manual NA cayman or 911, or a straight up supercar for the times when you don’t need a daily and want more drama

 

[jimithing]

About 18 months, 22k miles on my turbo. I've had my share of headaches, including a failed HV heater. Problems aside, it's an ideal daily driver & it's big enough to fit my 8 & 5 yo kids. They also love it.

Small gripes:
-Gets a bit more attention in the carpoollone than I'd like.
- triangle shape of the back end of the trunk makes no sense to me & greatly reduces usable space.
- lack of sunshade is a PITA driving between 11am & 1pm on a sunny day. I might put heavier tint on the roof.

 

[dtich]

Polarized sunglasses suck.

Well, they are very useful when you want them. And somewhat amazing for such a simple principle -- they are meant to cancel glare and because glare is often horizontally polarized light from reflections, it usually works quite well. One of the side effects of this is that other, similarly polarized, light is caught up in the net. Because they work on the reflection principle as well, it is fairly understandable that many HUD systems will be blocked. In addition, light from LCD screens is by necessity polarized as that is how those screens function, they often suffer as well.

One thing to know is that all polarization isn't equal. The angle matters very much, and the angle differs from manufacturer to manufacturer, and even glass to glass, even though I believe they all intend to block horizontal light and pass vertical. So, you will find that some polarized lenses will work fine with your HUD and some won't. Depends on the relative angle of the screens (the 'grid' that keeps one angle of light polarization from passing). Try holding your glasses up in front of you and rotate them. You will see the image fade from bright to dark as the relative angles coalesce and spread and one polarization is held out. This will largely be seen on parts of the image with reflected highlights, as this light has had its polarization rotated by dint of being reflected. This is the main purpose of the lenses.

Unfortunately, there is no consumer-facing quantitative scale for polarization in the sunglass world, so you can't simply determine which angles work best and order those. It is basically a layer of film applied during lamination and up to the manufacturer how they do it. I suppose some do it very reliably oriented to the axis of the lenses and some are less well oriented.... In any case, they have their uses.

I myself have some sunnys that are polarized and some that aren't. The ones for the car are, and I simply rotate my head a little if I need to read something I can't, but the ones for the motorcycles are not because it would be too dangerous to rotate my head just to see my instruments, which are LCD. YMMV.

 

[Dee]

Thanks for all the replies. Is the turbo S worth it over the turbo? I have driven both but they were months apart from one another. Used prices have gotten very attractive lately

With the Turbo people want to race you at the traffic light.
With the Turbo S they don't.
That's all.

Other thingy: having PCCBs for no reason at all other than cool tech without being worried you have to replace them is very nice too (and they're huge!).

 

[WuffvonTrips]

Thanks for all the replies. Is the turbo S worth it over the turbo? I have driven both but they were months apart from one another. Used prices have gotten very attractive lately

I recently drove both variants back to back (alternating 5 lap sessions for a total of 4 sessions) on a fast track. With the Turbo optioned to match the Turbo S's performance spec (RAS, PDCC, PCCB & 21" wheels), I couldn't discern any difference in feel, handling, lap time or point speedchecks. (Caveats- that was my first proper track experience, I was pushing it but inconsistently hitting braking points and apexes from one lap to the next, but overall there was no trend favouring one variant over the other. Also, I didn't experience Launch Control.)
I can't answer the "worth it?" question- that would need a comparison of the optioned price of each variant, consideration of relative depreciation, and noting all the other additional features of the Turbo S, plus of course how much you value the top-dog additional "S" and its badging (including any unique features such as the CT's gloss black wheel arch trims).

 

[f1eng]

I couldn't discern any difference in feel, handling, lap time or point speedchecks.

I think this would be expected from the specifications.

The Turbo S only superior specification is the boost power for launch control.
No launch control used, no difference experienced, no surprise.

I suppose we don’t know if there is a sudden throttle opening at very low speed which may trigger the boost even if launch control isn’t selected, nobody has claimed it does though.

 

[WuffvonTrips]

I think this would be expected from the specifications.
The Turbo S only superior specification is the boost power for launch control.
No launch control used, no difference experienced, no surprise.

Indeed, though Porsche's seeming willful vagueness of some product descriptions left me unsure until I had the opportunity to try it.

I suppose we don’t know if there is a sudden throttle opening at very low speed which may trigger the boost even if launch control isn’t selected, nobody has claimed it does though.

I did get to floor the Turbo S from a standing start multiple times (in order to practise outbraking the ABS), for which I didn't use Launch Control because even in my Turbo it's not a sensation that I enjoy repeatedly. The Turbo S without LC felt the same as my Turbo without LC, so I assume it wasn't deploying the extra boost, but I'll keep an open mind until we see timings (for reference, IIRC I previously timed my a YouTube roadtested a Turbo at 0.2s longer to 62 without LC).
(edited for Brainfart)

 

[Caraholic]

Anyone hear the burmester back to back with the Bose? I was holding out for this but wondering if this one option may not be worth passing on an otherwise great spec car.

 

[bxwatso]

I love the car. For me, the best thing is the car is both:
1. screamingly fast with great handling and sport-car feel, and
2. lovely and smooth-riding.
It does it all for me. The only criticism is that you can feel the weight sometimes.

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