Taycan Electric Sport Sound, does it really affect range?

[David Bennett]

The tech expert at the dealership cautioned me that having the sound on will reduce range. I realize it takes some juice to run an amp and what amounts to some subwoofer action....but enough to really make much of a difference??? I'm quite skeptical. Any thoughts on that? I actually like the sound. In fact, if I had it my way, when we first fire-up the car I'd love to hear a profound deep sinister bass akin to what the Ghostbuster's hear when they fire-up those backpacks, which are claimed to be small thermo nuclear devices. I'd also have a big-ass double arm levered switch (like the Hummer H2 has) that you push forward as if engaging some heavy juice. Gotta have some fun with it! Thoughts?

Well Porsche doesn’t seem to think so. I drive with sound on a good proportion of the time and have never seen any change in the guess o meter when switching between on and off. Of course there will be some very minor impact.

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[Fish Fingers]

With low confidence in my own mental calculation- if we assume the external speakers require 200w to achieve the rumbly sporty sound, that would be around 4 miles off a full charge.

Its funny you should say about having low confidence in your own mathematical ability.

As I have got low confidence in your mathematical ability too.

?
*Joking!

 

[WuffvonTrips]

Its funny you should say about having low confidence in your own mathematical ability.

As I have got low confidence in your mathematical ability too.

?
*Joking!

That's what I get for being modest. ?
Here's the breakdown of my calculation...it's actually not my maths that I doubt, it's my usage of W and kWh-
240 miles at avg 30mph = 8hrs
200W for 8hrs = 1.6 kWh
1.6kWh = 1.91% of usable 83.7 kWh full charge
1.91% of 240 mile full charge range = 4.58 miles

 

[Archimedes]

OP, with a straight face, you should have asked him if listening to Motörhead used more range than Kenny G.

 

[nickmdp]

With low confidence in my own mental calculation- if we assume the external speakers require 200w to achieve the rumbly sporty sound, that would be around 4 miles off a full charge.

200 watts for a speaker would be pretty crazy high.

Even a fairly low efficiency speaker could reach 80 dB with just one watt from one meter away, and I wouldn't be surprised to find one capable of 100 dB. Assuming that Porsche doesn't change the volume of the sport sound, the EU regulation appears to be 71 dB when measured from 7.5m away (could be wrong here on the distance, but if anything the real value is less, which would only reduce the power needed), so we can set that for our target volume.

The distance of 7.5m vs 1m would reduce the dB by 17 or 18, so we would need about 97 dB. Going up by 10 dB requires 10 times the watts, and going up by 7 dB requires another 5 times the watts, bringing us to 97dB at 50 watts on a fairly inefficient speaker. This would mean that even if you're somehow doing full volume at all times, you would lose maybe 1000 feet per hour assuming you are around 300 wh/mile. Keep in mind that if Porsche has a decently efficient speaker of 90 dB @ 1 watt, those values are cut by a factor of 10.

In short, no, you will not notice a difference in range because of sport sound.

 

[Genau]

Perhaps the sales agent's logic was as follows. Sport+ is the only driving mode where sport sound is "on" by default. Range is reduced in sport+ mode. Therefore range is reduced when you hear sport sound.

 

[WuffvonTrips]

200 watts for a speaker would be pretty crazy high.

Even a fairly low efficiency speaker could reach 80 dB with just one watt from one meter away, and I wouldn't be surprised to find one capable of 100 dB. Assuming that Porsche doesn't change the volume of the sport sound, the EU regulation appears to be 71 dB when measured from 7.5m away (could be wrong here on the distance, but if anything the real value is less, which would only reduce the power needed), so we can set that for our target volume.

The distance of 7.5m vs 1m would reduce the dB by 17 or 18, so we would need about 97 dB. Going up by 10 dB requires 10 times the watts, and going up by 7 dB requires another 5 times the watts, bringing us to 97dB at 50 watts on a fairly inefficient speaker. This would mean that even if you're somehow doing full volume at all times, you would lose maybe 1000 feet per hour assuming you are around 300 wh/mile. Keep in mind that if Porsche has a decently efficient speaker of 90 dB @ 1 watt, those values are cut by a factor of 10.

In short, no, you will not notice a difference in range because of sport sound.

Well, your example of 1000 feet per hour could still be 1.5 miles per full charge.
I'd assumed that Sport Sound as broadcast externally is noticeably louder than standard and has far more bass than standard, so my 200W guesstimate includes the additional rear speaker, assuming it is more like a subwoofer for power consumption.

 

[f1eng]

I saved the weight of the faux sound gubbins by not selecting it so I’ll get a range gain

 

[Deleted member 7514]

In "range mode" the headlights actually dim slightly to use less power.

Range mode turns the passenger screen off - surely it would be about the same as a screen ?

 

[Vercingetorix]

Porsche engineers have pointed the speaker so it faces rearwards and provides thrust, negating most of the electrical losses.

 

[DerekS]

The tech expert at the dealership cautioned me that having the sound on will reduce range.

LOL

 

[Steve R]

I am no engineer but......

I think it could reduce your range on a full charge by as much as 20 feet.

So if you pull up at the end of your drive and can't get it into the garage, you will wish you had listened to the techie guy.
?

Good G-d man, you're talking about over 3,840 1/16th inches! That's some significant range reduction! : )

 

[Steve R]

I have four doors programmed with the Homelink … so at least four, don’t know the maximum…

Thank you, good info to know!

+1
+ make that (f**king) CarPlay finally reliable!

just came back from a short drive to,the store and back after 13 days of my illness.
CarPlay worked in the beginning, when i came back from store (10minutes), i just got “no device connected, connect new device….).
Since i didn’t have time for that, i just switched to AppleMusic….but no Caraplay icon anymore…

Yeah, is it just me or do setting you set also disappear between drives?

200 watts for a speaker would be pretty crazy high.

200 watts for a speaker would be pretty crazy high.

In short, no, you will not notice a difference in range because of sport sound.

Agreed but bass, provided by a subwoofer, definitely uses considerably more juice then typical speakers, it's literally enough energy to move a fairly heavy speaker but still, negligible in the grand scheme of things.

 

[David Bennett]

That's what I get for being modest. ?
Here's the breakdown of my calculation...it's actually not my maths that I doubt, it's my usage of W and kWh-
240 miles at avg 30mph = 8hrs
200W for 8hrs = 1.6 kWh
1.6kWh = 1.91% of usable 83.7 kWh full charge
1.91% of 240 mile full charge range = 4.58 miles

I did the same calculation but assumed 50w, and 250 miles at an average of 50mph (ie 5 hours). Not surprisingly mine showed a range reduction of less than 1 mile. It’s all about the assumptions, but whatever they are the range reduction is in the margins

 

[B61]

Yeah, is it just me or do setting you set also disappear between drives?

What kind of settings?

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