or1
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- O
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2019
- Threads
- 10
- Messages
- 290
- Reaction score
- 545
- Location
- Norway
- Vehicles
- Taycan GTS ST
- Thread starter
- #1
We have recently taken delivery of a new car for my wife. It's a MY24 i4 M50 with Fully Charged option package, aventurine red metallic with black interior and some additional extras. There has been campaign pricing for this model in Norway, I think it is highly competitive price-wise. We looked, among others, at VW ID.4 too. A GTX would be less expensive, but I am not a friend of the interior there, and my wife prefers a lower car.
The i4 is a good driver's car, much more so than an ID, but not quite as enjoyable as my Taycan GTS. Perhaps 75% of a GTS at about half the price?
Practicalities: about as roomy as a Taycan, boot around Taycan sedan size, but no front boot. I think they definitely should have had one, but that is one of the downsides of a common platform for ICE and EV.
Interior is not Taycan level, neither in materials nor design in my opinion. My GTS has an extended leather interior (including door sills), the i4 has Merino leather seats and doors with some leather, the rest is high quality plastic. It feels ok.
It is very interesting to sample the prospective qualities of another car builder altogether, particularly in software, for comparisons. The i4 software and usability is a mixed bag. The big screen is nice to use, but its lack of integration into the dashboard looks a bit awkward. Screen elements and functionality are mostly fine, but I think all the "embellishments" are overdone. I prefer the clean Taycan style. In content they have plusses and minuses that even out.
It is odd that the i4 is not able to turn itself on automatically, it absolutely needs a press on the on/off button. On the other hand, it can lock itself when you leave it. And wonder over wonders: it remembers the drive mode! So much for all talk about that being illegal for homologation reasons.
The speed limit detection is clearly better in the i4. On my local roads Porsche (VAG) software sees many nonexistent 50 km/h zones, the i4 does not. But it is not flawless, it creates fake zones in a few other places where the GTS doesn't. All in all, none of them is ready to be relied on for automatic use.
Comfort and roadhandling: I think the GTS is better at both. But not by very much.
Steering: nothing beats the Porsche precision and feel, but our i4 is better for active driving, I think, than an Audi e-tron GT I have driven quite a lot.
Consumption: the i4 is still very new, but runs with about 15% lower Wh/km now than the GTS. They weigh about the same, but the i4 is narrower and shorter. The GTS has 21" Mission-E and the i4 has factory standard 18" rims, which is probably where much of the reason lies. This consumption advantage for the i4 I expect to last, and even improve a bit when the car is run in properly.
To sum up: a nice (apart from the front design) and enjoyable car. BMW have done a good job with it in my opinion, despite its several ICE concessions. I will borrow it from time to time. Driving it is fine, and coming back to the Taycan afterwards will feel even better.
The i4 is a good driver's car, much more so than an ID, but not quite as enjoyable as my Taycan GTS. Perhaps 75% of a GTS at about half the price?
Practicalities: about as roomy as a Taycan, boot around Taycan sedan size, but no front boot. I think they definitely should have had one, but that is one of the downsides of a common platform for ICE and EV.
Interior is not Taycan level, neither in materials nor design in my opinion. My GTS has an extended leather interior (including door sills), the i4 has Merino leather seats and doors with some leather, the rest is high quality plastic. It feels ok.
It is very interesting to sample the prospective qualities of another car builder altogether, particularly in software, for comparisons. The i4 software and usability is a mixed bag. The big screen is nice to use, but its lack of integration into the dashboard looks a bit awkward. Screen elements and functionality are mostly fine, but I think all the "embellishments" are overdone. I prefer the clean Taycan style. In content they have plusses and minuses that even out.
It is odd that the i4 is not able to turn itself on automatically, it absolutely needs a press on the on/off button. On the other hand, it can lock itself when you leave it. And wonder over wonders: it remembers the drive mode! So much for all talk about that being illegal for homologation reasons.
The speed limit detection is clearly better in the i4. On my local roads Porsche (VAG) software sees many nonexistent 50 km/h zones, the i4 does not. But it is not flawless, it creates fake zones in a few other places where the GTS doesn't. All in all, none of them is ready to be relied on for automatic use.
Comfort and roadhandling: I think the GTS is better at both. But not by very much.
Steering: nothing beats the Porsche precision and feel, but our i4 is better for active driving, I think, than an Audi e-tron GT I have driven quite a lot.
Consumption: the i4 is still very new, but runs with about 15% lower Wh/km now than the GTS. They weigh about the same, but the i4 is narrower and shorter. The GTS has 21" Mission-E and the i4 has factory standard 18" rims, which is probably where much of the reason lies. This consumption advantage for the i4 I expect to last, and even improve a bit when the car is run in properly.
To sum up: a nice (apart from the front design) and enjoyable car. BMW have done a good job with it in my opinion, despite its several ICE concessions. I will borrow it from time to time. Driving it is fine, and coming back to the Taycan afterwards will feel even better.
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