Porsche Taycan – elegance and speed

Porsche Taycan

From the first announcements, the Porsche Taycan has been compared to the Tesla Model S, although its closer rival is the Model 3 Performance. Both cars have basically the same wheelbases (a difference of 0.9 inch in favor of the Porsche), the same performance, practically the same top speed (160 and 161 mph in Tesla)[257 kph and 260 kph], trunks of similar capacity. Both are also sedans that pretend to be liftbacks.

Until it begs to ask if it is worth paying extra for the Porsche. The problem is that, in my opinion, no one should be asking this question. Taycan and Model 3 (or Model S) are aimed at completely different people. They give a completely different driving experience. They seem to fulfill the same tasks, but these are not alternatives. These are different worlds.

Eye-catching

Park your Taycan anywhere and questions will arise. Nothing unusual. Although it is a four-door sedan, it has the proportions of a mid-engined supercar. The low roofline (Taycan is less than 4.5ft high), clearly defined, muscular wheel arches, large wheels and lights as if taken out of the concept make it impossible to pass by indifferently. At the same time, you know from the very first moment that this is just a sports car. You can feel the same inside

You don’t fall into the driver’s seat, as you do in the 911 or 718. Here you just sit low. The cabin wraps passengers and gives a sense of security. In front of you is a steering wheel familiar from other Porsche models, followed by a curved display that shows the most important driving indicators. The second display is at the top of the center console. The third is in the bottom. The fourth one on the rear part of the armrest – serves to operate the air conditioning for rear passengers. The fifth is an option and is located just in front of the front passenger. It’s easy to get lost in this.

What’s more..

There are no physical switches in the Taycan. There are several on the steering wheel, there is a direction selector (taken alive from the 911 and… VW Golf 8) and there is a button to turn off the car. No, it’s not a typo – the Taycan turns on as soon as the driver takes his seat. Then all the screens on the front come to life and you can start rummaging through them. Spoiling a bit, the continuation of the test: the multimedia system and the way the car is operated is its biggest disadvantage.

Changing things as simple as the cabin temperature requires taking your eyes off the road. Do you want to change the airflow direction? Here you go: on the lower screen you have to click on the air conditioning menu, then on the upper screen you set where the air should blow. Ridiculously. Added to this is the lack of consistency. The lower screen uses technology from Audi that requires a physical press to select an item. The one at the top doesn’t have it. As a result, the simplest tasks in taycan took me much longer than it should have been. Porsche will say that you can always use the voice assistant, but this one takes a lot of patience, although I admit that once I was able to call who I wanted.

Is the Taycan a good sport car?

Two motors are used to drive it, each of them transmitting power to “its” axle: one is at the front, the other at the rear. Together, they generate 680 hp of power and 850 Nm of maximum torque.

I can’t imagine anyone needing a car faster than the Taycan. And I do not mean only its acceleration to the hundred. Driving it resembles a computer game. You turn the wheels, hit the gas, and the car just goes where you want it to go. Without hesitating.

There are so many levels of grip here that I was indulging in things that I would have been afraid to do, driving a 911, for example. I just felt that the car could handle it all. This, in turn, makes the pace very dangerous very quickly. While driving this car, you are tempted to do stupid things that will end up in a harmless collision at best.

You really have to overdo it in the corner for the Taycan to want to change the track – it may then have a slight tendency to roll forward. However, this is a matter of weight, which is over 2.3 tons. Porsche engineers can use the most advanced solutions, but physics will not change. You can feel it also with very abrupt lane changes and braking.

It’s like, better than Tesla?

Not better. Different. Tesla makes family cars for the masses. That is why in these cars it is emphasized that they are spacious, safe and easy to use. You buy them over the Internet, and if something is missing, you can write to Elon Musk on Twitter. If he’s having a good day, the feature you wanted in your tesla might come up in the next update. Yes, Tesla cars are fast too, but they don’t drive as well as cars from Europe. Even the Model 3, which drives much better than its older brothers, lags behind the Jaguar I-Pace or the BMW 3 Series. Is that a problem? No. Because it is not a sports car, but a family car. In addition, Tesla must also take care of an attractive price, so it makes compromises in many places.

Tesla Model 3 vs. Porsche Taycan

This is not the case with Porsche. Here, customers are ready to spend a lot on a car, because they know that for the money they have to pay, they get an engineering masterpiece. When you buy a Taycan, you will not be disappointed. It is an absolutely uncompromising car. Comfortable when it needs to be comfortable. Brutally fast when you hit the accelerator. Crazy effective when it comes to cornering. Wonderfully soothing as you swallow the miles of freeway. Driving it, I didn’t think about the Tesla Model 3, which is definitely my favorite car. There was a Jaguar I-Pace in my head.

Like the British electrician, the Taycan gives the impression of a car whose main feature is not that it is electrically powered. In both cases, it felt as if the engineers just wanted to make the best car in the world: fastest, most comfortable, most practical. And while the Jaguar is great, Porsche has raised the bar even higher.

See also official website of Porsche Taycan.