whojoemama

I drove the car for about 20 minutes. It was a bit of a skinny build, no rear axle steering. First impressions:

Overall: its very definitely a Porsche — inside and outside. I think its better looking in person, the car i drove was black/black. Comments that people have made like "its more like a four door 911 than a small Panamera" are largely true. It's a compact sports sedan. 9/10

Interior: very comfortable up front, just enough room in back for a six-footer. you wouldn’t want to be much taller, nor be back there for more than a couple of hours. 9/10

Acceleration: simply fantastic, just as good as advertised. Throttle control was excellent and required no adjustments. 10/10

Handling: handles incredible considering the weight. 10/10

Steering: input was excellent, however it seemed to go from light to quite heavy at +/- 30 degrees from center. it was a meaningful distraction at first but very noticeable at the end. It felt like i was encountering torque steer while under acceleration; however i think that was caused by the lane change assist that was trying to keep my in my lane. I turned off the nanny systems and i think that improved it quite a bit or eliminated it. 8/10

Braking: this was a disappointment. it was my first time in a car with regenerative braking, but wow. I hit the brakes very hard numerous times and wanted to see what they could do. Did not feel like Porsche brakes. Stopping power was soft and weak. I did not get a chance to turn off the regen, but this is kind of necessary in order to get any range out of the car. When i got in the car I thought PCCBs would be a waste of money, but after this short time, i’m actually considering it. Definitely need to do some more research here. 6/10

Summary: would be a great daily driver if the range works for you. Not the same ballpark as a Panamera — completely different —and spend the $500 to get the synthetic sound. Its [not] surprisingly important to have some kind of audible feedback on the drive. Overall assessment: 8.5/10. Amazing achievement by Porsche, helluva car. Was planning to wait for v2.0 but maybe now i’m going to get this car.

Carrera GT

Braking is exacerbated by mass -- over 5000lbs.
FWIW in a Tesla, the lack of feedback to sense speed goes away soon enough and you develop more seat-of-the-pants (for grip and handling) and more sensitive awareness of nvh for speed. You also pretty much stop looking at the dash and screens, there's nothing there other than the speedo (and who ever looks at that?!)
Thanks for the early drive first-hand.
I want to see Porsche resolve the range question, but I'm still keen to drive an EV that's not a Tesla (a horrible company from the perspective of ownership experience.)

vcp13

Also drove it. It's absolutely beautiful; might be the most beautiful production car ever, especially with mission e wheels! I didn't hit twisties sadly, can't comment on handling. . It's fast, but so is my model 3 performance.Damn it... Tesla made the cockpit view over the dash and hood more Porsche-like than Porsche.

Eventually this will be great, until then I'll keep the M3P at 1/3 the cost.

Carrera GT

One third? You paid a lot for your 3P! : )
I have one, too, paid "full" price as a trusting early adopter only to see Tesla cut the price by $10K ... they sent a check for $5K ... even with the tax credit, still, not okay with Tesla pocketed the tax and killing resale value ... a double-whammy of high depreciation and high cost of ownership.
Maybe the Plaid S will be in the 1.9's 0-60 ... but I like the 1000lb lighter 3, so I think I'll keep the 3P, get the Taycan and see which one is more of a track car (obviously the 3 wins out on range, utility, price, value, weight ...)

evilfij

Thanks to Porsche of the Main Line (love those guys so much) I drive one today as well. Turbo, not an S. Stupid fast is the best way I can describe it. And it hooked up in 25 degree weather on 20in all seasons. Neck snapping when you goose it at 30mph or even at a stop. Feels like a supercharged V8 on steroids, not a high reving NA or turbo engine. Instant torque. Handling was not as bad as I was thinking it would be. Feeling the trans shift was actually odd and oddly satisfying. Ride was good, firm but not filling rattling like my GT3. Interior was well done. Very porsche all around. I predict it will be a big success once the non-$175k plus cars start rolling in.

electric sound is the most needed option. It is very well done and turns the experience on its head as it is not a super quiet car so I found the road noise without electric sound very off putting and the electric sound gives good feedback as to what the car is doing. Innodrive was also very nice (once we figured out how to turn off the speed limiter which would not let the car go past 35mph in a 35mph zone). Those are two must tick options.

Disappointment was that the back seat is very small, made worse by the fact that the one I drove had the four seater configuration. A panny executive this is not. It’s really quite tight on legroom back there such that, unless you and your passengers are short, it’s not a great vehicle for more than two adults (I say this owning only one vehicle out of nine — a long wheelbase nav super V8 — with a functional back seat and that is what a Taycan would replace so it is a big issue for me).

Wilsontour

Future930

Drove one as well. Turbo not S. Currently drive M3P as a DD. Taycan looked a lot better in person. Breaks were a bit of a disappointment. Felt a little mushy and car is very heavy and hides the weight well but not with the breaks. We had 70 miles left on range. 2 people in the car. I’ve done one pull 0-60 with the draggy.

svp6

How does it feel compared to the 3 - in terms of size? One previous reviewer said it felt smaller inside - which I thought was surprising given it is a larger car.

Future930

I didn’t try the back seat. It was a 4 seat car configuration. I would say it does feel a little smaller, seats are a lot more bolstered than M3. Not uncomfortable, nice and snug for me 5’10” 155. , getting in and out is harder. Feels like you sit lower but because M3 has nothing in front M3 feels more open. Also M3 doesn’t really have middle console so it feels more open. Taycan driver seat feels surrounded. The screen setup I didn’t get, not as intuitive as M3. It had a pretty basic all black interior but 165k sticker. Car on its own looks a lot smaller in person than on pictures. I would guess M3 and Taycan are very similar in exterior dimensions. Taycan looks wider.

svp6

Thank you - that is helpful

uniqueMR

Spyerx

Drove turbo s.
fast af
and it handles. very flat cornering great turn in and traction on exit
chassis dynamics kills tesla
drives 100% like a Porsche.
feels smaller and lighter than it is

Needsdecaf

It's pretty easy to see why it's smaller.

1. Model 3 has completely flat floor. Body is skateboard on top of batteries. The Taycan has "foot garages" / cut-outs in battery pack for rear seat passenger feet. So foot room is going to be more limited.

2. Model 3 roofline, while plunging, is quite high. This is why it looks odd from some angles, particularly head on. I'm 6'2" and have an entire hand's worth of headroom when sitting in the driver's seat. That extra height carried through back into the rear seat. The Taycan, on the other hand, has a much lower roof line to begin with, and it gets lowered over the rear passengers.

3. Model 3 seats are thin and unsubstantial. Taycan seats, if like the pics and like other Porsche seats, much thicker. Reduces legroom.

4. Taycan has much more pronounced shoulder lines in body work. Narrower greenhouse means less effective passenger cell width given vehicle width.

I think all of the above is why people say the Taycan feels like a bigger 911 than a smaller Panamera.

AlexCeres

got to test drive one, and it was delightful. Agree 100% with OP assessment. Everything except the brakes was exceptional. The weight balance is different from the 911, and while it destroyed corners, I think the pdcc is mandatory for me (not on my test vehicle). Nobody “needs” the turbo S, there’s no way to hit the turbo’s limits on a public road in the US. The brakes are mediocre and disappointing.

the instruments dial is fantastic. The rear seats fold down. The rear seats are large enough for a full size adult. The panoramic glass roof is fabulous and I didn’t have any trouble with glare or sun. It is much quieter in the cabin than a Tesla.

It’s a bev Panamera that drives more like a 911 turbo. If they made a Macan on this platform it’d be insanely good. I think Taycan suffers a little being not quite a 911 and not quite a full sized Panamera sedan. That said, as a daily driver it’s vastly more practical than a 911 and I’m sure my wife would rather ride in a Taycan.

bmwexpat

Stopped by my Porsche dealer today and their Turbo is in and ready for test drives. Looks great and one of the dealership employees was moving the Taycan around the lot and had the exhaust noise on. Interesting sound and overall pleasant.

Heading on vacation for a coupe of weeks and will take a day off in January to setup test drive. Should be a fun day.