Can The Porsche Taycan REALLY Beat The 911? -- Drag Race & Track Battle

[DerekS]

What are you guys talking about? A 2-door Taycan would have made as much sense as a glass nail.

I'm a sportscar buyer. I like 911s and Boxsters. I am in the Taycan because I'm done with ICE tech; the torque and power (and cost to own) on EVs has made me a believer.

I drive the Taycan because it's the EV Porsche makes, not because it's the EV I want.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

What convinced me to go Taycan over 911 was that video of the TTS drag racing the 992 Turbo S on the airstrip. It wasn’t the race itself, it was just watching them drive up, turn, and pull into position.

Everyone's decision algorithm is different (and their own), but - with apologies for dissecting it - yours seems to be based purely on appearance? (Or at least the deciding factor, which still means that functionality, technology etc. did not matter.)

Perhaps this is why I'm puzzled by this thread - there is 0 overlap for me between the two. I have a mild concern that the Taycan will make the 996 less enjoyable (that, too, is based on threads around here), but there was simply no competitor for it in my view: in CT form, the Taycan is the only EV alternative to a CUV (which, as it happens, is the dominant consumer, non-truck segment).

One looked like the past, and the other the future.

(nodding in vehement agreement)

 

[Archimedes]

What are you guys talking about? A 2-door Taycan would have made as much sense as a glass nail. That would have been a MB SL or Bentley Conti competitor, and that class sells maybe double digits per year (slightly exaggerating). Not to mention that Porsche was no doubt already planning a 2-door EV as a proper sportscar. So not only it'd have been a sales disaster, an in-house competitor, but for the consumers it'd have been an objectively less useful car. Stats like percentage of trips alone don't mean the rear doors never get opened, nor that the driver would have purchased a 2-dr car.

You misunderstood my point. I wasn’t saying that it would have made economic sense. I meant that the actual design of the car is a two door design they stuck foor doors on, compromising space, ingress and egress. Given the design constraints, it would have been a better car to drive if it had two doors. Of course it wouldn’t sell as well.

 

[f1eng]

Would you chose Taycan if 911 as EV already exist?

No. 911 rear seats are pretty well useless.
I don’t want a car with a big rear cabin but I do sometimes need to take passengers with legs.

 

[Archimedes]

Everyone's decision algorithm is different (and their own), but - with apologies for dissecting it - yours seems to be based purely on appearance? (Or at least the deciding factor, which still means that functionality, technology etc. did not matter.)

No it’s not just appearance. It’s about how it moves. The Taycan feels and looks like it’s directly connected to the drivers brain. It just moves immediately and linearly, with no drama. The 911, while blisteringly quick, does it with a ton of sound, fury, and drama.

 

[f1eng]

(and cost to own)

That was a big attraction when I ordered but following huge energy price rises here due to Ukraine war EVs are no longer cheap to run here in the UK.

 

[DerekS]

Would you chose Taycan if 911 as EV already exist?

No way. EV 911 is the ideal car for me, especially in Targa form.

 

[Archimedes]

In my view, Porsche should have done more to differentiate the GTS Taycan. Perhaps the smaller battery with more light weight materials would have done the trick to make for something that can handle the kind of track duty that the GTS badge is supposed to be capable of.

Track duty? In Porsche parlance, the GTS is, and has always been, nothing much more than an option package/trim level for marketing purposes. It’s never been a track focused offering.

 

[B61]

No. 911 rear seats are pretty well useless.
I don’t want a car with a big rear cabin but I do sometimes need to take passengers with legs.

Hm. I asked if you would choose Taycan, and you said “No”…but based on your explanation, i think you should say “yes”, right

 

[B61]

No way. EV 911 is the ideal car for me, especially in Targa form.

I know that from before

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

I'm a sportscar buyer. I like 911s and Boxsters. I am in the Taycan because I'm done with ICE tech; the torque and power (and cost to own) on EVs has made me a believer.

I drive the Taycan because it's the EV Porsche makes, not because it's the EV I want.

That makes sense, so you're probably the bullseye for the EV Cayman. But it's a different thing to say that the Taycan would have been "better" as a 2dr.

 

[DerekS]

That makes sense, so you're probably the bullseye for the EV Cayman. But it's a different thing to say that the Taycan would have been "better" as a 2dr.

Different but still accurate. The B-pillar in the Taycan makes it horrible for ingress/egress which is its biggest downfall.

 

[f1eng]

Yes, but Ferraris and Lambos and Corvettes have always been big. Porsches weren’t.

Ferraris weren’t either, recent Lambos have been and I haven’t seen a Corvette in decades, they don’t import them here.
I did think the 911 wide body was an abomination, and they are all that big now.

I tried a 993, which was a good size but bigger and slower than the TVR Griffith I alreadyhad. So I tried the 993 turbo had too much lag (it would have been a good investment though) so I kept the TVR.

 

[tomtom901]

That was a big attraction when I ordered but following huge energy price rises here due to Ukraine war EVs are no longer cheap to run here in the UK.

Same for other parts of Europe yeah.

 

[f1eng]

Same for other parts of Europe yeah.

Really? I thought we were the only ones to get a 150% increase in electricity cost.