Taycan GTS vs 4S vs Model 3 Performance

[V 02]

I’m going to change my Tesla Y Performance early next year for another EV but can’t decide what.

I have an appointment on Saturday with Porsche to get a feel of a Taycan GTS and 4S. They have sufficiently depreciated enough to not be such a terrifying proposition, and so far the Porsche Centre are surprisingly polite even though I have told them I won’t be buying until January at the least.

Not really interested in the Turbo or Turbo S they don’t look as palatable in terms of pricing , mileage and specs (usually a dull colour)

There’s also the chance of me getting into a nearly new Tesla Model 3 Highland , Performance model. Very different I know but pace is similar.

Other than that I am not really sure what I want. I am not keen on the e tron GT, or any of the Korean ones, the Ioniq 5N is cool but doesn’t really do it for me in terms of looks and interior.

I’d appreciate any feedback or ideas, particularly on the 4S vs GTS debate between Taycan trims, and what body styles people like.

[rfn]

Are you talking about a J1.1 Taycan (sold until & including M24) or a J1.2 Taycan? They look slightly different (particularly the front bumpers).

[V 02]

rfn said:

Are you talking about a J1.1 Taycan (sold until & including M24) or a J1.2 Taycan? They look slightly different (particularly the front bumpers).

J1.1

Budget is not stretching to the 1.2 yet

[rfn]

My preference would be a GTS Sport Turismo if I was buying. I like the interiors on them, too. I tend to prefer Mamba Green, Cherry Metallic (deep red/brown), Ice Grey.

The Taycan won't have as much range as a Model3, but they do charge very fast which is beneficial.

[cb31]

I've driven all the Taycans apart from the 4S. My favourite was the GTS, seemed to be the best day to day, effortlessly fast without being stupid like the Turbo S. However having said that even the base rear wheel drive Taycan is plenty fast enough for the road. I prefer the cross turismo but not much between it and the sport turismo, saloon is also nice but rear headroom and practicality is reduced compared to the others for not much benefit elsewhere in my eyes.

I drove a model 3 performance about 3 years ago so not the latest, it was also very fast but seemed like a video game, just no comparison to the Porsche which for a luxury GT drive fantastically. It might be cheaper but it feels like it, although there can also be a decent spread between a base and well-specced Taycan. Nicer seats and leather, extended leather, pano roof, etc. etc. can make it feel a lot more premium.

[V 02]

Thank you for the responses

I visited Porsche and have sat inside a 4S, Turbo and a brand new GTS, and I’ve driven a brand new 4S only as they didn’t have a GTS in stock.

Porsche were absolutely lovely, I thought I would be treated like st for being young and dumb but completely different experiences to BMW, Audi etc from which I find buying stressful and irritating.

Anyway the 4S I drove was presumably not the full cahuna and might have been the weaker battery model as it didn’t feel very fast. Likely as it was a billy basic spec and I don’t recall it having Sport Chrono.. Although the handling was just epic, and that was on a car without rear axle steering.

I’ve also driven the new Model 3 Performance which was so far ahead of my Model Y in comfort and dynamics that it was off the scale, the handling and performance was ridiculous , I have decided against it though because 1) the used cars are 40hp less than the new ones and have no indicator stalks 2) the new ones would have fairly catastrophic depreciation and even on 0% APR would cost me far more than a Taycan 3) the Taycan feels better bang for the buck


I would prefer a Sport Turismo (GTS) or Cross Turismo (4S) Taycan or even a saloon GTS but it seems my budget is pretty weak. My top end is £60,000 and that is pretty tight on a GTS, there’s only a few around. Whereas a very well specced 4S could be had for between £45000 and £50,000

So i was wondering what the consensus was, the cheaper 4S or go straight to GTS. Or even a turbo, which is somewhere inbetween.

My must have options:

Performance Battery Plus
Rear axle steering including Power Steering plus
Sport Chrono package
Panoramic roof
Adaptive Cruise Control or Porsche InnoDrive
4+1 Seating Package
14 way or 18 way seats with driver memory
Porsche Electric Sport Sound
Powered Charging Port cover
Park Assist including Surround View
Heated steering wheel
Electric Folding Exterior Mirrors (why is this even an option?)
Porsche Entry - Comfort Access (as above)
BOSE or Burmester Surround sound system
Ambient Lighting

Wheels:

Mission E design, RS Spyder, Cross Turismo design, GTS wheels


Preferred colours:
Mamba Green, Neptune Blue, Carmine Red, Jet Black, Crayon, Cherry Red, White


The majority of these options are very common except RAS and Innodrive, but crucially the GTS gets special tuning for the suspension, more power with a beefier motor, Race Tex interior (yummy) and SportDesign pack as standard which makes it look wonga. However its a hell of a lot more cash (but they are at least 2022 or newer)


Thoughts?

[cb31]

V 02 said:

Anyway the 4S I drove was presumably not the full cahuna and might have been the weaker battery model as it didn t feel very fast.

0-62 in under 4 secs and epic mid range didn't feel very fast? What are you used to driving?

V 02 said:

The majority of these options are very common except RAS and Innodrive, but crucially the GTS gets special tuning for the suspension, more power with a beefier motor, Race Tex interior (yummy) and SportDesign pack as standard which makes it look wonga. However its a hell of a lot more cash (but they are at least 2022 or newer)


Thoughts?

Mine has all those options apart from Innodrive which I personally didn't think was worth it. I would wait for one with rear-axle steering, they are big cars and with it makes slow speed manoeuvring better than my wife's mini. My preference would be GTS but not if it is over your budget, a 4S is plenty fast enough for the road for me.

[V 02]

cb31 said:

V 02 said:

Anyway the 4S I drove was presumably not the full cahuna and might have been the weaker battery model as it didn t feel very fast.

0-62 in under 4 secs and epic mid range didn't feel very fast? What are you used to driving?

V 02 said:

The majority of these options are very common except RAS and Innodrive, but crucially the GTS gets special tuning for the suspension, more power with a beefier motor, Race Tex interior (yummy) and SportDesign pack as standard which makes it look wonga. However its a hell of a lot more cash (but they are at least 2022 or newer)


Thoughts?

Mine has all those options apart from Innodrive which I personally didn't think was worth it. I would wait for one with rear-axle steering, they are big cars and with it makes slow speed manoeuvring better than my wife's mini. My preference would be GTS but not if it is over your budget, a 4S is plenty fast enough for the road for me.

OK Thanks. yes i have read rear axle steering is a very worthwhile option. Also maybe 'not very fast' was silly wording. It felt very composed and quick but not insane, my Tesla Model Y Performance feels absolutely nuts , having never driven a Taycan this could be because it doesn't dump all its torque all in one go like the Tesla?

Not a bad thing either - the Model Y gets launched down the road like a hippo with a rocket up its arse whereas the Taycan feels controlled, or at least thats what I thought. definitely felt vastly more confident making use of the Taycan's power down a twisty road than the Tesla. i was lucky enough to be given an extended test drive and encouraged to give it the beans!

[TTB]

Looks like it's just sold, or at least reserved but something like this? https://www.johnhollandsales.co.uk/stock-list/2032...

[NDA]

Company car? Is it your only car?

I have a Tesla and a 911 - and I've had a Taycan for a few days too. If I was paying out personal cash, I am not sure I'd have a Taycan unless it was my only car and I had to have an EV. I found it had little to distinguish itself from any other performance EV to be honest... I know Taycan owners will growl at me, but that was my feeling.

I'd rather have the new Highland for daily duties and something else in the garage for contrast.

[V 02]

NDA said:

Company car? Is it your only car?

I have a Tesla and a 911 - and I've had a Taycan for a few days too. If I was paying out personal cash, I am not sure I'd have a Taycan unless it was my only car and I had to have an EV. I found it had little to distinguish itself from any other performance EV to be honest... I know Taycan owners will growl at me, but that was my feeling.

I'd rather have the new Highland for daily duties and something else in the garage for contrast.

I do have a Honda Civic Type-R as well but it hardly ever gets driven, in fact its been sat in a lock up for 7 months as life has got in the way as initially it was going to become a fast road/trackday car. I've lost the motivation and the space so I will probably sell it and get a Megane 265 Cup eventually.


So more or less, yes it will be my daily car, I felt the GTS was somewhere between my Tesla, my old Volvo, and my Type R, not sure if real goldilocks cars exist though.

I tend to get bored easily so I try not to buy new or to buy cars that depreciate too much (I felt Taycans have definitely started to plateau now which makes it more attractive to me). I've done 10k in my Model Y Performance and been offered 2k less than I paid from the dealer I bought it from and feel that's not bad going...

[V 02]

TTB said:

Looks like it's just sold, or at least reserved but something like this? https://www.johnhollandsales.co.uk/stock-list/2032...

I was watching that, it looks pretty good. There's an extremely well specced GTS ST up for 60k but it's had a wrap on it so i'm not sure. It's Mamba Green (which I think looks the dogs) but it's been wrapped Slate grey neo which looks dull and boring, for some reason the wrap was reported as a colour change (even the sills have been done it seems) and I have no way of knowing what the paint's like underneath as the seller will only remove it if I buy it

[NDA]

V 02 said:

I do have a Honda Civic Type-R as well but it hardly ever gets driven, in fact its been sat in a lock up for 7 months as life has got in the way as initially it was going to become a fast road/trackday car. I've lost the motivation and the space so I will probably sell it and get a Megane 265 Cup eventually.


So more or less, yes it will be my daily car, I felt the GTS was somewhere between my Tesla, my old Volvo, and my Type R, not sure if real goldilocks cars exist though.

I tend to get bored easily so I try not to buy new or to buy cars that depreciate too much (I felt Taycans have definitely started to plateau now which makes it more attractive to me). I've done 10k in my Model Y Performance and been offered 2k less than I paid from the dealer I bought it from and feel that's not bad going...

The Porsche badge is definitely nice to sit behind, far nicer than a Tesla, that's for sure. It's also far closer to an ICE car in terms of the interior than the Tesla.

If I had something amusing in the garage, I'd buy the Highland. But for my only car? I'd be in the same dilemma as you and would probably have the Porsche!

[V 02]

I have reserved a Taycan 4S from the main dealer for £49k which I think is good value, interested to see people s opinions.

Never bought a car from a main dealer before (only car supermarkets! Well I did buy a Volvo as a px to clear from a Skoda dealer ) so can anyone advise if I have room on the price?

The spec is pretty good:

Taycan 4S Saloon (2021)
Gentian Blue Metallic
Leather Interior, Smooth-Finish Leather, Slate Grey
19 Taycan S Aero wheels

Mileage
17,998 mi

SportDesign package painted in black (high-gloss)
Electric folding exterior mirrors
Exterior Mirror Lower Trims painted in Exterior Colour including Mirror Base painted in Black (high-gloss)
Side Window Trims in Black (high-gloss)
PORSCHE Logo LED Door Courtesy Lights

Porsche Electric Sport Sound
Performance Battery Plus?
Sport Chrono Package
Rear-Axle Steering including Power Steering Plus
Adaptive Air Suspension with PASM

Advanced Climate Control (4-Zone)
4+1 Seats
Ioniser
Ambient Lighting
Comfort Seats in Front (14-Way, Electric) with Memory Package
Seat Heating (front and rear)?
Steering Wheel Heating (i.c.w. Sport Chrono Package and Leather Interior)
Storage Package
Fire Extinguisher
Slate Grey seat belts
Passenger Display?
BOSE® Surround Sound-System?


Electric charging port cover
On-Board DC-Charger with 150 kW?


Matrix LED Headlights with Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus (PDLS Plus)
Automatically dimming exterior and interior mirrors
Panoramic fixed glass roof?
Acoustically insulated laminated privacy glass
Night Vision Assist?
Lane Change Assist?
ParkAssist including Surround View
Porsche InnoDrive with Active Lane Keeping and Adaptive Cruise Control
HomeLink® (Garage Door Opener)
Central locking system "Keyless-Go"



Seems like a pretty stacked spec for a 4S, and far more palatable to me than a Taycan Turbo (The Turbo S is a relative bargain but real world range is horrific)

GTS is just more than I want to spend. Maybe next car.

Wonder what everyone s opinions are on this build, anything missing? I notice HUD. But it s no biggie to me.

The only other thing was the ugly wheels (I will change these) and the grey leather (not sure yet.) but other than that it looks great and excellent VFM

It’s got a full Porsche history, new tyres and has just had a major service done last week at the Centre.

Thanks
V

Edited by V 02 on Monday 1st December 16:27

[andrewpandrew]

Mad that they threw all those options at it but didn't option better wheels.

[AB]

Yeah I think you’ll be very disappointed with the wheels every time you see another one on the road. The bodykit is an expensive option, no idea why you’d do that and neglect the wheels, unless they have been damaged and replaced at some point.

The spec is VERY close to my first Taycan which was a 2021. You’ll love it.

[V 02]

Thanks chaps,

Yeah, I really hate the wheels, so the first thing that will be going on it if I close a deal on this car is a set of Mission E wheels if I can find them for a reasonable price. They look nasty.

Appears they have been on them since new as they appear on the spec list.

Some pics

[AB]

I know you probably will anyway as no doubt you’ll go for bigger wheels but I’d not put Hankooks on it.

My colleague had Hankooks as they were cheaper and available and the two problems he encountered were lack of traction i.e. traction control kicking in a lot more and they didn’t last very long.

[V 02]

Porsche have given me a set of new 20s and tyres without me even asking! Maybe they read this thread?! Anyway I’m well chuffed!

[CMTMB]

V 02 said:

Porsche have given me a set of new 20s and tyres without me even asking! Maybe they read this thread?! Anyway I m well chuffed!

Wow, they really are desperate to shift Taycans. Impressive.