Sep 11, 2019 9:39:55 AM
Here's my configuration: https://www.porsche.com/microsite/porsche-code/default.aspx?c=/PL3L8V21
I decided to go with the lesser performance setup to take advantage of the 9% better range via the 20" wheels and "energy efficiency class B" narrower tires.
Otherwise, lots of toys and goodies. The only option that I have on my Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid that I DID NOT select was Porsche InnoDrive. For those not familiar, this option attempts to predict the correct speed to enter corners, obey speed limits, etc. by using map data through GPS. It isn't ready for prime time here in USA.
InnoDrive must use some sort of government-supplied database populated with the GPS coordinates of speed limit signs to adjust the cruise control speed setting. It works fairly well on rural highways, but is far from perfect in urban/suburban settings. On many occasions it will, all of a sudden, change its mind about the correct speed going from 35 mph to 20 mph because it thinks there is a school zone to obey. It isn't smart enough to know that the zone is merely near by and does not apply to the section of road being traveled. This comes as quite a shock to the driver and following traffic when it abruptly slams on the brakes to lose 15 mph for no apparent reason. I hate it.
Mike
918 Spyder + Tesla Roadster 1.5 & Model S P100D AP2 + Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid + BMW Z8 + BMW 3.0 CSi + Bentley Arnage T
Leaving the Frankfurt show today. Some final personal impressions of the Taycan. For my previous impressions, see the mission E thread.
Glass roof is my preference although the fixed roof does have the middle indention which does break up the flat surface.
Little or no luggage space in the front, but ample in the back, and rear seats fold down to create more room.
Cupholders are ample, but still no real space for a cell phone.
Porsche has made an enormous investment in marketing, production, and future direction toward electric mobility. I believe that decision is correct, but there is unbelievable risk on the downside.
Interior design renders the busyness of other Porsche models almost obsolete and unattractive. The exterior design elements of the Taycan also, in my opinion, set a new standard for all models to achieve. As I stated before, going from the Taycan to the 992 model on display truly challenges the icon design of the current 992. To keep up, any 992 refreshing or next model, must incorporate more exterior and interior changes which spring from the Taycan.
W8MM:Here's my configuration: https://www.porsche.com/microsite/porsche-code/default.aspx?c=/PL3L8V21
Why did you choose black, if the car deserves a bit more special colour?
At least you're not Whoopsy...
We're at the point where you can be the fastest or just sound like you're the fastest.
The secret of life is to admire without desiring.
W8MM:Here's my configuration: https://www.porsche.com/microsite/porsche-code/default.aspx?c=/PL3L8V21
Congratulations . Do you find the Night Vision useful - I always feel its a distraction so actually reduces safety?
Sep 11, 2019 2:24:17 PM
Wonderbar:Leaving the Frankfurt show today. Some final personal impressions of the Taycan. For my previous impressions, see the mission E thread.
Glass roof is my preference although the fixed roof does have the middle indention which does break up the flat surface.
Little or no luggage space in the front, but ample in the back, and rear seats fold down to create more room.
Cupholders are ample, but still no real space for a cell phone.
Porsche has made an enormous investment in marketing, production, and future direction toward electric mobility. I believe that decision is correct, but there is unbelievable risk on the downside.
Interior design renders the busyness of other Porsche models almost obsolete and unattractive. The exterior design elements of the Taycan also, in my opinion, set a new standard for all models to achieve. As I stated before, going from the Taycan to the 992 model on display truly challenges the icon design of the current 992. To keep up, any 992 refreshing or next model, must incorporate more exterior and interior changes which spring from the Taycan.
There isn’t a storage area under the console? In photographs, that area appears open and would be the ideal place to place a mobile device.
Sep 11, 2019 3:22:08 PM
nberry:Musk was impressed with the Taycan Ring time. Normally he doesn't compliment other EV's but did so with the Taycan.
Nico Rosberg with drive the Tesla around the Ring hopefully this month.
Will be interesting to see the time. I assume it cannot complete more than one consecutive lap?
18 GT3 Manual, 73 Carrera RS 2.7 Carbon Fiber replica (1,890 lbs), 06 EVO9 with track mods. Former: 16 Cayman GT4, 73 911S, Two 951S's, 996 C2, 993 C2, 98 Ferrari 550, 79 635CSi
Sep 11, 2019 4:36:34 PM
Yes there is a flat storage place under the console, just not one where you can see the screen of your phone. Apple CarPlay on my touchscreen is fairly unreliable, so I do want to see my phone screen at times. In any event, no big problem. A cupholder will do.
Rossi:
Why did you choose black, if the car deserves a bit more special colour?At least you're not Whoopsy...
It's actually Volcano grey ... same color as my Panamera. I like the color.
Mike
918 Spyder + Tesla Roadster 1.5 & Model S P100D AP2 + Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid + BMW Z8 + BMW 3.0 CSi + Bentley Arnage T
crayphile:W8MM:Here's my configuration: https://www.porsche.com/microsite/porsche-code/default.aspx?c=/PL3L8V21
Congratulations . Do you find the Night Vision useful - I always feel its a distraction so actually reduces safety?
I have night vision on my Panamera and find it useful at low speeds in dimly lit surroundings.
At higher speeds, it's not much help as you point out.
Mike
918 Spyder + Tesla Roadster 1.5 & Model S P100D AP2 + Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid + BMW Z8 + BMW 3.0 CSi + Bentley Arnage T
I had the chance to see the red one with black wheels, it looks surprisingly good.
With some luck, I get the chance to drive the Taycan (at least the Turbo, maybe the Turbo S) this year, so I'll try to do a very honest driving report from the perspective of someone who isn't too fond of EVs, being a combustion engine addict. I know how I feel about the Tesla S P100D I drove but maybe the Taycan will change my mind. I still doubt it though.
RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Lamborghini Huracan Performante (2019), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Mercedes C63 S AMG Cab (2019), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)
RC:I had the chance to see the red one with black wheels, it looks surprisingly good.
With some luck, I get the chance to drive the Taycan (at least the Turbo, maybe the Turbo S) this year, so I'll try to do a very honest driving report from the perspective of someone who isn't too fond of EVs, being a combustion engine addict. I know how I feel about the Tesla S P100D I drove but maybe the Taycan will change my mind. I still doubt it though.
Your son will be able to drive it in October:
Porsche, separates Le Mans from Le Boys
Joost:RC:I had the chance to see the red one with black wheels, it looks surprisingly good.
With some luck, I get the chance to drive the Taycan (at least the Turbo, maybe the Turbo S) this year, so I'll try to do a very honest driving report from the perspective of someone who isn't too fond of EVs, being a combustion engine addict. I know how I feel about the Tesla S P100D I drove but maybe the Taycan will change my mind. I still doubt it though.
Your son will be able to drive it in October:
My son hates Gran Turismo Sport now, the update has disappointed him deeply. He barely plays it anymore and I doubt the Taycan will change that.
RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Lamborghini Huracan Performante (2019), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Mercedes C63 S AMG Cab (2019), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)
Sep 13, 2019 8:46:47 PM
Volkswagen’s bold plan to create a new car operating system
Volkswagen Group is creating a new division just for car software.
Jonathan M. Gitlin - 9/13/2019, 2:00 PM
Aurich Lawson
Volkswagen provided three nights in a hotel and air travel from Washington, DC, to Frankfurt for this story.
FRANKFURT, GERMANY—The cars we drive are increasingly defined as much by the software they run as their engines or chassis. It started slowly. Discrete electronic control units started to appear under the hood, controlling fuel management or anti-lock brakes. New functions required new code, run on new little black boxes, metastasizing to the point where today, a new car might have up to 70 different modules, with software from as many as 200 different vendors. If that sounds like a recipe for disaster, it can be. Which is why Volkswagen Group—parent company to brands like VW, Audi, and Porsche—is saying "enough!"
Internal competition versus economies of scale
"Software is extremely complex nowadays. Each function is connected with everything—in the car, in the cloud, with the dealers—and we see that too many projects are in too much trouble. The process chain is not stable anymore; there's so much inefficiency to this process," explained Christian Senger, who is responsible for VW Group's Digital Car and Services division. The problem is partly one by design; Ferdinand Piech specifically wanted Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen to each develop software independently, the idea being that internal competition could improve the breed.
But it has led to balkanization. "Today, we build more than 10 million cars a year. But they are running on roughly eight different electronic architectures. In mechanical engineering, I would call us a platform champion," Senger said, referring to VW Group's strength in using a small number of common architectures—MQB for transverse-engined vehicles, MLB Evo for premium models, and now MEB for smaller electric vehicles—across multiple brands. "We defined how global industrialization of brands and markets really works. In software, there is no reason for having eight different architectures," he said, contrasting VW Group's current situation with the Android OS, where the same software runs on $60 smartphones as well as $1,000 smartphones.
Consequently, VW Group is now going to take a similar approach to software, consolidating it all under one new internal group, similar to the way that financial services or the ride-hailing Moia exist alongside individual vehicle brands. And that means in the future, a single unified automotive OS will run on everything from a VW Polo to an Audi A8. With thoughts of existing infotainment operating systems like Android, Automotive Grade Linux, or QNX, I asked Senger to clarify.
A single car OS across all 12 VW Group brands
"What is an operating system in the automotive world? Today we have an extremely different setup if it's infotainment, if it's the chassis, the powertrain," Senger explained, and that has led to some odd critical dependencies in some cars. For instance, some models simply won't run if the infotainment system is broken; the navigation GPS provides the vehicle's master time counter, and without that, the powertrain won't function. "Whenever we exchange something, we have an impact on everything. What we are now doing with these so-called enabling functions is taking them out of customer functions, putting it in a middleware software layer. And this is what we call an operating system," he explained.
Eventually, that's going to mean a single software stack common across VW Group's vehicles—everything from the instrument displays and the infotainment to powertrain and chassis management (think traction and stability control or advanced driver assistance systems), plus a common connected car infrastructure and cloud. However, each brand will still get to develop its own UX in the same way that Porsche and Audi can build very different-looking vehicles from the same MLB Evo toolbox.
An Android-based infotainment system
Senger also revealed that VW Group will be using Android for future versions of the MIB infotainment platform, in large part because of the robust third-party app ecosystem with that OS versus Linux. "I think we need to open up. So Android will come in cars, giving customers access to this enormous ecosystem. But really be careful how much Android you're talking about. There are some brands really using Google's automotive services; this is not our strategy. When you do this, you get a great package of function and services, no doubt. But you also have to open up all the car's sensor data [to Google], and when I say all, it really is all sensor data," Senger told me.
However, it will be a while yet before the full effects of this strategy are felt. Senger says that the as-yet unnamed organization should be fully staffed—somewhere between 5,000 to 10,000 employees—by 2025. But future vehicle architectures will feature many fewer discrete black boxes and suppliers; instead of 70 different modules, most of those functions will be handled by a small number of multiple-domain controllers connected by ethernet instead of the pre-connected car CAN bus, an approach that is just now starting to be used in MEB-derived electric vehicles like the ID.3.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/09/volkswagen-audi-porsche-vw-group-plans-one-os-to-rule-them-all/
Sep 14, 2019 1:20:42 PM
As long as they don't use Android as a basis for their car OS and they keep the infotainment Android completely sandboxed (or even better, completely separate, hardware and software), not only on an application level, from the car's OS, I'm fine with it. I'm afraid however that, at some point, they are going to open a can of worms at a completely new level here...for cost saving reasons or just because they don't know what they're doing. Let's hope (or pray? ) for the best.
--
RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Lamborghini Huracan Performante (2019), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Mercedes C63 S AMG Cab (2019), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)
Hopefully, they will stay with Linux for the car OS. Ford has settled on the Blackberry QNX for their operating system. It's too bad VW didn't extend their partnership with Ford on the EV platform to the OS.
2016 Porsche 991 Carrera GTS Black with AeroKit Cup Package, 2017 Porsche Cayenne Platinum Purpurite Metallic, New York
Interesting comparison but one factor is missing which many of you use to distinguish the Taycan from the Tesla. Guess which it is. It's something I have been emphasizing about EV cars.
tesla-vs-porsche-does-the-model-s-finally-have-a-competitor-in-the-luxurious-new-taycan
Assume most people are stupid and hope they surprise you.
Oct 19, 2019 8:06:26 PM
Oct 19, 2019 8:44:02 PM