They say “save the best for last,” but I don’t want to wait that long to tell you about my Porsche Taycan 4S test drive.
What is true, though, is that the Taycan 4S is my last test drive in an exceptional day of test drives. BMW M3, M4, M5 and X5 M, Lucid Air and Gravity, Mercedes-Maybach S680 and GLS600, and Porsche Cayenne e-HYBRID are all swimming in my brain. Can the Taycan 4S possibly compete?
Hell yes it can!
The walk up to the car starts my good impressions. The Taycan 4S—which was updated for 2025—is long, wide and sleek, as close to a coupe as a five-door hatchback has ever been. And in its bold purple paint, the car is unignorable—I can’t miss it.
The Taycan’s inside is recently refreshed too, but Porsche’s conservative styling language won’t break my neck. Four digital displays form the dashboard—a curved display makes the instrument panel, the infotainment and cabin controls are split into a stack of central screens, and the passenger gets their own screen to help with the entertainment and other distractions. Though the shapes of the cabin surfaces are reserved and timeless, the digital tech is bound to date the Taycan. The interface is already behind the flashy latest from BMW, Mercedes, and Tesla.
I’m fourth in a convoy of Porsches as we set off on our test drive. As we exit the historic heart of Monterey, I’m delighted to feel sports-car quality road feel in the Taycan’s seats and floorboards. The thump of crack impacts and the grit of the pavement texture percolate quietly through the steering and chassis. The Taycan rides comfortably, but still lets me know it’s a Porsche.
Yet, the conversation with the suspension’s work is still lost in the Taycan. This is no 997 911, where the road camber changes and lane ruts tug at the steering wheel.
Driving out of Monterey, I appreciate the Taycan’s good forward visibility, but its rearward visibility is so pinched as to make the rearview mirror pointless. The squinty little hatchback window only lets me see what is immediately behind me. If there ever was a car that needed a rearview camera, the Taycan is it!
I’ve recently returned from a trip to Italy and Portugal. In old European cities, parking spaces are claustrophobically tight. This Taycan has a big footprint; I wouldn’t want to wend it through central Pisa or Lisbon hunting for a parking spot!
We pass under the clogged Highway 1 and into Monterey’s forested hinterlands. The steering clearly communicates the change of pavement, as the city’s smooth tarmac becomes rough and cracked county roads.
The road is blessedly devoid of shops and homes, so I take advantage of my place at the end of the convoy and slow down to make a space ahead of me. Once I have a 20-car gap between me and the Macan I’m following, I smash the accelerator. My head is whipped back—buried deep into the headrest—as the dual motors and performance batteries plus unleash 509 e-ponies (590 hp in overboost launch control) and 523 lb-ft of e-torques. I’m instantaneously on the Tron rollercoaster again, hurtling past 60 mph in the span of a gasp (0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds), and finding an immediate need to stand on the brakes before punting the Macan off the road.
The vicious acceleration feels akin to engaging 911 launch control and having the PDK slam shut the clutches…yet that brutal hit just came from a 20 mph roll! I know this wham-bam acceleration is a hallmark of mega-fast EVs, but the only other place I experienced it was in the BMW iX M60.
I’m slightly disoriented by the sprint, but giddily giggling at the run. Again and again, I make space to the Macan and flog the Taycan. Again and again, the EV sedan shocks me with its immediate, severe acceleration.
The Taycan is somehow extracting every ounce of traction out of this crumby pavement and not overstepping its bounds by one iota. Even though the traction control computers must be crunching numbers at a furious pace to keep the 4S hooked up, I can’t feel the TC or ESP intervening at all. The Taycan shoots forward straight, and controlled, and as “on rails” as the Tron coaster.
The lead vehicle turns our convoy around in a broad driveway and heads back for Old Monterey. I pounce on the throttle as I turn out of the driveway, and the Taycan clean scoots back onto the road without any tail wagging or noticeable ESP intervention. (I hope there is a setting that loosens the Taycan’s reins.)
We’re driving downhill, and I’m bombing corners at speed and on the brakes. The Taycan’s front axle feels solidly planted on the road, and I can easily imagine this car excelling on a twisty racetrack where I want excellent body control and reliable grip.
As we pass under the highway for the second time and return to urban Monterey, I pay attention to the Taycan’s ride comfort. While the car is planted, it blunts out the bumps and impacts. I can’t help but wonder if the heavy batteries (the Taycan 4S weighs nearly 5,000 pounds) give the car inertial stability on bad roads. Whatever the trick is, the Taycan’s ride is both comfortable, controlled, and sporty.
At city speeds, the Taycan’s long wheelbase is noticeable in the way it covers bumps. The actions at the back of the car occur a half step after they are completed at the front.
My heart is still pumping adrenaline, and a grin is plastered on my face when I park the Taycan 4S back at the Porsche venue. I slobber over the handsome car as I photograph its books and crannies; its purple bodywork has me green with envy!
Could a used Taycan be a future family car for me? I try the rear seat and find the headroom tight but passable, and the foot room a little cramped for me. But if I ride up front, the Taycan could work for my family of four!
Actually, on second thought, I’d hate to be a passenger when my lead-footed wife launches away from stop signs. My stomach would be happier in a slower daily driver!
It is incredible to think that the $124k Taycan 4S ($165k as tested) is slower than the GTS, Turbo, and Turbo S. Who are the lunatics who want their family cars to decimate the 0-60 mph run in 2 seconds? The 3.5-second 4S is plenty sporty for me!
Mike's Steering Column 