Driven: Porsche Taycan gets gearshifts – and renewed driver appeal
In Normal mode, it acts just like a smooth eight-speed PDK. Even in this relaxed setting, the simulated ratios immediately give the Taycan more personality and I could see myself using this even for mundane motorway stints.
Flick the rotary E-Shift button to the right and this puts the car into manual mode, allowing you to virtually shift gears using the paddles on the steering wheel. The gearchanges are seamless and the level of integration is of a very high standard.
Shift too late and, like a PDK 911, the rev needle will bounce off the fake limiter. Stamp on the throttle in a high gear – say, seventh – and the Taycan is sluggish and won’t give you that whipcrack performance. You have to flick it down a few gears before you can deploy all the performance.
Switch the Taycan to Sport or Sport Plus and the gearchanges are far more pronounced, with a discernible kick through your seat as you climb up through the gears. Our GTS’s virtual gearbox didn’t feel as hardcore as Hyundai’s N e-Shift, but the more subtle vibrations and jolts from the gearbox align more with the Taycan’s pseudo-GT character.
That said, I imagine the 1093bhp Taycan Turbo GT with E-Shift would feel more extreme and involving on a track. Ultimately, the ability to control the shifts both into and out of a corner gives you a greater sense of your road speed, allowing you to better judge how you drive the car down a certain road and establish a proper rhythm.
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