My (new to me) Taycan 4S, number of questions

[techniec]

Dear fellow Porsche drivers,

Late last year, I purchased this low-milage (< 6000 KM) Taycan 4S in vulcan grey.

It came equipped with what I would call the "basic luxury necessities", such as panoramic roof, Bose stereo, powered heated seats with memory for the driver side, power steering plus, ambient lighting, Porsche puddle lights (or whatever the hell they are called), lane assist , power folding mirrors and 20 inch Turbo Aero wheels. Also, the side mirrors and side skirts are Porsche Exclusive (painted in the car's body color) to give it more of a unique appearance.

The driving experience I find nothing short of amazing, with plenty of power and amazing ride comfort thanks to PASM (even better than my previous car, a 2018 Audi A8. However, the car came equipped with standard (partial) leather only so that there are many cabin parts which are plastic rather than leather covered, giving the cabin a bit of an austere appearance compared to the rather opulent cabin in the A8.
Therefore, I have commissioned a Porsche approved refitter to redo the entire interior in original Porsche nappa leather with double stitching (center console and lower side dashboard were already done, see attached picture).

Please could you answer my two questions:

1) in a Taycan with full leather upholstery, would the seat backs be covered in leather also ??
2) I find the quality of the Porsche stereo a bit disappointing (it seems to suffer from midrange suck out and thinny bass), is there a way to upgrade the speakers (non OEM is fine) and, if so, which speakers would you recommend ?

Thanks for looking !

Cheers,

Pieter

 

[findtom]

Hello and welcome to the club!

I have the upgraded leather interior and yes it comes with leather backed seats. They look amazing (so much so I'll add them to my 992 build). I'll take some photos this week and add them so you can see what they look like. In short, I think your interior upgrade is money very well spent. Lots of people buy these as their first Porsche and don't seem to realise that unless you pay a little extra you get quite a lot of plastic, which I think looks out of place in a £100k car...

As for the stereo that's harder to change. If you don't have Bose then you might not have a digital amp (it used to be this way int he 911, not sure about the Taycan). The reason this matters is you might need to spend a bit more to get a good system. Changing the speakers will really help but really, you need a new amp. As as rule of thumb, (a massive guess), I normally add about £3k to get a fair sound system in most of my cars built by an independent specialist. (Not including a new head unit). That said, that should get you a pretty mega system for that, probably better than any of the factory options.

 

[techniec]

Many thanks for the swift reply, findtom !

Would be much obliged if you could send me photos of the seat backs (as the upholstery refit is a > EUR 10K ticket item and I want the result to be completely true to the OEM specification). And you are right on the money, this is my first Porsche and their options policy is baffling (and this is coming from a former Audi driver where they were not exactly generous with equipment, either). My previous car, a 2018 Audi A8 50 TDI (RRP of around EUR 145K) had a lovely cabin with lots of niceties such as massage and ventilated seats in the front and the rear, B&O sound system, 22-way powered seats, wood trim everywhere etc. I know this is kind of an apples to oranges comparison, but I reckon that in order to get to that level of ambiance and opulence in the Taycan, you'd have to spend AT LEAST EUR 50K more than with the Audi (an acquaintance of mine drives a fully loaded entry level RWD Taycan which cost him over EUR 192K !). So indeed, this Porsche thing is a whole different ballgame.

As for the stereo, sorry, I should have been more clear: I already have the Bose system. Overall, the sound is decent but it suffers from midrange suck out and thinny bass. Also, the treble is a bit brittle. The B&O and Meridian systems in my A8 and 7 year old Land Rover Discovery, respectively, provide a considerably more balanced and detailed sound. Could you perhaps recommend an independent car audio specialist that could improve the stereo setup ?

For the avoidance of doubt, I absolutely love the Taycan's looks and the way it drives. But, as you put correctly, the standard (partial) leather interior is not on par for a car that costs well over EUR 100K.

Thanks heaps !

Best regards,


Pieter

 

[findtom]

Hey Pieter,

Please see below, as I said the full leather lifts the cabin and even as a retro fit is to my mind worth the expense.

So if you have Bose that is good news as I believe (and someone please correct me if I am wrong), but that means you have a digital amp and that is easier to upgrade?

 

[isysman]

I believe the lack of a subwoofer in EVs is related to power consumption of said subwoofer. Not sure if that's true but they all seem to come without one.

 

[techniec]

@ findtom: indeed, I have the digital amp, but don't know how I could upgrade the speakers without voiding the warranty (perhaps swapping the Bose tweeters for the Burmester ones would already make a difference, but not sure where I could source those :dont know: ).

Herewith some pictures of the upgraded interior in original Porsche nappa leather (still WIP), I think it looks smoking:





Cheers,

Pieter