Porsche yesterday unveiled its new all-electric Taycan, a sports car with up to 750 horsepower, a trick two-speed transaxle, and the ability to charge from five to 80 percent in only 22.5 minutes.
The two Taycan models revealed yesterday receive the Turbo moniker, with the the top-of-the-line model called Turbo S and its lesser sibling simply known as the Turbo. Another model in the Taycan range will debut …
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Using the Turbo naming system is a little weird, but they put a bunch of tire under the car and it's beautiful. I look forward to seeing one autocross.
I mean, that's pretty lame. But of course it won't be a big deal since most of the populace these days doesn't know a turbo from a V8 from a lawn mower engine.
I mean, at least go with something more related to electricity, like "Porsche Taycan TurBINE S"
Duke
MegaDork
9/5/19 3:28 p.m.
Oh. My. Bob.
That is utterly the single lamest thing I have ever heard. Ever. That positively wallows in lameness.
Turbo and Turbo S are well known trims within the Porsche line, beyond being a technical descriptor. Name recognition is important in selling to the general public, including trim levels. Sure it's a bit weird to the idealist side of me as an enthusiast. But consider that the base and S trim 911/Boxster are all turbo but not labeled as such for this same reason...And at this point it's really no different than BMW 328i being a '320i' or the Volvo T5 being a 'T4' and T6 being an 'ST4' (TC4?). So as long as the appropriate performance is there to not dilute the trim identity, the realist side of me has no real qualms with it.
And to think that my Avitar used to be a Tesla with a Turbo sticker on it AS A JOKE! This is just silly. Porsche should be ashamed.
To be fair, I think it's safe to say that the average car consumer in 2019 probably doesn't understand what exactly a turbo is other than it elicits thoughts of "speed" and "fast", so I can see why Porsche did it. But by being the first, yeah, they're going to catch some flak.
Yeah but does Porsche have a ROCKET , or know how to Bore big holes ?
Cool car , too much to read but are there chargers around that can "Turbo charge" the batteries that quick ?
At least Porsche knows how to build cars and has a dealership network ,
Tesla is going to have trouble when Mercedes , Audi , BMW etc get EVs in the luxury class .....
"Foot garage," el oh el.
I'd be happier if they didn't call things that don't have at least one turbo, Turbo. But, I'm just a car forum pedant who likely won't ever even sit in a Taycan, let alone buy one.
Also, I dont like the square headlights.
Also also, do you think the car needs you to say "Hey Porsh-a," not "Hey Porsh?" I hope so, only for the gnashing of teeth that is guaranteed to follow.
Remember the 80's? Every single consumer electronics item imaginable someone added 'TURBO' to the name. It's just that Porsche has gone full retro! Still, look on the bright side. No IMS to fail and kill the 'motor'
In reply to Adrian_Thompson :
That's true, computers used to have a turbo button. Maybe the Taycan will come with a "turbo" button that gives you a boost of extra electric power, like fanboost in Formula E
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HalfDork
9/5/19 3:51 p.m.
I see they have adopted the Supra’s hideous headlights around the nose thing
Adrian_Thompson said:
Remember the 80's? Every single consumer electronics item imaginable someone added 'TURBO' to the name. It's just that Porsche has gone full retro! Still, look on the bright side. No IMS to fail and kill the 'motor'
It wasn't just electronics. I distinctly remember TURBO-labeled sunglasses being a thing.
This is every bit as pathetic as BMW sticking an M (or more accurately, many Ms) on anything that's not a base model. Customers don't know the first thing about what's under the hood ("Why would I want to know that?" or worse "What's a hood?"). Most of them just want to show off by posting pictures on social media before their children destroy the interior with a layer of Cheerios and vomit.
Here's an electric bike called a turbo...
https://electricbikereview.com/specialized/turbo/
this horrible boom box has turbo bass
this amateur radio is turbo...
Here's a twin turbo hair dryer..
These are turbo track pants
NickD
PowerDork
9/5/19 4:53 p.m.
Weirdo naming convention aside, I think that's a gorgeous machine. And I don't even like Porsches
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HalfDork
9/5/19 5:06 p.m.
In reply to NickD :
I agree. Finally, a Porsche that won’t kill you dead because the engine is in the wrong spot.
Super lame. Not that I would ever be able to afford one anyway.
ShawnG
PowerDork
9/5/19 6:28 p.m.
We discussed this a couple months ago: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/all-porsches-are-turbos-except-the-turbo/154650/page1/
It's as stupid as that goof from Drivetribe trying to explain that the Ferrari flat twelve is actually a V12.
Porsche might as well slap a "cabriolet" badge on it while they're at it.
Wait. Am I the only one wondering what the heck a "taycan" is other than the stupidest car name ever?
slowbird said:
In reply to Adrian_Thompson :
That's true, computers used to have a turbo button. Maybe the Taycan will come with a "turbo" button that gives you a boost of extra electric power, like fanboost in Formula E
And IIRC on some the TURBO button actually slowed down the clock speed so that older programs made to run on a different processor wouldn't just flash by without you seeing what was happening.
EDIT: oops, that makes it sound like I think it's okay what they did. Nope. It's one thing for a pair of sunglasses to have a turbo name, but sunglasses would never have a turbocharger ever. Cars DO have turbochargers. Performance car companies even have turbochargers that make a difference in the car's performance. This is stupid. It smacks of vestigial ICE terminology. As if the Model A were advertised like "it even poops less than most other horses" nope. It doesn't. Because it doesn't need to poop.
Mndsm
MegaDork
9/5/19 7:43 p.m.
Turbo on an electric reminds me of being a kid, and having a tyco turbo hopper. You pulled that trigger extra hard and it dropped the hammer. So in that mindset I'm in. Mash the pedal extra good and go to work, sort of like Ludicrous mode in a Tesla, without all that Elon Musk is totally a supervillain vibe.
Porsche had a huge impact on automotive turbocharging.
Putting the "turbo" name on a car that doesn't even have exhaust, let alone an exhaust-driven turbo-supercharger, means Porsche has jumped the shark.
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HalfDork
9/5/19 9:49 p.m.
freetors said:
Wait. Am I the only one wondering what the heck a "taycan" is other than the stupidest car name ever?
Because if you buy one you just got “Taycan” for a ride.
or, possibly, it refers to “only (Tay)lor Swift (can) afford one”.
If it doesn't come with a button like this, it's trash. Pure trash. A dumpster fire.
How many base model Teslas can you buy for one Taycan ?