daveo4porsche

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/th...-driving.2923/

all the gory details can be found in the thread above - had a good time - guess what it's a big heavy sports sedan with 4 doors and a lot of power!!! who knew?

Toby Pennycuff

Well done Dave!!!! Great writeup.

Toby

Needsdecaf

Love it! Using it properly!

Needsdecaf

Reading some of your follow up thoughts. Nurburgring is more of a speed track than a braking track. Lots of long runs at larger throttle. So I wonder if the thermals are better with reduced braking? Also, did you ever a discover a way to put it into reduced regen mode, or even off? The less regen the more helpful.

Whoopsy

That blue looks really really good under the sun. Now I am tempted to order a blue car

Why complaint about consumption? Track driving is about high consumption, most Porsches when driving spiritedly on track will burn about a litre of fuel a minute. For bigger engine cars, even more.

daveo4porsche

the consumption is not as much of a complaint as it is a documented “fact” that makes track days more difficult - 50-60% per session makes the taycan difficult to track with out at-track or very very near by FastDC charging facilities

I’m also going to do a session or two at Thunderhill raceway in california - it’s a flatter track and may be better for an EV (closer 350 kW fast charging). Laguna is a lot of uphill and very very power hungry - I’m wondering if thunderhill might be easier given less up & down hill.

ipse dixit

Good to hear about the brakes. That's the most notable news from your writeup.

The consumption is to be expected.

Thanks for the writeup.

Zcd1

Sounds like a fun day.

I'm surprised to hear about the overheating, given Porsche's previous statements on that topic.

daveo4porsche

yes I was surprised as well - but again keep in mind - it is still way way way better than the Model S - I've lapped a 2013 P85 and a 2014 P85D at Laguna - and neither vehicle could complete an entire hot lap at full power - so if you put yourself in Porsche's position where they admitted they were comparing themselves to the Model S - a solid 7-8 full hot laps is DRAMATICALLY better than the Model S - and it seems to be about 15-16 minutes of "solid" hot lap which is about 2 'ring laps…so they have vastly improved over their competition (the Model S) but they are still not up to the endurance of their gasoline vehicles…and it's not unheard up for even gasoline vehicles to not be able to run a full 25 minutes session (corvette I'm looking at you!!!)…

the problem I have it that I was also more hopeful given Porsche's statements - and between porsche starting the Taycan program and shipping it the world moved on - and the Model 3 performance based on my personal testing can complete 6-7 full hot laps before throttling itself - so the Taycan is still better, but not up to a full 25 minute DE session…

conditions were ideal also - clear sunny, cool, 58F or lower temps, and the vehicle still "overheated"…

NOTE: when he vehicle goes into limp mode the indicated battery temperature was 132F…car had full power at 131F, and once battery temp hit 132F car was down on power, there were no warnings, but car was sugglish - "pwoermeter" on the main dash - blue-circular-bar on the right of the dash indicating power could not get past approximately the 2:30 clock position on the dial (vs. 5:00 for full power)

interesting to me facts:

• solid 6 hot laps at laguna until full power during first morning session…1:46.xx lap times
• it was lap 7 or 8 where I finally noticed loss of power - not expecting power loss I thought I was imagining the car being slower
  • after I was in that state for a while I finally noticed the dash - and when "flat out" I only had like 40% power indicated on main dash
• NO warnings - car was rock solid and very very quiet about this state
• battery temp on track was 132F (normal temps in my 5000 miles since July are 67-92F)
• I lost power session #1 - first morning session 9 am - it was very very cool out less than 55F - I failed to note exact temperature
• battery temp at beginning of session 1 was 74F or slightly less
• battery temp remained 132F while on track
• exiting track session early - I did a cool down lap, and took the exit between turns 10 & 11 - and I was in garage 16 - by the time I exited the track and arrived in my garage battery temp had dropped to 127F (time elapsed less than 4 minutes)
• car rested for a hour between session 1 & 2
• I charged the car from garage 30 amp NEMA 6-30 - from 43% to 49% in approximately 55 minutes between sessions
• battery temp at start of session #2 was 81/82F
• I completed at least 3 hot laps at full power - I came in on lap 4 or 5 due to low battery SOC (20% or less) - warning pop'd up on dash - so I did cool down lap to come in - need battery to drive from track to seaside EVGo for lunchtime fast charge
• battery temp exiting session #2 was 129F
• packed the vehicle to make trip to fast charger while charging on NEMA 6-30
• drove 12 minutes to Seaside EVGo
• battery temp upon arriving at Seaside EVGo was 95F or less
• I did two 45 minute EVGo fast charging sessions
• battery temp leaving EVGo was 87F or less
• arrvived back at track at 1:30'ish PM
• plugged into NEMA 6-30 in garage
• went out for 4th HOD session - C group - 2:05 PM - forgot to note battery temp - this was my 3rd session of the day - I had to skip HOD session #3 while fast charging
• completed at least 3 or 4 hot laps - encounter power throttling
• I completed 2 full cool down laps on track - 1/3rd pace attempting to "'cool" the battery
• it mostly worked - at completion of 2nd cool down lap - upon exiting turn 11 I nailed it for one final hot lap
• car responded well and I had full power again but I was again throttled by exit of turn 6 - so I could not complete a full hot lap after two cool down laps
• temps at track were mild, afternoon temps were 60F or less
• given lack of full power I aborted the 3rd session for the day at 34% battery and 132F battery temp and brought the vehicle in.
• drive home was uneventful and I arrive home at 85F battery temp…

based on my experience at Laguna the 2020 Taycan Turbo is good for a solid 14-16 minutes of hot laps in cool weather - after that you WILL experience power throttling - normal driving in this condition is no problem, but hard driving will quickly return the vehicle to it's neutered state - 14-16 minutes of hard drive makes the 2020 Taycan Turbo the most capable production EV I've personally experienced and is best in class for production EV's at this time and a dramatic improvement over my experience (and other's) with the Tesla Model S (again my 2 model S's could not even do a single full hot lap @ laguna in my personal experience) - the Taycan is still the best EV on track, but only marginally better than a Model 3 performance based on my personal experience (from a stamina point of view) - both the Taycan and the Model 3 can not complete a full 25 minute DE session at full power based on my experience.

In the none stamina categories (braking, acceleration, handling, competence) and what not the Taycan is dramatically better than the Model 3 - the model 3's stock factory performance brakes are DONE after 3 full hot laps at Laguna…before the vehicle enters power throttling mode - the Taycan's brakes were magnificent (PCCB's) and show no signed of fatigue or fade even after pounding 6 or 7 hot laps from a 5,100 lbs sedan doing over 120 mph in turn 1 into the turn 2 braking zone…porsche brakes are my favorite feature of Porsche's and they are stunningly good - there is NO comparison vs. other EV's on track…

but the Taycan shows similar stamina limitations at this time as the Model 3 and other EV's I've experienced.

daveo4porsche

based on my experience if one want to track the taycan and work to achieve an optimal lap time the recipe would be as follows:

• you need at least 125 kW DCFast charger at the track
• 1 out lap
• 3 hot laps
• 1 cool down lap
• after 3 hot laps not only are you pushing the battery temps, but the tires are also gettin greasy - heavy heavy car - normal street tires just aren't going to handle more than 4 full hot laps
• bring the car in - adjust tires, temps, pressures, rest the car and fast charge it - you probably used at least 40% battery on the previous session
• rest how ever long it takes to get back to 85-90% battery SOC
• repeat the 1 out lap - 3 hot laps - then come in - that in my opinion is the best way to track a taycan.
• NOTE: you may be able to do 4 full hot laps rather than 3 - adjust to suite - but no more than 5…
  • while I’m confident you can do 6-7 hot laps with the battery - there is no point with street tires - optimal laps are going to be lap 2 or 3 - after that tire issues will degrade laps times…so 3-5 hot laps and then in for a “rest” seems to be the best way to attack lap time improvements

Needsdecaf

Next time bring the GT3!

Zcd1

It would be one thing if Porsche hadn't continually stressed that the Taycan wouldn't have those same limitations - but in reality it does.

Needsdecaf

But...but...it can go 0-100 kmh 30 times in a row!!!

whiz944

Looking at plugshare, it seems the Seaside EVgo stations are only 50 kW. There are much higher power Recargo and EA sites near Salinas. So a little extra driving might have made for much faster charging? If you could have snagged a 350kW charger at the EA site, might have cut upwards of an hour off the recharging - even considering the extra driving. Looks like EA is building a site in Monterey too.

daveo4porsche

I did a test prior to the track days - the additional traffic congestion and many many more lights and such make the Salinas EA chargers an iffy proposition from a total time point of view - particularly given the time of day you're likely to need them during a track day - distance and traffic variables make that destination a no go - accounting for charge time and travel time - by my estimates the Salinas chargers are a 2 1/4 hour roundtrip - and the Seaside chargers are a confirmed 2 hour roundtrip (cause I've done it)

the Monterey chargers will be similarly poor choice as they are deep in highly congested traffic patterns near common tourist destinations - travel time to/from that location is also similarly iffy…

the best choice would be some EA chargers in the same approximate area as the existing EVGo chargers - or even closer to the track if not at the track.