An expert guide to configuring a new Porsche Taycan

How to configure a new Porsche Taycan

Why building your new Porsche is easier than ever

December 8, 2021

Person looking at Porsche configurator on Apple MacBook screen

Which colour? What wheels are going to look best? And does that contrasting seat insert look good? Deciding what your new Porsche looks like is fun, but there are big decisions to make when doing so. Fortunately, we have people who can put your mind at ease

Buying a new car is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. And that’s before you’ve even begun to decide how it looks and drives. Choose a new Porsche Taycan, for example, and you can specify what you want to order for your car to the minutest of details – and with Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur, the opportunity for personalisation increases even further. Using the online configurator at Porsche.com, it’s more convenient and much simpler than you’d think. If you’re about to configure a new Porsche Taycan – or any car from the Porsche range – we’ve gathered together some tips and guidance from Porsche experts to help you.

Screenshot of Porsche Taycan 4S configurator online — With the Porsche online configurator, you can see what your new car looks like at every step

Porsche guide to exterior colours

The online configurator at Porsche.com begins with choosing the model variant itself – Taycan, Taycan 4S, Taycan GTS, Taycan Turbo or the range-topping Taycan Turbo S. But to many, almost as big a discussion comes when you choose the exterior colour. “It’s often the first choice a customer makes because it’s the most obvious thing when you see a car,” says Georg Arens, Product Manager for the Porsche Taycan. “It has the most initial impact and it’s a major decision.”

The psychology of colour is hugely important. We all have an opinion on colour, whether we drive or not. “It’s also the main part of the car where you can express yourself. It’s not only your own personal taste, which leads you to a certain colour, but it can be about what you stand for and what people think about you,” explains Sabine Heyll, Product Manager, Porsche Taycan, Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur.

Black and White are standard colours for the Taycan, but a varied package of metallic colours, special colours and the colours offered by Porsche Paint To Sample allow your imagination to run wild. In the case of Paint To Sample, with 65 additional colours from Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur, you have the chance to obtain the ultimate in colour personalisation.

Sideview of rear wheels on a grey Porsche Taycan — The configurator opens you up to a world of choice. Porsche Tequipment wheels? You got it

If eking out as much from the battery is important to you, then choose wheels with a closed design for more aerodynamic airflow

Porsche guide to wheels and wheel accessories

You’ve chosen your colour. Next, it’s a choice of wheels that range from the standard 19-inch Taycan Aero S to the striking 21-inch Taycan Exclusive Design Wheels with aeroblades in carbon. These have a weight advantage of over 3kg per wheel set compared to the full material variant, reducing the unsprung masses while also maintaining good aerodynamics. It’s vital to consider all options when you configure a new Porsche Taycan.

When it comes to the Taycan, an important thing to note is that as an electric car, the choice of wheel can have a slight influence on vehicle range, says Sabine. If eking out as much from the battery is important to you, then choose wheels with a closed design for more aerodynamic airflow. In contrast, if you want to take the Taycan out on the track, then more open wheels increase the ability to cool down the brakes. Personalisation also extends to colours too. With Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur you can have the wheels painted in other colours, including the ability to match that of the exterior colour.

Porsche guide to interior colours and material

As a luxury car, a leather interior plays an important role for many customers when they configure a new Porsche Taycan, says Georg. For the Taycan and Taycan 4S, for example, there are three standard interiors – including a two-tone black and chalk beige. Among the choice of four interior colour and material packages, there are also five leather-free interiors. It’s worth noting that what counts as standard equipment on a Taycan compared to a Taycan Turbo S is often rather different. “With leather-free we are addressing those customers who are more and more focused on sustainability,” explains Julian Fortner, Product Manager Configure at Porsche.com. “Our leather-free interior products are really good. It’s a product we want to expand [in its take-up] and make it even better.” But even with a leather interior, it is still possible to aim for sustainability. The Club Leather OLEA, for example, is tanned using olive leaf extracts manufactured from renewable raw materials.

And with Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur, your choice extends to options for the interior that go beyond the main surfaces. “We aim to get every part that you frequently touch in your car to be covered in leather,” says Sabine. “And with the Taycan, there is the opportunity to choose the same parts covered in Race-Tex. With the Taycan, people want to put the same effort into their interior that they would do for their home.”

Interior of Taycan with dark grey seats and green inserts — The configurator gives you access to unique personalising offered by Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur, like contrasting seat inserts

Porsche guide to seats

The luxury interior of the Taycan is complimented by three seat options – 8-way comfort electric seats are standard equipment in the front, 14-way comfort front seats with memory package and 18-way adaptive sports seats with memory package with four-way lumbar support. On these, Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur gives you the option to pick out decorative stitching throughout the car and leather seat centres in contrasting colours – it’s a popular way for customers to really express themselves when you configure a new Porsche Taycan, says Sabine.

Porsche guide to individual options

Beyond the exterior, wheels and interior, your online configurator also leads you to the huge range of individual options within these areas, such as the sporty Carbon SportDesign Package from Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur, for example, with its aprons and sideskirts in carbon, model designations on the doors in select colours and seat massage functions.

Blue Taycan S with ice blue lights — It’s all about the details: like these Glacier Ice Blue Matrix LED headlights from Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur

Porsche guide to drivetrain and chassis

As a Porsche electric sports car, pure performance is guaranteed, but there are also a number of ways that you can enhance the driving experience when you configure a new Porsche Taycan. The Porsche Surface Coated Brake (PSCB) are cast-iron brake discs with a ceramic coating in black or white – visually arresting but also featuring improved corrosion resistance. Or to further enhance ride and handling, you can choose Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control Sport. One of the most popular choices, says Georg, is Porsche Electric Sport Sound. “We didn’t try to imitate the sound of an internal combustion engine,” he says. “Rather we tried to create something new for the electric era. And our engineers did a great job.” Figures from the end of 2020 suggest that this option is among the most popular of items that customers have chosen, says Georg (it comes as standard for Turbo S owners). For how it sounds on both the interior and exterior, this option makes for an emotionally charged and rich driving experience.

Porsche guide to lighting and vision

All Taycan models come with LED headlights as standard – customers wouldn’t accept anything less, says Georg. Via the configurator, you can choose one of two Matrix LED headlights options from Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur, with Black or Glacier Ice Blue tinted elements. Both feature the intelligent Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus that make night time driving safer and more comfortable. In this area of the configurator you can also choose your options for the rear light strip – with the PORSCHE logo picked out in Black or Glacier Ice Blue, an option regularly ticked by customers, says Sabine. It’s also here that one of the most popular options for prospective Taycan owners can be found in the shape of the large, tinted glass panoramic roof. It floods the car with light on the inside as well as visually looking good from the outside, explains Julian.

Close-up of Taycan front wing showing electric charging cover — The electric charging cover on the Taycan can be opened from within the car or with a hand gesture across it

Porsche guide to e-performance

“The Taycan has everything on board to charge your vehicle, but there is some extra equipment to make it even more convenient,” says Georg. In the configurator, for example, you can buy a 22kW on-board AC charger that shortens the charge time from a public AC charger or at your home significantly – useful if you aren’t near the fast-charging DC units you find near motorways and autobahns. And with the Mobile Charger Connect, a 5-inch digital touch display gives you access to charging statistics. There’s also Porsche Home Energy Manager, which intelligently controls the charging of your Taycan to ensure that your home system isn’t overloaded. One of the most popular options is an electric charging cover. Standard with the Turbo S only, this is an electrically operated opening for the car’s charge ports on both the driver and passenger side. It can be opened from inside the car or from the outside by just waving your hand along the flat bar on top of it. When you configure a new Porsche Taycan, there are many options that Georg describes as being “convenient but also cool”.

Close-up of hand looking at Porsche Configurator on mobile phone — In control: get configuring on your phone, using your laptop or chat with your Porsche dealership

There are endless possibilities when you configure a new Porsche Taycan

Whether you use the mobile or desktop version, the Porsche Car Configurator is a priceless tool whether you use it for interactive research ahead of a trip to your local Porsche dealer or even configuring and purchasing the car online yourself. It delivers on its aim of making buying your new Porsche as straightforward and simple as possible – as well as opening your mind to the almost endless possibilities available to you when you configure a new Porsche Taycan, especially from Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur. “We see some really great things that people order,” says Sabine. “We give people the chance to get even more creative than before with our new personalised options like bespoke door sill guards or decal sets.”

And for those customers who want to make their Porsche even more unique and add special options that are neither in the current product portfolio nor in the Porsche Car Configurator, there are experts from the Sonderwunsch – or ‘special request’ – customer consultation. Based right at the heart of Porsche’s home in Zuffenhausen, they are able to add those final individual touches to help fulfil a real one-of-a-kind vehicle.

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