Since That Trade-In Appraisal, the Reviews Have Rolled In

There’s a little more to the story of how my wife decided not to trade in her Taycan.

As she explains in her article, the reality of the trade-in offer led her to keep her 4S Cross Turismo, now with more than 43,000 km on the clock. That same day, I posted on X that I was starting to want a Taycan GTS with E-Shift and Active Ride. A few weeks have passed, and test drives from European and North American media have started coming in. We’re finally getting a clearer picture of how the system is being received.

On the whole, the verdict has been positive. Auto Express called it “surprisingly convincing,” saying it can make you forget that the gears are simulated. evo also found it convincing, though it noted that the sound at full throttle can feel a little too much like a video game. Car and Driver pointed out that the real shift into second gear, at around 55 mph, coincides with the top end of simulated second gear. The system’s trick—only one of its eight shifts is real—seems to come across naturally from behind the wheel.

photo by Porsche Newsroom

Does It Make the Taycan Slower?

The effect on acceleration is where opinions differ.

Porsche says it briefly reduces drive torque during a shift and then restores it, so overall acceleration remains unchanged. Car and Driver echoed that explanation, reporting that E-Shift doesn’t hinder acceleration. InsideEVs, on the other hand, framed it as a feature that deliberately interrupts the seamless surge of an EV—and suggested that this brief pause makes the car fractionally slower.

We’ll have to wait for comparable test data before declaring either side right. To me, the difference seems more about perception than numbers. Very few people are likely to notice a few tenths of a second on public roads. On one point, however, the outlets agree: E-Shift is a feature that sits outside the pursuit of outright speed.

photo by Porsche Newsroom

The Price—and a Note of Caution

It’s worth taking a closer look at the cost, too.

In Japan, Porsche lists the option at ¥145,000. It comes standard on the Taycan Turbo GT. In the UK, evo reports that it costs around £750 extra on the GTS and Turbo S. InsideEVs also notes that the system requires options such as Sport Chrono and Electric Sport Sound, so the actual outlay will depend on how the car is configured.

One line from Car and Driver gave me pause. The system is well executed, the outlet wrote, but owners might stop using it once the novelty wears off. Porsche’s early estimate, it added, is that fewer than 50% of buyers will choose it. How well a feature is executed and whether you keep using it are two different things. I can see the point.

photo by Porsche Newsroom

A Gearbox That Won’t Let You Get It Wrong

I’ve missed a downshift plenty of times in my 981 Boxster GTS with its six-speed manual.

When I don’t get the rev match right, the rear end squats and a chill runs down my back. But those little mistakes make it all the more satisfying when a blip lands perfectly. The 718 Spyder RS has PDK, but with a GT3-derived engine that revs to 9,000 rpm, deciding when to pull the paddle is still up to me. Shift too early, and the exhaust makes it clear it wants more.

In E-Shift’s manual mode, the car won’t shift up automatically, and you can take it to a simulated rev limiter. In other words, it lets you get away with shifting too late. That’s genuinely appealing. But it can’t replicate the other kinds of mistakes: slipping the clutch, missing the rev match, or failing to get the gear engaged. E-Shift allows only a small subset of the mistakes you can make with a real gearbox.

I haven’t experienced E-Shift for myself yet, so I’ll reserve my final judgment until I’ve tried it firsthand. Still, for anyone who’s moved on from a combustion-powered Porsche and misses something about the experience, ¥145,000 seems like a reasonable price to pay to try it. But if you enjoy shifting even when you get it wrong, I can’t yet see a reason to part with a manual car.