Configurator Challenge: Porsche Taycan facelift

Customisation is in vogue at the moment, but too much choice can be confusing. In our configurator challenge, Drive team members scroll through a manufacturer’s website to create their ideal combination for a certain model.

This week it's the updated Porsche Taycan electric car, complete with a Turbo GT flagship variant good for 0-100km/h in a claimed 2.2 seconds with the Weissach Package.

Tell us which new Porsche Taycan you would buy – and how you'd specify it – in the comments below (build yours here), and what you'd like us to configure next.

If you are going to buy a Porsche – an electric Porsche at that – you might as well go all out with the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package.

Sadly, this powertrain isn’t offered in Cross Turismo wagon form, so I’ll have to go with the still-sexy sedan, but that does mean the exceptionally eye-catching Purple Sky Metallic exterior colour option can be had.

Paired with the purple hue are 21-inch Turbo GT wheels finished in Neodyme, or bronze, that cost an extra $2500 but contrast nicely against the massive carbon-fibre rear wing and extra aero bits.

Finishing off the exterior is a badge delete (free!) and a Glacier Ice Blue-finished Porsche badge in the rear that lights up (also free!).

Inside, of course, I had to option the 3D-printed bodyform bucket seat, which is available in three levels of hardness, to better contour the seat to my frame, adding $5620 to the asking price.

And to tie the rear badge into the rest of the interior, Voltage Blue highlights can be found on the seatbelts, seat inserts, cabin stitching, and door inserts.

All up, the options amount to an extra $10,140, bringing the total asking price to $426,740 before on-road costs. Ballin’.

The Taycan is simply one of the best electric cars on the market – and frankly it should be, given the price tag. But while the shape of the standard Taycan has never really worked for me, the wagon – known as the Cross Turismo – is a thing of beauty.

I've driven the Taycan Turbo S before and I know it's stupendously fast, far too quick for the real world. So for me, I'm going with a base-spec Porsche Taycan 4 Cross Turismo, finished in Oak Green Metallic Neo and Turbo S Aero Design wheels, and offset with a Truffle Brown Club leather interior.

I've left the comfort seats, added seat ventilation for those warmer days, and ticked the option boxes for the rear-axle steering and Sport Chrono Package with the GT multi-function sports steering wheel.

My Cross Turismo also features Night Vision Assist, a panoramic sunroof with Variable Light Control, and tinted HD matrix LED headlights.

All told, my build comes in at a touch over $288,300 drive-away. Or more than I paid for my first house. But you know what they say – you can't drive a house, but you can live in a Porsche Taycan 4 Cross Turismo.

I'm usually one to flock to the GT level when dreaming up imaginary Porsche purchases, but the Taycan Turbo GT does not excite me as much as one of Porsche's petrol-powered GT sports heroes. That's why I've opted for the middling Taycan 4S specification in wagon guise.

My configuration is painted in the drop-dead gorgeous Fish Silver Grey metallic that was originally a colour on the Porsche 356 and was recently reimagined for the Australian-exclusive 911 GT3 Touring '70 Years Porsche Australia Edition'. Trust me, the photos don't do the shade justice – it is wonderful in person.

There are few good wheel selections on the Taycan in my opinion, but the least bad option is the 20-inch Turbo Sport Aero design. I selected aluminium roof rails (in addition to a panoramic glass roof) and specified silver brake calipers to tie in the look.

Inside I went leather-free, because electric car, which means Race-Tex with Pepita inserts. I also added an extra, fifth seat between the rear two because this should be a practical wagon – I'm unsure why it's not offered as standard.

Let the record show the only reason I've selected the Turbo GT as my Taycan of choice is for the stunning Purple Sky Metallic paint, which is exclusive to this variant for the first 12 months of production.

Even without the Weissach Package – which turns a liveable four-seat car into an impractical two-seater with even more performance you can't use on Aussie roads – my specification aims to make this battery-powered Saturn V on wheels more daily driver-friendly.

I'm glad the facelifted Taycan now lets you paint the entire 21-inch Mission E wheels in dark grey – rather than match the body colour, or only paint certain parts of the wheels – while behind them I've left the standard gold brake calipers and ceramic discs.

Inside, the bucket seats have been dropped in favour of 18-way power-adjustable sports seats with heating and ventilation – which mandates the leather interior – and I've selected the glass roof with trick transparent-to-opaque film.

Other options include heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel ($1300), Sport Chrono dial in Crayon ($1120), seatbelts in Crayon ($1020), lane-following assist, adaptive cruise control, a Burmester stereo ($9630) and no-cost HD matrix LED headlights.

All up, the options amount to a reasonable-by-Porsche-standards $21,650 above the base price of $416,600 plus on-road costs – which is likely to mean a near-half-a-million-dollar car on the road.