The 2021 Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo electric wagon is finally revealed, and along with it is a new configuration tool to play with. In typical Porsche fashion, there is a wide array of trim levels, performance options and, most fun, interior and exterior choices. So we on the Autoblog staff spent a little time to craft our ideal Taycans. Our colors and configurations varied, but all but one of us picked the base Taycan 4 as a starting point. Read on, and be sure to visit the Porsche configuration tool to build your own.
Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder: Sub-5-seconds 0-to-60 is good enough for me, so I’m going with the Taycan 4 Cross Turismo ($92,250) and adding the Sport Chrono package ($1,320) for drive modes to suit my moods. That icy Frozen Blue Metallic paint ($800) is a sharp color. $2,380 for the 20-inch Offroad Design wheels is more than I want to pay, but those Aero blades aren’t really doing it for me, so the upcharge is a must. (Note to self: If I ever design a rad car, give it ugly base wheels and charge a lot for the next step up). Clean up the look with the model designation deletion ($0) and call the exterior good.
Inside, I’m minimizing leather — something that’s actually important to me, and for which I’m glad automakers are leaning into — so I’ll get the Race-Tex interior in Graphite Blue/Slate Grey ($4,700). A little ambient lighting ($500) to set the mood, and the interior looks good to me. To make those long drives smoother and calmer, I’ll opt for Porsche InnoDrive ($3,610), which adds adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist, as well as rear-wheel steering ($1,620). Boom. Done. Final price: $107,180. I can live with that for a Taycan wagon.
Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski: I added more than $34,000 in options to my Porsche Taycan 4 Cross Turismo build. For the record, the last new car I actually bought with my own money was less than that out the door, tax, title, license, etc. I did not choose one of the really high-end paint options, instead opting for the $800 Mamba Green Metallic. And even though it seems ridiculous to buy a car for $126,810 (that’s the final tally) and not choosing full leather or the optional Race-Tex interior, those are both very expensive and don’t match as well with the standard interior in Black and Limestone Beige.
I added the Off Road Design Package, the Premium Package to get the Technology Package, LED Matrix lights, surround-view camera and heated and ventilated 14-way power seats. I added all the available performance-minded enhancements, including the Sport Chrono package and rear-wheel steering. Inside, I added Night Vision Assist, heated rear seats because I love my passengers, too, and brown seat belts. Finally, I threw in the onboard charger and a 25-foot cable.
News Editor Joel Stocksdale: Like John and Jeremy, I opted for the “simple” Taycan 4 Cross Turismo. It offers an amount of power that should feel quick, but also very manageable for the street. Plus, the sub-$100,000 price tag is appealing, for saving money in general and providing room for options.
The majority of my option costs were for color choice and performance items. The Neptune Blue exterior paint was $3,150, and the groovy Mission E Cross Turismo-inspired wheels came in at $4,680. I brightened up the exterior with silver window trim for $400, plus little silver “electric” badges on the sides. For the interior, I had to go with the gorgeous Graphite Blue Race-Tex interior that matches the Neptune Blue nearly perfectly. It cost $4,130. On top of that was another $2,000 for the Paldao Wood trim, $660 for color-matched seat belts, $650 for dark silver accents and $500 for ambient lighting. I couldn’t help myself, the color combo just looked so good, and if I’m going to pick one of these up, I would want it specified exactly the way I want.
I was fairly sparing with functional options except for performance items. The rear-wheel steering, Sport Chrono pack, torque vectoring and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control all had to be added, all of which added up to $8,030. Then I picked a few comfort and convenience features such as the head-up display, blind-spot warning, surround view camera, 14-way power seats and heated steering wheel. Those tallied up to $5,790.
In the end, the $29,990 worth of options brought my Taycan 4 to $122,240. So not only would my car be blue, so would my wallet.
Associate Editor Byron Hurd: Am I really going to be the only journalist-wants-a-brown-wagon stereotype here? Cool. Cool, cool, cool. Mahogany Metallic was the last finish I clicked on, believe it or not, and while it does not play well with the standard wheels, I think it looks spectacular with these 20″ Taycan Turbo Design wheels. Inside, I went with Black and Chalk two-tone leather for the interior, figuring the worst-case scenario is that you get the white seats dirty and they simply better match the exterior. But really, I just think it works.
I didn’t add much in the way of interior. Sport Seats Plus were a must, as was Sport Chrono and a few other odds and ends (yeah, a heated steering wheel, because, well, me) and I couldn’t say “no” to the Burmester sound system. Fake money, right? My all-in price came to $122,030, with $29,780 of that in optional equipment, which could buy me a reasonably nice compact car. Gotta love Porsche options.
Road Test Editor Zac Palmer: I tend to believe that going 0-60 mph in about 4 seconds is the sweet spot for a road car. It’s enough to properly pin you back, but not so much as to be unusable on a fun road. Therefore, I went for the Taycan 4S Cross Turismo that does it in 3.9 seconds. After this reasonable and thoughtful choice, I decided to be forego reason and piled on $48,360 worth of options.
The Frozen Blue Metallic paint is too glorious to pass up, and it’s just so good that I paid an extra $1,290 on top of the $4,870 cost of 21-inch Taycan Exclusive Design Wheels to get them painted in Frozen Blue Metallic. What a stunner. I tacked on the glossy black Off-Road Design Package ($2,170) to be rid of the silver and flat-black trim, then also added glossy black window trim ($400), black roof rails ($830), Porsche logo in the light strip in Glacier Blue ($850) and body-color model designation ($350). The white PSCB calipers ($3,490) are the final necessary appearance touch, plus they’ll cut down on brake dust obscuring my pretty, light blue and white wheels.
I continued the blue theme inside with the Race-Tex in all Graphite Blue ($4,130), then said yes to far too many tech and luxury options like the Advanced 4-zone climate control ($990), heated steering wheel ($280) and thermally and noise insulated glass ($1,130). And of course, I ticked the box for Porsche’s $6,430 Performance Package, too. All in (with numerous options not listed here), my Taycan 4S Cross Turismo totaled $160,010. That’s a touch more than a base Turbo, but to me, the 4S is the perfect sweet spot of performance and drivability in a Taycan wagon.
West Coast Editor James Riswick: I would first like to applaud Porsche for offering the Taycan in such a wide array of interesting and often vibrant colors. That only two of us made the same choice is indicative of that — and we even left the pink-like Frozen Berry on the table. My choice of Cherry Metallic is seemingly a killer shade of deep candy apple red. It’s stunning. Inside, I thought about pairing it with one of the two reddish color choices, Blackberry or Bordeaux Red, but that seemed a bit too matchy-matchy. Instead, I went with the black, non-cow Race-Tex interior ($4,130) and accented it with Bordeaux Red seatbelts and these gold-like Neodyme trim inserts. Black, deep red and gold — that’s a classy combo.
In terms of specs, John Snyder’s base Taycan first drive convinced me that’s all I need, so that was my base. Outside, I added the 20-inch Offroad Design Wheels for $2,380 (yikes) and Roof Rails in Black Aluminum Finish for $830 (with meh cargo capacity, I foresee needing to load stuff up top). I also added the Porsche Electric Sport Sound ($500) and blind-spot warning that somehow costs $950. Inside, I got the Rear 2+1 seats for $480 (why not?), the $1,200 Bose sound upgrade and the 14-way power front seats with memory ($1,510) paired with ventilation ($850) and heating both front and rear ($530). Those Bordeaux Red seatbelts and Neodyme trim inserts each go for $650.
Tally it up, my sexy red Taycan 4 Cross Turismo hits the register at $107,720 with $15,470 worth of options.
Managing Editor Greg Rasa: Gentian Blue Metallic is $800. It was a hard choice between that and Carmine Red, which is extremely red, one of only four $3,150 “special” colors offered, and therefore it’s probably a knockout. However, I had already settled first on the top-shelf Truffle Brown Olea Club leather interior ($6,570), and the blue goes better with that. Brown shoes with a blue suit.
Agreed, the base Taycan 4 Cross Turismo seems plenty fun enough. Kept the options tight at $18,680, just a small smattering of creature comforts similar to what James picked. These 19-inch Aero wheels look cool with this EV; they seem futuristic yet not weirdly so, and were “just” $1,860. I was also intrigued by Zac’s painted wheel trick and tried those on for size, below, before rejecting the idea. Hmm, just noticed the Aero wheels don’t show off the brake calipers, so this might not be settled. There are a lot of cool wheels with this car.
A must-have with the chocolatey interior was the Paldao wood trim, $2,000.
Out the door with a gorgeous car at a mere $110,930.
