Compare the2024 Porsche TaycanVS 2024 Lexus RZ

The Taycan’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The RZ doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the Taycan and RZ have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Taycan has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The RZ’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

A passive infrared night vision system optional on the Taycan helps the driver to more easily detect people, animals or other objects in front of the vehicle at night. Using an infrared camera to detect heat, the system then displays the image on a monitor in the dashboard. The RZ doesn’t offer a night vision system.

Both the Taycan and the RZ have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems and around view monitors.

The Taycan’s corrosion warranty is 6 years longer than the RZ’s (12 vs. 6 years).

Porsche pays for scheduled maintenance on the Taycan for 1 year and 14,000 miles longer than Lexus pays for maintenance for the RZ (2/24,000 vs. 1/10,000).

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Porsche vehicles are better in initial quality than Lexus vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Porsche above average in initial quality. With 4 more problems per 100 vehicles, Lexus is rated lower.

The Taycan has more powerful engines than the RZ:

As tested in Motor Trend the Taycan 4S Performance Plus/Cross Turismo electric motors is faster than the RZ 450e electric motors:

The Taycan Cross Turismo can travel longer on a full charge than the RZ on a full charge:

The Taycan’s launch control uses engine electronics to hold engine RPM’s precisely in order to provide the most stable and rapid acceleration possible, using all of the available traction. The RZ doesn’t offer launch control.

For better stopping power the Taycan’s brake rotors are larger than those on the RZ:

The Taycan offers optional heat-treated ceramic brake rotors, which last ten to twenty times as long as conventional cast iron rotors, don’t rust, don’t fade during repeated high speed braking, and their lighter weight contribute to better braking, handling and acceleration. The RZ doesn’t offer ceramic brake rotors.

The Taycan stops much shorter than the RZ:

For better traction, the Taycan’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the RZ (F:265/35R21 & R:305/30R21 vs. F:235/60R18 & R:255/55R18).

The Taycan’s standard 225/55R19 front and 275/45R19 rear tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series front and 45 series rear profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the RZ’s standard 60 series front and 55 series rear tires. The Taycan’s optional 265/35R21 front and 305/30R21 rear tires have a lower 35 series front and 30 series rear profile than the RZ’s optional 50 series front and 45 series rear tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Taycan has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the RZ. The Taycan’s optional 21-inch wheels are larger than the 20-inch wheels optional on the RZ.

The Taycan offers active sway bars, which help keep it flat and controlled during cornering, but disconnect at lower speeds to smooth the ride and offer greater off-road suspension articulation. This helps keep the tires glued to the road on-road and off. The RZ doesn’t offer an active sway bar system.

The Taycan offers an available adjustable active suspension system, which counteracts cornering forces actively, limiting body roll and improving handling and stability. Lexus doesn’t offer an active suspension on the RZ.

The Taycan has a standard driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads. The RZ’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Taycan’s wheelbase is 2 inches longer than on the RZ (114.2 inches vs. 112.2 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Taycan is 3.7 inches wider in the front and 2.3 inches wider in the rear than the track on the RZ.

The Taycan’s front to rear weight distribution is more even (49% to 51%) than the RZ’s (54.2% to 45.8%). This gives the Taycan more stable handling and braking.

The Taycan 4S Cross Turismo handles at .88 G’s, while the RZ 450e Premium pulls only .83 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Taycan Cross Turismo 4 executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the RZ 450e Luxury (25 seconds @ .76 average G’s vs. 25.9 seconds @ .7 average G’s).

The Taycan is 10.1 inches shorter in height than the RZ, making the Taycan much easier to wash and garage and drive (lower center of gravity).

A low lift-over trunk design makes loading and unloading the Taycan easier. The Taycan’s trunk lift-over height is 27.5 inches, while the RZ’s liftover is 29.8 inches.

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the Taycan. The RZ doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

The Taycan uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The RZ uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

A maintenance reminder system is standard on the Taycan to save the owner time and money by calculating maintenance intervals based on odometer mileage. This takes the guesswork out of keeping your vehicle in top condition and helps it last longer. Lexus doesn’t offer a maintenance reminder on the RZ.

Unlike the driver-only memory system in the RZ, the Taycan offers an optional driver and passenger memory, so that when drivers switch, the memory setting adjusts the driver’s seat, steering wheel position, outside mirror angle, climate settings and radio stations and the front passenger seat also adjusts to the new passenger’s preset preferences.

The power windows standard on both the Taycan and the RZ have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Taycan is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The RZ prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

To help drivers see further while navigating curves, the Taycan offers optional adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle. The RZ doesn’t offer cornering lights.

The Taycan offers optional massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the RZ.

The Porsche Taycan comes in sedan and station wagon bodystyles; the Lexus RZ isn’t available as a sedan.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Taycan first among upper midsize premium cars in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The RZ isn’t in the top three.

The Porsche Taycan outsold the Lexus RZ by 41% during 2023.