Compare the2024 Porsche TaycanVS 2023 Nissan Ariya

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 Ariya doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the Taycan and Ariya 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 Ariya’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 Ariya doesn’t offer a night vision system.

Both the Taycan and the Ariya have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear 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 comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire car and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Ariya’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The Taycan’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the Ariya’s (12 vs. 5 years).

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 Nissan vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Porsche above average in initial quality. With 13 more problems per 100 vehicles, Nissan is rated lower.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Porsche vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Porsche above average in long-term dependability. With 30 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Nissan is rated below average.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Porsche vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Porsche 9 places higher in reliability than Nissan.

The Taycan has more powerful engines than the Ariya:

As tested in Car and Driver the Taycan Performance Plus electric motor is faster than the Ariya + electric motor:

The Taycan Cross Turismo can travel longer on a full charge than the Ariya 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 Ariya doesn’t offer launch control.

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

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 Ariya doesn’t offer ceramic brake rotors.

The Taycan stops much shorter than the Ariya:

For better traction, the Taycan’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Ariya (F:265/35R21 & R:305/30R21 vs. 255/45R20).

The Taycan’s standard 275/45R19 rear tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Ariya’s standard 55 series 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 Ariya Platinum+’s optional 45 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Taycan offers optional 21-inch wheels. The Ariya’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

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 Ariya 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. Nissan doesn’t offer an active suspension on the Ariya.

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 Ariya’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Taycan’s wheelbase is 4.9 inches longer than on the Ariya (114.2 inches vs. 109.3 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Taycan is 2.7 inches wider in the front and 1.7 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Ariya.

The Taycan 4S Cross Turismo handles at .88 G’s, while the Ariya Empower+ pulls only .85 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Taycan Cross Turismo 4 executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.3 seconds quicker than the Ariya Platinum+ (25 seconds @ .76 average G’s vs. 26.3 seconds @ .71 average G’s).

The Taycan is 11.1 inches shorter in height than the Ariya, making the Taycan much easier to wash and garage and drive (lower center of gravity).

The design of the Porsche Taycan amounts to more than styling. The Taycan offers aerodynamic coefficients of drag from .23 to .28 Cd (depending on bodystyle and options). That is lower than the Ariya (.3 to .33) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Taycan get better fuel mileage.

The front grille of the Taycan uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Ariya doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

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 Ariya’s liftover is 30.6 inches.

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

The Taycan uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Ariya 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.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Porsche service is better than Nissan. J.D. Power ranks Porsche third in service department satisfaction. With a 30% lower rating, Nissan is ranked 18th.

The Taycan has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The Ariya doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The Taycan’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Ariya’s standard intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

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 Ariya doesn’t offer cornering lights.

The Taycan’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Ariya offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

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 Ariya.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Porsche Taycan has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Only the Ariya Evolve+/Empower+/Platinum+ offers wireless charging.

The Taycan’s optional Active Parking Support can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote ParkAssist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The Ariya Empower+/Platinum+’s automatic parking system does not offer parking by remote control.

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