BlueVZSS
16-06-2005, 10:11 PM
I spent the day at the Mt Cotton Driving Centre in Brisbane participating in The Porche Driving Experience so I thought that I might share a little of the experience with you all.
Firstly, let me say that this event is probably about the most fun you can have with your pants on. I got to drive every current model in the Porche range in a variety of situations. Yep, that's right...every model :) ...Boxster, Boxster S, 911 (997 model), 911 twin turbo (996 model but still the current one, Cayenne and Cayenne turbo.
The event includes three primary activities:
- A Gymkhana (basically a big carpark with a course set up with witches hats);
- A road course (primarily used by QLD Police for driver training). Lots of blind corners, twisty bits, off-camber corners and some straights. It runs up and down hills; and
- A skid pan circuit. (very slippery as they wet it down then throw diesel on it).
Everyone of these activities is huge fun. We has three groups of about eight with each group undertaking each activity and then rotating onto the next. We each took turns in the different cars and everyone got to drive everything.
There were four race drivers employed as intructors and they were very helpful, surprisingly calm and even more surprisingly quite happy to let us drive to our limits and sometimes beyond. The instructors gave us training and tips and I think everyone learnt some valuable lessons.
Driving a 911 turbo at about 200 odd km/h then braking hard into a downhill hairpin turn is guaranteed to get your adrenaline levels up I can tell you and if that doesn't do it for you then a hot lap with Craig Baird behind the wheel certainly will.
I thought I might give you some of my impressions of the different vehicles while they are still fresh in my mind:
- Boxster and Boxster S. One of the biggest surprises of the day and most peoples favourite. This Boxster has perfect 50/50 weight balance (front to rear) and this makes it a very chuckable vehicle. It is pretty quick off the mark, brakes well and the handling is very nuetral. I suspect that a lot of people underate these but I would take one home in an instant. I easily mowed down an underdriven 911 through the corners on the road course with the Boxster and I wasn't losing ground on the straight. I was considerably quicker in the gymkhana event in the Boxster than in a 911 and clocked the fastest time of the day in the Boxster;
- 911 (997 model) and 911 turbo (996 model); These are phenomenal road cars with power, grip and braking ability to burn. They tend to hang the tail out a litttle under heavy acceleration but there is plenty of notice and it's all very controllable. The 911 turbo is extremely fast if driven hard and deceptively so. It's only when you start braking hard that you realise how much speed you are washing off. The 911 turbo was my personal favourite; and
- Cayenne and Cayenne turbo; another real surprise package. They are actually very quick in a straight line, handle way better than they should for a 2 ton plus vehicle, brake astonishingly well and can go anywhere off-road (we were treated to a very rigorous demonstration of their off-road abilities by one of the instructors.
All in all I highly recommend the experience and hope at least some of you get the chance to do it some time. I apologise for the length of the post but it is something that doesn't come along often in life for most of us.
Firstly, let me say that this event is probably about the most fun you can have with your pants on. I got to drive every current model in the Porche range in a variety of situations. Yep, that's right...every model :) ...Boxster, Boxster S, 911 (997 model), 911 twin turbo (996 model but still the current one, Cayenne and Cayenne turbo.
The event includes three primary activities:
- A Gymkhana (basically a big carpark with a course set up with witches hats);
- A road course (primarily used by QLD Police for driver training). Lots of blind corners, twisty bits, off-camber corners and some straights. It runs up and down hills; and
- A skid pan circuit. (very slippery as they wet it down then throw diesel on it).
Everyone of these activities is huge fun. We has three groups of about eight with each group undertaking each activity and then rotating onto the next. We each took turns in the different cars and everyone got to drive everything.
There were four race drivers employed as intructors and they were very helpful, surprisingly calm and even more surprisingly quite happy to let us drive to our limits and sometimes beyond. The instructors gave us training and tips and I think everyone learnt some valuable lessons.
Driving a 911 turbo at about 200 odd km/h then braking hard into a downhill hairpin turn is guaranteed to get your adrenaline levels up I can tell you and if that doesn't do it for you then a hot lap with Craig Baird behind the wheel certainly will.
I thought I might give you some of my impressions of the different vehicles while they are still fresh in my mind:
- Boxster and Boxster S. One of the biggest surprises of the day and most peoples favourite. This Boxster has perfect 50/50 weight balance (front to rear) and this makes it a very chuckable vehicle. It is pretty quick off the mark, brakes well and the handling is very nuetral. I suspect that a lot of people underate these but I would take one home in an instant. I easily mowed down an underdriven 911 through the corners on the road course with the Boxster and I wasn't losing ground on the straight. I was considerably quicker in the gymkhana event in the Boxster than in a 911 and clocked the fastest time of the day in the Boxster;
- 911 (997 model) and 911 turbo (996 model); These are phenomenal road cars with power, grip and braking ability to burn. They tend to hang the tail out a litttle under heavy acceleration but there is plenty of notice and it's all very controllable. The 911 turbo is extremely fast if driven hard and deceptively so. It's only when you start braking hard that you realise how much speed you are washing off. The 911 turbo was my personal favourite; and
- Cayenne and Cayenne turbo; another real surprise package. They are actually very quick in a straight line, handle way better than they should for a 2 ton plus vehicle, brake astonishingly well and can go anywhere off-road (we were treated to a very rigorous demonstration of their off-road abilities by one of the instructors.
All in all I highly recommend the experience and hope at least some of you get the chance to do it some time. I apologise for the length of the post but it is something that doesn't come along often in life for most of us.