Investigating truth about Porsche frozen assets So, as it’s the new year, you’re cutting down on the booze, avoiding rich, unhealthy foods and, perhaps as a result, finding a few extra quid in your pocket. So what can the new you do with it? Thankfully, if you’re a petrolhead - and no-one gives up that –I know just the thing. Silverstone is, of course, the home of British motorsport but it is also the home of the UK’s Porsche Experience Centre. And, as experiences go, it will leave any car fan burbling with excitement. The centre’s six dedicated Porsche tracks provide a unique and challenging driving environment that allow the performance and dynamics of a Porsche to be fully explored. You can use one of theirs or take your own. Each “driving experience” includes one-to-one instruction tailored to your experience and your exact requirements, whether you are looking to try out the four-wheel drive system on the latest 911 or get a better understanding of car control in the Boxster. At the moment, the £275 “gift experience” entitles the recipient 90 minutes on the tracks driving either the Boxster, Cayman, 911, Panamera, Cayenne or new Macan . For a real treat, there’s a feast of Porsche delights available as part of the hour-long Taste of Porsche Experience. This includes 20 minutes driving the latest 911 Carrera, 20 minutes driving a new Cayman GTS, an exhilarating off-road demonstration in the new Cayenne, and a high-octane passenger ride in the latest Panamera. And lunch for two in the Porsche Restaurant overlooking the tracks. But, put your pedal to the metal as this £150 experience is strictly limited and must be taken by March 31 2015. You can choose what you want to drive when you book and I particularly wanted to try out the Panamera 3.0-litre V6 diesel. Yes, a Porsche with a diesel engine! My tuition came from Brian Saunders, one of a team of Porsche driving consultants; experts from advanced road, rally and motorsport backgrounds. Their brief is not to teach you to race, rather to help you master your vehicle even better and to enjoy it as well. The team includes a Le Mans winner. Brian is a former Formula Asia champion, European Formula Ford champion and Porsche Carrera Cup racer. He’s also a champion slot-car racer! We first ventured out on to the centre’s handling circuit. This isn’t designed as a race track but as a “challenging” country road. Using the contours of the land it features a flowing series of corners and undulations that offer a range challenges for both car and driver. We didn’t used all of the Panamera’s 247bhp, or get anywhere near, its 150mph top speed. But, more importantly I learnt the correct lines, braking points and how to safely extract the maximum enjoyment from the car. Driving smoothly, not bat out of hell style, was the name of the game. As I mentioned earlier, this is not a race track. Instead there are various of configurations and surface conditions on which the Porches’ potential can be explored. My favourite was the “ice hill”, a 7% slope featuring computer-controlled water jets and a low friction surface. Learning to drive the Porsche up and down the slippery slope using the power and technology of the Panamera was testing, fun and highly addictive. Even if I did feel like Bambi on ice at times. More educational, especially under Brian’s gentle tutelage, was the “kick plate”. Here, a computer-controlled hydraulic plate set flush to the road surface is designed to put the car into a skid or spin. Your consultant is there to teach you the correct technique to “catch” the slide and bring the car under control. I won’t spoil it by explaining how but it’s probably not how you were originally taught. Again, it’s extremely exhilarating, especially when you eventually get it right. Now, the Panamera is, of course, not your usual sort of Porsche. For a start it’s got four doors and four seats. And I was driving the newest diesel version, which means that, not only is it a luxurious seriously sporty saloon, it can also put close to 800 miles between fills from the pump. Comfortable, quiet and – when not on the ice hill – an undemanding to drive, it is exactly what you might want from a big grand tourer. It might not be the most dynamic Porsche ever but it is rewarding for the driver and a joy to cruise along in. Exactly what it was designed for. And it is extremely well balanced so cornering on the handling circuit was easy and effortless. All in all, the cockpit of the £65,634 Panamera is a special place in which to pass a few miles, let alone a few hundred miles.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 12:51:06 +0000
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