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For several years, I have lusted over the Porsche range of sports cars - especially the Porsche Boxster, which I consider to be the world’s most brilliant roadster and ideal second car. As part of my quest to drive the Boxster, I researched renting one for the day but between the cost and lack of opportunity to push the car to its limits on the public roads, I thought better. Instead, I booked a one-day session at the Porsche Experience Driving Center situated 45 minutes south of Brisbane City for AUS $1,265. For a small additional fee, my partner signed on as support crew and spectator. Booking was easy - but it’s popular, so book well in advance.
We arrived at the Porsche Experience Center, Mt Cotton, in a rented two-door hatchback. This was seriously embarrassing - the car park resembled a Porsche Showroom. I parked the hatchback at the end of the car park, well away from the porn on wheels.
While waiting for the instructors to kick off the event, we noticed another group of people attending the Driving Center - who in turn were watching us. The reason was the Driving Center is owned by the local government for advanced driver training and it was the Queensland Police who were on the track earlier in the morning at sunrise and now having a coffee break. We laughed as to whether the police were collecting licence plate numbers from the car park to track us as likely candidates for infringing speed limits or would they be waiting for us to leave at the end of the day with radar in hand? Many of the attendees described Australia’s traffic police as much stricter then compared to experiences they have had in New Zealand. Some attendees were bitter of the fact that during peak seasonal holidays in parts of Australia, the police double demerit points as a further disincentive to not break driving rules.
The attendees were split into three small groups of about eight people. Interestingly, the majority were Porsche former or current owners, unlike me. They attended for a multitude of reasons (some even for a second time) but mostly because this course allowed them to push these Porsches to the extreme that they would never demand of their own vehicles, even though each car is designed to excel in these events.
Run with military precision - but at all times with the aim of having fun - the day was split into a number of events:
The Road Circuit was 17 kilometres of private tar-sealed road through Australian bush. There were four cars to drive; a Boxster S, Cayman S, 911 Targa and 911 Turbo. With the instructors by our sides, we took turns thrashing each of them on the track, while learning about high speed driving techniques, lines and apexes. I did not know what speed I maxed at as I was too busy concentrating on the driving instructor's coaching. For example, he instructed me to ‘keep elbows in,’ ‘hands ten-to-two’ or the best, ‘accelerate now.’ The cars can go very fast on this track; I was told you're doing well if you do over 140 kilometres per hour. The track had several cones we used to practice driving around for high speed manoeuvring and to slow us down as we were liable for a very large insurance excess if we had any scrapes. The Porsche 911 Turbo was fantastic – putting the pedal to the metal down the back straight, you could feel the pressure on your body as it accelerated away. The acceleration is due to the twin turbos and new technology called VTG (Varable Turbine Geometry), a clever Porsche innovation. This car is phenomenally fast and reputed to do zero to 100 kilometres per hour in under 3.7 seconds. I was unable to test this record unfortunately but could, in the future, if I attended the advanced driving classes.
Later, with our extremely experienced instructors at the wheel to show us how it’s done, we did a “hot lap” in the Porsche 911 GT3. This baby can do zero to 100 kilometres per hour in under 4.1 seconds and with a top speed of 320 kilometres per hour. This is a thoroughbred, stripped-down, flat 6, racetrack-ready beast, with roll cage, sound proofing removed, no air conditioning, racing harnesses and a fire extinguisher disconcertingly positioned on the floor between the front passenger’s feet. As it’s so light and nimble, you feel like you’re flying along the track.
My favourite was the skid pan, a smaller track with water and diesel on the surface and surrounded by a very wide sand trap. First, the instructors took us for a circuit with the Porsche Stability Management (PSM) switched on, we deliberately put the car into a skid. It’s amazing how the PSM kicks in and assists in correcting the under steer or over steer - although you still can’t beat the law of physics, i.e. it’s no miracle-worker for poor driving. Then we switched off the PSM and skidded around the track practising recovery per the instructors' coaching. Later, we ran circuits by ourselves - on the condition that if your over-exuberance buried the car in the sand trap, then you had to dig it out. We had a ball!
Between events, we were taken for a 4WD experience in the Cayenne, an amazing vehicle as it can go up or down some serious inclines on two to three wheels. All the time, I was worried about this beautiful 4WD Porsche being scratched by one of the overhanging trees or branches - what a crime! I could definitely see myself owning a Cayenne in the future but first, I wanted the Boxster, small steps...
After a great lunch and discussion, we headed to the next circuit to learn all about braking with ABS. We took turns with different Porsche cars to sprint down a course, brake hard and discover the behaviours of ABS braking on varying surface conditions. The smell of burning rubber was everywhere – no wonder the Porsche Experience Center is sponsored by Bridgestone. This is a fantastic way to learn in a very controlled but fun way about defensive driving and the factors that impact on stopping distances.
The final event is a Motorkhana, where different Porsches are raced around cones through wet and dry surfaces. What a blast! Where else can you push a car to its limits doing what a Porsche is designed to do? For the next two hours, we had a small competition to get the competitive juices flowing and finish on a high. The winner and runner-up were all from one family. I’m guessing they had raced before.
This was an amazing day and worth every bit of the expense. Make sure you have the photos taken as it adds to the memory. The photos can be used as proof when talking to friends about it later or for publishing in a magazine article. My partner who did not participate in the driving but who was a spectator now wants to attend the course too and is more open to owning a Porsche one day.
Grant Coburn
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