Yesterday, we were at Sepang for Porsche’s Driving Experience 2013. Porsche organizes this event every year allowing participants to understand their cars, as well as their limits, better. Porsches are renowned for having a slew of acronyms – PDK, PTM, PSM, PDCC, etc and Porsche Driving Experience (PDE) was developed to help us understand how these all worked in the real world. The day’s activities consisted of several challenges: skid pad, brake, moose and slalom, and included some driving time on-track as well. Each challenge was designed to showcase individual capabilities of Porsche’s tech and concept.
Skid Pad
This challenge was designed to help develop the driver’s car control skills, as well as helping them understand the car’s driving dynamics. The skid pad provides a safe environment for participants to experience the limits of adhesion, and driver’s had to learn the causes of oversteer and understeer, and how to react and control these scenarios. The mid-engined Boxster S was the vehicle of choice here; its low center of gravity, poise and agility all ideal on this course. PSM (Porsche Stability Management) was also activated, giving first hand experience on how the system worked to allow the driver to regain control of the car.
Brake
At the brake challenge, participants learnt how to effectively carry out full braking, whilst exploiting the vehicle’s anti-lock braking system, mid-steer. Accelerating hard, we had to avoid an obstacle, before stamping hard on the brakes to a stop within the stopping area. This challenge was dispatched in a Cayenne S Diesel and was designed to showcase PTM (Porsche Traction Management). Despite being diesel powered, this Cayenne is packed with 850Nm of torque, so sufficient braking is high on the list of priorities.
PTM is an active all-wheel drive system with an electronically controlled variable, map-controlled multi-plate clutch, automatic brake differential (ABD), and anti-slip regulation (ASR). Torque is distributed between front and rear axles for optimum traction in all road scenarios, whether on long straights or through tight corners. If the system detects that one wheel is about to lose traction, PTM uses the ABD function to apply corresponding brake force. ASR on the other hand will intervene to modify engine output to maintain drive, when both wheels on one axle are in danger of slipping.
Moose
Here, the driver will have the opportunity to practice high speed maneuvering through a series of offset gates. Visual skills and hand-foot coordination are developed as driver’s manage the vehicles weight transfer. Our test vehicle for this was the Cayenne GTS which tips the scales at over two tonnes, so there’s really quite a bit of weight. Through this exercise, the driver will get the experience the effectiveness of PDCC (Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control) and PSM (Porsche Stability Management).
PDCC is an anti-roll system which anticipates and significantly reduces lateral body movement when cornering, with the aid of the active anti-roll bars that feature hydraulic swivel motors on both front and rear axles. This system responds to current steering angle and lateral acceleration by producing a stabilizing force that precisely negates the swaying force of the body, keeping the vehicle stable through bends. With these driver aids turned on, the benefits are greater agility, more responsive steering, stable load characteristics, and enhanced occupant comfort.
Slalom
Perhaps the most fun part of the day was the Slalom challenge. The obstacle was a scaled down racetrack with a series of corners which challenges the driver through all elements – cornering, braking, and acceleration. It also served as a warm up prior to heading down on-track. PSM helps to maintain stability, even at the limits of dynamic driving performance. A series of sensors work to continuously monitor the direction, speed, yaw, velocity and lateral acceleration of the vehicle, to calculate the actual direction of travel at any given moment. In scenarios where there is oversteer or understeer, PSM applies selective braking on an individual wheel to restore stability. Under acceleration on surfaces with low grip, PSM helps to improve both traction and agility, making use of both ABD, ASR as well as engine drag torque control (MSR).
For the more adventurous, engaging Sport PLUS mode will delay PSM intervention, to allow for a sportier driving style. We had the base Panamera here and despite its size and weight, managed to dance its way around the cones. All drivers are timed through the slalom with the quickest through the bends winning a prize. The fastest time of the day was 38.8s whilst I only managed a sub 40s timing.
Track driving on Sepang
The final event of the day was driving on Sepang itself – here, participants had the chance to implement everything they learnt from the day’s earlier exercises. On the grid were some fully-loaded Porsches which included the latest 911 C2S and C4S, Boxster S, and the Cayman S (which was launched earlier this week). All the cars were equipped with a 7-speed PDK (Porsche Duppelkupplung); essentially two gearboxes in one, with two clutches. The cars also came spec’d with PCCB (Porsche Ceramic Composite Brake) – identified by the car’s yellow calipers. PCCBs are 50% lighter than standard discs, and enables shorter braking distances; a huge plus when driving on-track. We were allowed to flow through Sepang at our own paces, with an instructor on-board to advise on our driving lines and braking points.
All-in, it was certainly quite an experience. Porsche have so much tech in their cars, and their driving experience certainly helped us understand not just how they worked, but also how to react in certain scenarios. Like one of their instructors said, you just never know when a fridge might fall off a moving lorry. Porsche Driving Experience will take place from 16-18th of May and on the 19th, Sepang will host Zerotohundred’s #TimeToAttack, so you’ll be getting a lot of updates from here!
