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Porsche World Road Show: There is No Substitute

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There is No Substitute.

Porsche’s moniker is well known, helped by a classic line in the movie “Risky Business” where a young Tom Cruise evades gangsters in a high speed chase around town with his friends…in his Dad’s 928. He leans over at the end and looks at his passenger, says the words and smiles. targa_ip_pwrs What if I told you Porsche puts on an event once a year, which allows you to drive their cars on a track, at speed, in different situations that enable you to truly discover that "there is no substitute"? This exists in the form of the Porsche World Road Show. targa_pwrs_ These events are designed to give both enthusiasts and those shopping for a new Porsche the opportunity to sample a significant portion of the model range in an environment designed to show their true capabilities. The invite-only event takes place courtesy of local dealers and is led by the same team of instructors you'll find at the Porsche Sports Driving School. options_pwrs tracks_pwrs The excitement starts as soon as you pull up to the event, with the home tent featuring a good portion of Porsche’s entire lineup right out front. Upon signing in, the waiting area includes access to all the vehicles, paint and interior samples from the Porsche Exclusive program, a souvenir shop as well as free snacks and drinks. pwrs_driver_meeting There’s a brief drivers meeting which breaks down the days events, it never feels like a sales pitch (kudos to Porsche and the local dealers) and it truly is a day just to enjoy the cars and have fun, of course they’re not going to scoff if you choose to order or buy one the same day! track_1 Staggered in groups, first up was a few hotlaps around the inside track of AAA Speedway. Porsche lines up their latest offerings, in this case the Boxster GTS, the Cayman GTS and the Targa 4S to drive back-to-back with an instructor up front, in a lead-follow pattern. This can be really fun, completely depending upon the speed of your group; the instructors move drivers accordingly to ensure the entire group stays safe and keeps a good pace. pwrs_track_talk track_2 Transitioning from car to car, back-to-back really gives you the opportunity to distinguish the differences and similarities of each vehicle in a static, safe, and performance-driven environment. There are walkie-talkies in the driver door of each vehicle, which allows the instructor to speak into each of the cars and assist as needed. Traction control is left ON for safety but other than that, there are no other aids to get you around the track – it truly is an awesome experience to drive a car at this rate if you haven’t had the opportunity previously. Even if you have track time, how often do you get to try three different cars? gts_instrument_pwrs macan_autocross Moving over to the second stop, the Autocross event shows off two of Porsche’s more family friendly options, the Macan S and the Panamera GTS. For this go around, you have an instructor in the passengers seat as you pilot the Macan S and the Panamera S around an autocross setup. Much tighter than the track offering, emphasis is set on braking and turn-in. I was pleasantly surprised with the acceleration of both (there’s a long straight to start the event, followed by a hard brake) as well as the handling of the Macan S. panny_gts_pwrs turbo_hotlap_pwrs The final stop of the day was the best, a hotlap as a passenger in the Porsche Turbo S with a Porsche Driving instructor. Would it have been more fun to be the driver? Possibly, but the instructors REALLY push the car. I casually noticed as we were blasting down one of the straights that the instructor was going 10MPH faster than I had been…faster car perhaps? LOL! They also had cameras recording your reactions in the cockpit – providing a USB stick movie of the drive as a souvenir! Very cool Porsche! tent_turbo_hotlap porsche_pwrs_usb This was most likely the last Porsche World Roadshow for California; I’d assume future events will be held at the new Track and Development Center opening later this year in Torrance, CA. If you have the opportunity to attend one of these events I would highly recommend it, the experience even has me considering going back to a “no substitute” model to add to the garage. A short video of the day can be seen below:
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