4th Porsche World Roadshow 2015: Raising the performance bar

Porsche introduces the GTS variants of the Boxster and Cayman to the fleet of Porsche World Roadshow vehicles.

Hot on the heels of the PGA Cars-organized World of Supercars show held at SMX Mall of Asia a few weeks back, PGA Cars, the local authorized distributor for Porsche automobiles in the country, brought back the world-famous Porsche World Roadshow, bringing with it Porsche’s latest lineup of cars, driving exercises, and Porsche-certified instructors.

Now on its fourth edition, the Porsche World Roadshow is an international driving program meant to improve driver’s skill and showcase Porsche’s latest models of cars along with the newest performance and safety-related technology meant to enhance one’s driving skills.

This is also Porsche’s contribution to improving the overall driving skills of the motoring public worldwide and an introductory course to high-performance driving.

The Porsche World Roadshow is also the biggest, most extensive and most exciting driving event for the motoring media as well as enthusiasts across the country due to the number of cars involved, the length and focus on activities, and the fact that practically anyone willing to pay the requisite fee can join regardless of whether you own a Porsche or not. This makes it the most anticipated driving event of the year!

The first road show was held at the old Subic International Raceway in 1998, the second after a six-year hiatus at the Clark Expo Filipino grounds adjacent to the Clark International Speedway, the third in 2012, and now the latest at the world-class circuit.

The whole-day event was segregated into five driving activities: Slalom, Handling Course 1 for the Porsche sports cars, the Road Tour, Off-Road course, and the Handling Course 2 for the four- and five-door Porsche models.

The Cayenne negotiates the tough offroad course.

The event is a nine-day long activity, with the final day, to be held on Feb. 27, dedicated to the Porsche Sport Driving School, a much more focused, high-performance driving class on intermediate and some advanced driving techniques meant for track or motorsports driving.

Enthusiasts can bring their own Porsche vehicles or rent a Porsche from the road show fleet to partake in this specialized and intensive training program.

Of course, it wasn’t just the cars that were imported, but also Porsche-certified driving instructors from all over the world, as far as Leipzig and Stuttgart in Germany, and Qatar and Mexico as well. This international driving team was supplanted by our local driving heroes, the Ramirez racing family, in the form of Georges, Louie and Stefan.

Main focus

The cars, however, were front and center, and the main focus of everyone. Porsche finally introduced the GTS variants of the Boxster and Cayman to the fleet of Porsche World Roadshow vehicles, along with a bevy of 911 variants: the Carrera S, Targa 4S and Carrera S Cabrio, plus the almighty 911 Turbo, the original all-weather, all-season supercar with everyday civility.

There were also two units of the 991 Series GT3 models on display, but unfortunately we weren’t able to get our grubby mitts on them. Next time!

Porsche has also grown, thanks to the global popularity of the Cayenne, the Panamera, and the latest junior Porsche, the Macan—vehicles that, while being more practical and versatile compared to Porsche’s sports car range, offer exciting and exhilarating, not to mention scintillating, performance on and off the track as well as off the beaten path, in the case of the Macan and Cayenne.

PGA Cars chair Robert Coyiuto Jr. (fourth from left) with (from left) Porsche AG-certified driving instructors Andy Boux, Nico Castrup, Stephanie Trindade, Bjoern Leiss, Felix Baitheluber and Dario Garcia

Porsche also let loose the Panamera Hybrid, which performed just as expected on the winding Clark International Speedway.

The day’s activities started with a light breakfast, followed by welcome remarks from PGA Cars chair Robert Coyiuto Jr. and Porsche Asia-Pacific marketing head Carl Isenbeck, who flew in from Singapore to be present on the first day to welcome guests. Both were just as excited as the media that were to take the first stab at the cars on media day, Feb. 19, before customers and VIP clients were to try out the cars.

After the drivers’ briefing, we were ushered into a separate room for a short lecture and demonstration on Porsche Tequipment and Exclusiv, Porsche’s very own in-house customization arm. Want a Porsche in particular interior/exterior color combination not found in the normal palette? Perhaps a more stripped-out, extra-raw GT3 that will see almost exclusively track use? Or customized and contrasting stitchwork matched with carbon fiber in the interior? The Tequipment and Exclusiv department can help you there.

Porsche crest

Porsche Tequipment and Exclusiv also brought their very first and original electrically heated leather stamping/branding machine, which stamps the Porsche crest on all-leather products inside a typical Porsche vehicle such as the seats and steering wheel centers. Afterward, the media all got a fine piece of soft leather with the Porsche crest stamped in the middle.

Out on the track, our group, the Green Group (Green also happens to be the lucky color for the Year of the Goat as feng shui experts say), started out with the slalom activity driving the Boxster GTS.

The Boxster had a very poor reception in its first iteration, but the third generation Boxster in GTS variant has finally earned its right to be called a proper Porsche. Handling was precise and decisive, the midship layout being super sharp yet very tactile and obedient without being nervous and edgy.

Coyiuto and other officials of the PGA Cars with the media contingent at the Clark Speedway

It impressed everyone in our group, who were all initially keen on driving the 911. The Boxster GTS made new friends and admirers that day in our Green Group. The slalom was also a timed exercise, with the winner getting a special Porsche prize from PGA Cars.

Our second activity was the Handling Course 1. We had the 911 variants plus the Cayman GTS to drive, following our instructor Nico who was driving the 911 Turbo S.

Nico was taking it easy to allow us to catch up, but the performance level of the Turbo S, matched with Nico’s skill, meant that despite Nico going at maybe 50 percent of his (and the car’s) performance potential, we were all quite close to our own limits just to keep up and not fall behind.

This was perhaps the most exciting activity as we utilized most of the full Clark Circuit except for the main straight. After swapping cars from the Cayman GTS, to the 911 Cabrio, followed by a stint in the Targa 4S, and lastly the Carrera S, we were all pretty wired up and hungry for more.

A hearty lunch served by PGA Car’s finest chefs (they have the Carrera Café at PGA Cars in Greenhills, which serves hotel-quality food), a select group of media was chosen for a brief demonstration on the short offroad course.

The Cayenne is amazing at being a true multipurpose vehicle: a high-speed highway demon and a monster offroad acrobat. Extreme downhill and uphill ascents, followed by axle and chassis twisting maneuvers showed that a standard Cayenne, on highway-terrain tires, was able to tackle the tight offroad course which was covered in soft soil and fine dust.

The Road Tour was next, which was a variety of Porsche models, from the Panamera, Macan, Boxster and Cayenne. A quick drive through Clarkfield allowed us to sample the civility, versatility and everyday useability of the Porsche model lineup, sports cars included.

The last activity was the Handling Course 2, which allowed us to sample Porsche’s more practical, everyday cars like the Cayenne, Macan and Panamera on Clark International Speedway’s winding and technical curves.

While these cars were taller and heavier than the 911, Boxster and Cayman, the boffins at Stuttgart ensured that these “practical” cars handled as closely as possible as sports cars, wowing everyone who tried them out, carrying amazing speed not just on the straights but through the corners as well, exhibiting amazing stability and confidence under duress.

At the end of the day, everyone was tickled pink with happiness because no other manufacturer focuses on useable, confidence-inspiring performance as Porsche. Members of the German Consulate were also scheduled to try out the cars, and Porsche Asia-Pacific managing director Martin Limpet was also expected to grace the 4th Porsche World Roadshow to welcome guests, as well as to try out the program himself, of course.

The Year of the Green Wooden Sheep has started with a very big, very loud and very happy bang indeed for motoring enthusiasts in the Philippines. The Porsche World Roadshow will be a very big and very tough act to follow by all other sports/luxury brands in the country!