A Porsche adventure amidst the ruins

GETTING to the Ankor Wat on a Porsche made this trip even more memorable.

Photos by Ardie O. Lopez

The world-renowned crest synonymous with exquisite sporting performance on the road was recently seen with a layer of ancient dirt and dust during an exciting offroad romp in historic Siem Reap in Cambodia.

For the 2016 Porsche Adventure Drive, the Cayenne and the Macan—both exceptionally capable SUVs possessing the full potency of Porsche’s DNA—traversed rural back roads and seldom trodden paths leading to centuries-old treasures in Siem Reap.

The trip had an exotic theme right from the very start. The invitation was a short cryptic video that revealed little clues about a mission.

Two things crossed my mind: the opportunity to drive the Porsches, and seeing the Angkor Wat temple. They didn’t have to say more—I was fully packed, gear and all, by the end of the video invite.

We were a small group of motoring journalists from different parts of Asia-Pacific. After breezing through the safety and mission objectives briefing, we got to the waiting fleet of Porsche Cayennes and Macans, primed and ready to roll out.

With our group were “field agents”—Porsche Carrera Cup drivers Chris van der Drift and Yuey Tan, and Singapore’s only female race car driver Claire Jedrek—to make sure we would get a good feel of what our rides were capable of.

No sweat

Strolling in Siem Reap at midday felt like being under hair dryers set on high.

We kept our cool, however, with the aircon on full blast inside the Porsches as we left the city’s nicely paved roads to tackle the dust trails deep in the boondocks. There were few inhabitants, and only a sprinkling of small huts on tall stilts.

Soon, the terrain got more interesting with ruts, bumps and slight drops while the trail got narrower. I cringed as foliage brushed against the glossy sides of our Cayenne. We pushed on, keeping an undaunted pace.

I took the chance to work the Porsche Active Suspension System when we slowed down to negotiate some tight turns, increasing the ride height automatically with a simple flick of a switch.

SIEM Reap’s ancient dirt and dust cover these trusty Porsches.

I was basically just feathering the throttle as we lapped up the offroad course effortlessly in signature Porsche luxury. It felt strange feeling the undulations of the terrain without the bumps and bounces.

The 3.6-liter V6 engine was definitely tempting me to just barrel down the road. I’m sure the Cayenne was more than capable of doing that, without breaking a sweat, so to speak, but I bit my lip and behaved.

Mission revelation

There were a few challenges we had to go through. Porsche’s idea of “roughing it” in the great outdoors included getting a fire started with the supplied survival tools. It wasn’t that difficult, especially when you were doing your best to get out from under the sun as fast as you could.

The challenges were all fun, but we soon discovered that the real mission was discovering the innate character and capabilities of our Porsches to take you through any adventure in unmistakable style.

Switching rides and taking the wheel of a Macan this time, we were put through a final offroad gauntlet, proving that these SUVs from Porsche weren’t all show and no go.

Being among the world’s best engineered automobiles, some of the AWD features of the Cayenne and the Macan were vividly showcased.

Shooting up a steep slope only to make a full stop mid-climb activated the Macan’s hill-hold capability, which kept it in place, odd angle and all, without my foot on the brake pedal.

Rolling down a slope after topping the hill’s peak, we were again instructed to keep our feet on the floor mat as Macan’s hill descent feature kicked in, keeping it safely and steadily rolling down at a controlled rate.

THE MACAN demonstrates superb handling—even on tightly packed dirt roads.

Negotiating the rest of the offroad course, I got more attuned to the Macan’s precise handling. On the tightly packed dirt roads, I squeezing its turning radius to the limit and skimmed the S-curves on acceleration. The firmly planted feel and reassuring grip didn’t wane at all.

It was definitely mission accomplished.

Wat it’s all about

Cambodia has over 2,000 ancient temples varying widely in size, mostly built about a thousand years ago. The famous Angkor Wat is considered the largest religious monument in the world, covering over 1,600 hectares.

To cap our amazing day in Siem Reap, we made a beeline for the renowned temple. All I can say is it’s a lot more grandiose than I had imagined.

In the short span of time we spent touring its hallowed hallways and expansive courtyards, I must’ve squeezed a couple of hundred shots. I won’t say I’m ticking this off my bucket list, because before this trip, I didn’t have one. Leave it to Porsche to engineer an adventure drive that would live up to its brand’s promise and its exceptional rides’ capabilities.

Simply, there is no substitute.