Doughnuts, Porsche-style
How I stuffed a 911 into a snowbank
ESTEREL — I had just plowed a shiny new Porsche 911 Carrera into a snowbank after drifting sideways around an icy oval track.
I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard. I laughed even more as a Porsche Cayenne with tow hooks came to my rescue.
Nor mally, an out-of-control Porsche might be a cause for concern, but on a giant skid pad at a dedicated snow-and-ice driving facility under the watch of the finest professional drivers hand-picked by Porsche, I was doing exactly what I was told to do.
My inexperience led to a touch of oversteering, but it was all part of the process. My “crash” took driver training to a whole new level of awesome.
Many Porsche owners put their cars away for the winter to avoid such mishaps. However, Camp 4, located at the Mecaglisse track a couple of hours north of Montreal in the Laurentian mountains, helps Porsche drivers beat the winter blues by honing their winter driving skills and having a laugh at the same time.
Participants in the three-day course were encouraged to drift the heck out of the cars during an incredible day of driving hijinks, while learning important winter driving skills.
We began by gradually learning the basic principles of drifting — in a Boxster S — before moving onto an oval track in 911 Carreras.
Our instructor, Kees Nierop, a former race driver for various Porsche teams, showed us our next assignment. He went around the track a few times almost completely sideways, skidding all the way.
And we were going to learn to do the same.
Unlike the first track, which was reasonably forgiving with the stable Boxster S and its 3-mm studded Nokian tires, this track was pure ice. It was like a NASCAR track on a skating rink, and we were driving runaway Zambonis.
In the safety briefing, our instructors discussed spinning out, and instructed us on how to stop if it were to happen. While it hadn’t happened on the previous track with the Boxster S, it was almost unavoidable during our track test. Not only was this track ridiculously icy, but we were also driving 911 Carreras, with engines in the back and rear-wheel drive.
It was doughnut time. Having the back end skid out was virtually unavoidable, but it was absolutely wonderful. Nierop stood on a hill overlooking the track and gave instructions through walkie-talkies. All too frequently, we would spin out and have to stop. But so far, it was the best part of the training, because the driving was so chaotic and so unlike any typical driving experience.
Laughing and grinning from ear to ear, I did my best to keep a perfect skid going, but eventually spun out into a movie-stunt-worthy 180 degrees.
The third course was a combination of rally and drifting on a track that was considerably longer and had some sharp elevation changes. We were some of the first people to test the new 2013 all-wheel-drive 911 Carrera 4, on a track that had me screaming as if my driving partner and I were The Dukes of Hazzard.
Camp 4’s price tag of $4,995 means it is aimed at the high-end luxury car driver. But program, in its third year in Canada, has a lot to offer, including accommodations at the Esterel Spa and Hotel and haute cuisine.