Getting lost on the way to the track is no fun, with one exception: Porsche just handed you a 2011 Panamera V6 and an elaborate route to delay your trip between the airport and Barber Motorsports Park, where you’re scheduled to further explore Porsches on-track and closer to their limit then you could ever get on the road.
PorschePurist is back in Birmingham, Alabama, and I’m getting ready to spend time with the Panamera V6 and Cayenne (including the much anticipated Hybrid). Over the next two days, I will drive the full range of Cayenne models and the Panamera V6 – Porsche’s newest introduction to the growing Panamera model line. The venue of choice, Barber Motorsports Park, is not only visually impressive (Barber is a lover of four and two-wheeled vehicles, as well as.) The famed track is lined with all sorts of sculpture and the on-site Barber Museum boasts the largest collection of motorcycles under one roof (approx. 1200), one of the largest collections of Lotus and various other automotive assets from Bonneville salt flat racers to street and racing Porsches from years past. There’s even a 2002 Arrows F1 poised on the roof of the elevator! The icing on the cake? Barber is also the home track for the Porsche Sport Driving School (the pictures immediately below and further down use flash, if you’re having trouble viewing them in your email simply click on the title of this post to view on the site).
Adding to the already good mix of Barber and Porsche is a solid group of experienced Porsche drivers, who will serve as my “guides” as I get to know the new Panamera and next generation Cayenne. David Donohue, David Murry and Porsche icon Hurley Haywood, to name a few, are on site gingerly answering my questions and encouraging me to… (yes! back to full throttle.”)
During this visit, I’ll be looking to compare the Panamera to the Panamera S I drove in last year, test the subtle differences between the 2 wheel and 4 wheel drive versions and test the entirely new generation of Cayenne (especially the hybrid drive). The Gen 2 models have lost 400 lbs and are practically 90 percent new (all share the same engines except for the hybrid). I am really looking forward to the 2011 Cayenne. We will test the new clutch based all-wheel drive system on the race track and on the off-road course and have our first drive with the PTV (Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus).
Check in with us over the next week or two for the Panamera V6 and Cayenne reviews, coming soon!
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View Comments (1)
Christian, put the car through its paces! Those Car and Driver guys don't know what they're talking about when they say the Panamera understeers! If I could get a turbocharged one to drift on all four wheels 'round a bend, lord knows what you could do in the driver's seat with one!