Picture this, you live in New England, or another part of the country that regularly faces snow, sleet and freezing rain in the winter and you’re thinking about buying a Porsche but you’re not too sure about driving it year-round. How’s your local Porsche dealer supposed to convince you it can handle the weather? Enter Joyce Jordan, Porsche’s Area Marketing Manager, and her idea for the Porsche Winter Driving Experience. We attended the inaugural event last year and things worked so well that Porsche decided to repeat it this year, but with some significant changes.
Last year’s Winter Driving Experience was a very controlled and condensed Camp4 type experience. Current Porsche owners, and those thinking of purchasing a Porsche, were invited to Sugarbush Resort in Warrent, VT to drive the 911 Carrera 4S on a specially designed track and skid pad (in addition to a 90 minute on-road driving tour). While the event went a long way to showing just how well the 911 C4S can handle the winter elements, it lacked a bit of excitement and didn’t feel like a true test of the Porsche’s capabilities. That all changed this year!
Driving A Porsche 911 Up A Ski Slope
This year, instead of going in circles on a specially prepared winter track, participants were presented with a 1.5 mile circuit that traversed two of Sugarbush Resort’s more well known trails (Straight Shot and Cracker Jack). Drivers used stock Porsche 911 C4S (outfitted with winter tires) to drive up Straight Shot and then turn to come back down Cracker Jack. The circuit combined all winter driving skill elements including: cornering, braking and acceleration.
In order to prepare drivers before they hit the mountain trails, each session began with a group orientation and “chalk talk” by a Porsche Sports Driving Instructor. Here they were presented with a layout of the course, the proper seating position, proper use of steering angle & steering speed, how to aid the Porsche’s movement with load change (braking) and controlling a drift using both power and brakes.
Each session was approximately 3 hours long with an hours worth of drive time on the mountain. In addition to the mountain course, participants had access to new Porsche Cayennes and Panamera 4’s to utilize for up to 2 1/2 hours each day to explore the Mad River Valley and get a better feel for Porsche’s more traditional winter vehicles. View our gallery below to see these 911s in their element and in the elements. Mother nature helped out with a lot of fresh snow and these 911s handled it with aplomb. When you’re done view the pictures, simply click the “x” in the top left corner to come back to the post.
Porsche Area East Dealers That Participated and Sponsored This Event
Connecticut
Danbury Porsche
New Country Porsche of Greenwich
Porsche of Wallingford
Massachusetts
Herb Chambers Porsche
Fathers & Sons Porsche
Porsche of Burlington
Porsche of Danvers
Porsche of Norwell
Porsche of Westwood
New Hampshire
Porsche of Nashua
Porsche of Stratham
New Jersey
Ray Catena Porsche
Schneider + Nelson Porsche
Town Motor Car Corporation
New York
New Country Porsche of Clifton Park
Porsche of Rochester
Porsche of Syracuse
Rhode Island
Porsche of Warwick
Other Porsche Blog Posts You Will Enjoy
What it Was Like to Participate in The Porsche Winter Driving Experience at Sugarbush Resort, VT
How Much Does it Cost and What’s it Like to Participate in Porsche’s Camp4 Canda?
Michelin Tire School. What Is It and Why Did We Go?
5 Things I Learned at the Porsche Sport Driving School
Winter Tires for Your Classic Porsche