housands of bits of information related to dynamics and traction are calculated, analyzed, compared and computed every second you’re driving a new car.
Data related to steering angle, speed, throttle position, gear selection and plenty more are constantly streamed from a sensor network into a sophisticated computer, which checks all data against a mathematical equation relating to the distance travelled between the front and rear wheels of the vehicle.
The computer seeks to ensure that said equation is balanced — if all is well and full control is realized, the front and rear wheels follow one another precisely, travel the same distance, and the equation is balanced. The math gods are happy, the car is in no danger, and life is good.
When a skid occurs, certain wheels travel less distance than others, upsetting the equation, and triggering an orchestrated response, with millisecond precision, from the vehicle’s brakes, throttle, AWD system, and more.
Largely, this computer-controlled conversation of calculus, engineering, physics and mechatronics carries on in the background, invisibly, and undetected by the driver. It’s all done in the name of keeping the car stable, safe, and under control.
However, as a mere computer program, this whole process, typically known as Electronic Stability Control, can be shut down, if desired.
After all, sometimes, slipping, sliding and wheelspin are awesome, and especially when they’re used as learning tools.
“More throttle, Justin. Remember, turn and blip, and turn and blip, and turn and blip.”
It sounded like a bad ’80’s exercise video, but Porsche Camp 4 driving instructor, Kees Neirop, was watching me drive a rear-engine, All Wheel Drive Porsche 911 Carrera 4S through a slalom course on snow and ice with barely enough grip to walk on, and this little jingle helped me use the throttle to help steer the car through.
Timed and executed with precise finesse, you can use controlled pokes on the throttle to turn the car on its axis. Too much, and you’ll spin out.
Not enough, and you won’t break traction, and you’ll just go wide. Get it right, and you can feel the frisky, slippery and active handling built into the 911 as you, literally, steer it with the gas pedal.
It’s not easy, even frustrating at times, but this lesson is fundamental in teaching drivers to use the vehicle’s throttle to control its attitude, where its weight sits, and what angle it’ll corner with.
We repeated the lesson with a two-wheel drive copy of the same car, illustrating the differences when there’s no help from the front wheels.
You re-strategize when and how hard the throttle blips come and realize you’ve got to be plenty quicker on the steering to keep things under control.
Camp 4 started in Canada a few years back as a way for its participants to learn performance driving on snow and ice.
Many participants are Porsche owners and hopefuls, interested in learning how to drive high-performance cars the way high-powered cars are meant to be driven.
Numerous copies of numerous Porsche 911 and Cayman model variants are used for instruction, and participants break into groups led by one instructor to try exercises like the above in various cars.
Another exercise? The skidpad. A great big circle, where you drift perpetually round and round while your instructor watches from a vantage point and provides pointers over the radio.
You’re supposed to stay sideways here, in a big, never-ending drift. Sounds easy enough, though the circle has grippy spots that make the 911 or Cayman want to stop drifting, and slippery spots that make it want to spin out.
You’ve got to manage the throttle, steering and even brake pedal to keep the slide going.
You’re working for it and when you get around the full circle sideways, Kees comes on the radio with genuine enthusiasm and a congratulatory message, and you grin, ear to ear.
This exercise is all about looking ahead, thinking ahead, being gentle and calculated with the controls, and knowing where your ride’s weight, steering and traction are at all times.
And forget that thrashy, stabby-looking driving you see on Top Gear or Fast and Furious; in real life, gentle, easy, and controlled inputs are the name of the game.
Nierop comments “it’s all about traction, and working with or controlling the available grip. On ice everything happens big, even at slow speed. It is knowing where to look and how to manage the weight transfer. If you can learn to understand what the car wants to do before it does it, then you are one step ahead of the game and therefore you are a safer driver on the road.”
Once drivers have learned the basics on the skid-pad and slalom, they’re let out on two full-track surfaces with varying traction levels, higher speeds, and more challenging driving.
You put all of the lessons together, build speed and confidence, and if you manage to keep your 911 or Cayman out of the snowbanks flanking the track surfaces, you’ll be wearing a huge grin.
The day concludes with a rapid lapping session, where participants drive the largest track on site at speed, moving between rear-engine 911s with rear- or all-wheel drive to mid-engine, rear-drive Caymans, to exploit their new skills while driving varying Porsche models with very different handling characteristics.
There’s no comfort zone: get the hang of a rear-engine AWD car, and it’s time to switch to a mid-engine, rear-drive machine to try again.
And therein lies the learning experience at the core of this Camp 4 program; by applying the same lessons and nearly constant feedback between varying cars, you learn how to use what you learn in any car, any time of year, and not just in a Porsche driven on an ice track.
Further, with an instructor that gets to know you and your strengths and weaknesses throughout the day, they offer advice and tips that drive true improvements in your driving.
You leave Camp 4 with a real skill set, not just a few hours of rockstar powerslide experience.
Nierop adds “the dynamics are the same of course, when we are talking about looking for grip. During Camp 4 this year, we introduced you to our rear-wheel drive cars and our all-wheel drive 911s. And then we had exposure to the mid-engine Cayman. These are all totally different driving styles, based not only on their drive wheels but also on the engine position. Each vehicle has its dynamic qualities, and understanding them is an important part of learning how a vehicle behaves, regardless of the type.”
So, whatever you’re driving, in whatever season you’re driving it, a course like Camp 4 builds driver confidence and skill and will let drivers realize more performance from their sports car, Porsche or otherwise.
A driving course like Camp 4 might be the best performance upgrade you can make for your sports car.
Data related to steering angle, speed, throttle position, gear selection and plenty more are constantly streamed from a sensor network into a sophisticated computer, which checks all data against a mathematical equation relating to the distance travelled between the front and rear wheels of the vehicle.
The computer seeks to ensure that said equation is balanced — if all is well and full control is realized, the front and rear wheels follow one another precisely, travel the same distance, and the equation is balanced. The math gods are happy, the car is in no danger, and life is good.
When a skid occurs, certain wheels travel less distance than others, upsetting the equation, and triggering an orchestrated response, with millisecond precision, from the vehicle’s brakes, throttle, AWD system, and more.
Largely, this computer-controlled conversation of calculus, engineering, physics and mechatronics carries on in the background, invisibly, and undetected by the driver. It’s all done in the name of keeping the car stable, safe, and under control.
However, as a mere computer program, this whole process, typically known as Electronic Stability Control, can be shut down, if desired.
After all, sometimes, slipping, sliding and wheelspin are awesome, and especially when they’re used as learning tools.
“More throttle, Justin. Remember, turn and blip, and turn and blip, and turn and blip.”
It sounded like a bad ’80’s exercise video, but Porsche Camp 4 driving instructor, Kees Neirop, was watching me drive a rear-engine, All Wheel Drive Porsche 911 Carrera 4S through a slalom course on snow and ice with barely enough grip to walk on, and this little jingle helped me use the throttle to help steer the car through.
Timed and executed with precise finesse, you can use controlled pokes on the throttle to turn the car on its axis. Too much, and you’ll spin out.
Not enough, and you won’t break traction, and you’ll just go wide. Get it right, and you can feel the frisky, slippery and active handling built into the 911 as you, literally, steer it with the gas pedal.
It’s not easy, even frustrating at times, but this lesson is fundamental in teaching drivers to use the vehicle’s throttle to control its attitude, where its weight sits, and what angle it’ll corner with.
We repeated the lesson with a two-wheel drive copy of the same car, illustrating the differences when there’s no help from the front wheels.
You re-strategize when and how hard the throttle blips come and realize you’ve got to be plenty quicker on the steering to keep things under control.
Camp 4 started in Canada a few years back as a way for its participants to learn performance driving on snow and ice.
Many participants are Porsche owners and hopefuls, interested in learning how to drive high-performance cars the way high-powered cars are meant to be driven.
Numerous copies of numerous Porsche 911 and Cayman model variants are used for instruction, and participants break into groups led by one instructor to try exercises like the above in various cars.
Another exercise? The skidpad. A great big circle, where you drift perpetually round and round while your instructor watches from a vantage point and provides pointers over the radio.
You’re supposed to stay sideways here, in a big, never-ending drift. Sounds easy enough, though the circle has grippy spots that make the 911 or Cayman want to stop drifting, and slippery spots that make it want to spin out.
You’ve got to manage the throttle, steering and even brake pedal to keep the slide going.
You’re working for it and when you get around the full circle sideways, Kees comes on the radio with genuine enthusiasm and a congratulatory message, and you grin, ear to ear.
This exercise is all about looking ahead, thinking ahead, being gentle and calculated with the controls, and knowing where your ride’s weight, steering and traction are at all times.
And forget that thrashy, stabby-looking driving you see on Top Gear or Fast and Furious; in real life, gentle, easy, and controlled inputs are the name of the game.
Nierop comments “it’s all about traction, and working with or controlling the available grip. On ice everything happens big, even at slow speed. It is knowing where to look and how to manage the weight transfer. If you can learn to understand what the car wants to do before it does it, then you are one step ahead of the game and therefore you are a safer driver on the road.”
Once drivers have learned the basics on the skid-pad and slalom, they’re let out on two full-track surfaces with varying traction levels, higher speeds, and more challenging driving.
You put all of the lessons together, build speed and confidence, and if you manage to keep your 911 or Cayman out of the snowbanks flanking the track surfaces, you’ll be wearing a huge grin.
The day concludes with a rapid lapping session, where participants drive the largest track on site at speed, moving between rear-engine 911s with rear- or all-wheel drive to mid-engine, rear-drive Caymans, to exploit their new skills while driving varying Porsche models with very different handling characteristics.
There’s no comfort zone: get the hang of a rear-engine AWD car, and it’s time to switch to a mid-engine, rear-drive machine to try again.
And therein lies the learning experience at the core of this Camp 4 program; by applying the same lessons and nearly constant feedback between varying cars, you learn how to use what you learn in any car, any time of year, and not just in a Porsche driven on an ice track.
Further, with an instructor that gets to know you and your strengths and weaknesses throughout the day, they offer advice and tips that drive true improvements in your driving.
You leave Camp 4 with a real skill set, not just a few hours of rockstar powerslide experience.
Nierop adds “the dynamics are the same of course, when we are talking about looking for grip. During Camp 4 this year, we introduced you to our rear-wheel drive cars and our all-wheel drive 911s. And then we had exposure to the mid-engine Cayman. These are all totally different driving styles, based not only on their drive wheels but also on the engine position. Each vehicle has its dynamic qualities, and understanding them is an important part of learning how a vehicle behaves, regardless of the type.”
So, whatever you’re driving, in whatever season you’re driving it, a course like Camp 4 builds driver confidence and skill and will let drivers realize more performance from their sports car, Porsche or otherwise.
A driving course like Camp 4 might be the best performance upgrade you can make for your sports car.
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