Porsche
Camp4
Canada
Who thought winter driving
could be this much fun?
The classic flat-six burble may sound
far away, but it isn’t; it’s the snow
around us and the sound-deadening
properties it possesses.
We wait a few seconds and “woosh!” it appears, heading
towards us: a Sapphire Blue Porsche 911 with “instructor”
markings all over it.
Well, it’s not so much “heading” as “sliding” towards us at
a 35-degree angle, engine revs bouncing off the limiter as
instructor and Canadian Le Mans racer extraordinaire, Kees
Nierop, blips the throttle to keep the back end out and the
car’s heading true.
This was Porsche Camp4 Canada, a fantasy camp for adults
that would make Cosmo Kramer’s baseball fantasy camp seem
tame by comparison, Mickey Mantle incident or no.
Our equipment? Three 2014 Porsche models, showcasing a
selection of the drivetrain/body styles the manufacturer has
to offer.
Participants get to experience mid-engine/rear-drive
dynamics courtesy of the Cayman, rear engine/rear drive
dynamics in a 911 Carrera S and test their chops at the helm of
a rear engine/all-wheel drive Carrera 4S.
The twist? The whole program happens on the snowcovered, 700-acre Mecaglisse Motorsport Complex located
16
THE DRIVER
by
Dan Heyman
90 minutes northwest of Montreal in Quebec’s gorgeous
Laurentian region.
Before hitting the track, there’s a brief 30-minute in-class
session unlike anything you’ve experienced before. Instead
of learning about traffic gaps or shoulder checking, we were
taught different drift methods.
Participants were than divided into three groups (one for
each type of car) and yours truly was dispatched to start with
the Cayman. All of the Caymans were lined up and glistening
in the sunny Laurentian weather, a slight haze of snow
particles sparkling in the air just above.
With its flat-six making 275 horsepower, the Cayman is
the least powerful of the three cars, but it’s also the lightest,
making it a good starter car.
I found it to be well-suited to the Mecaglisse track, which
consisted of a tight five-turn number with two big sweepers.
Perfect for practicing our drifting!
The coolest aspect of Camp4 is that they give us free reign
to a certain degree; the instructors remain outside the car, only
communicating to participants through radios.