Up close and Porsche-onal

MANILA, Philippines - Donggang, Pingtung, TAIWAN – Stop dreaming, start driving.

The gatefold invitation, with a tantalizing rear view of a 911 Carrera zooming along an indistinct piece of country road, is making me quiver. One more night of slumber and we are off to the Penbay International Circuit (PIC) for an ultimate date with the iconic Stuttgart carmaker.

Indeed, we find ourselves shrugging off the oppressive heat at the track—what with these beautiful machines blinking back at us. Later, we floor the gas, hug turns at speed, work the steering, and savor the roar and G forces of the famously capable automobiles. All these result in grins as wide as the wheels of these Porsches.

The PIC is the perfect playground and setting for ogling, talking, and breathing Porsche. More than 20 of them have been shipped to the venue to be put through sometimes daunting paces in another staging of the Porsche World Roadshow.

The day’s ultimate goal, says an executive from Universal Motor Traders Ltd. (UMT), official Porsche importer in Taiwan, is to spread the Porsche message through media so that more people may vicariously experience what the brand stands for.

Surely, there’s much to tell about these Porsches—from technical obscenities of power, pomp, and panache, to gut-wrenching, butt-clenching performance. And it isn’t just the 911 that’s available to play with. Cayennes, Panameras, and Caymans are here, too, unlocked and unfettered from glistening showrooms.

Porsche does one better, of course. We are on a private track, not a public road—which means we can squeeze more performance from the veritable smorgas-Porsche at our disposal. Motoring journalists from Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines have converged here—eager conscripts for a day’s worth of testing. Our behinds have seldom felt this privileged—burning rubber in the most delightful way, as the song goes. While serving up the most fun on the track, the 911 shares performance cues with its bigger siblings in the Cayenne and Panamera.

Led by Porsche instructor and test driver Nick Edwards, a team of professional drivers spurs us to push the Porsches to their (or, more realistically, our) limits—testing not just wits and ability behind the wheel but, more significantly, how the brand serves up both performance and forgiveness in its vehicles. Edwards underscores that Porsches are more, well, usable these days. “Aside from being more durable, our cars feature reliable, accessible performance. It’s not like buying an expensive, high-performance car, only to find out you can’t drive it,” he submits. “Our advanced technology, such as Porsche Stability Management, means the car can read thousands of different signals and driving inputs. The car can automatically react to keep the driver stable and safe in the car—even if you’re driving, say, a 550-bhp Cayenne Turbo S.”

At the end of the day, we were smitten with these wonderful vehicles. For a day, at least, it was a dream come true.