We drove 13 Porsches in one day at the Porsche World Road Show!
Our second trip to the Sepang International Circuit this year was for Porsche’s World Road Show to sample some of Stuttgart’s finest. Read on to find out what went down and which cars impressed me the most.
I can think of few things in life more pleasurable than driving a Porsche on a racetrack and thanks to the Porsche World Road Show, I got the chance to drive not one, not two, but 13 different Porsche cars from across their model range.
What is the Porsche World Road Show?
Porsche’s World Road Show (PWRS) is a travelling test drive event for customers and the media. There are PWRS events globally and often take place at some of the world’s most famous racetracks. There was even a PWRS Singapore last year but that was held on a temporary cone-lined circuit at Changi Exhibition Centre.
No such business this time because PWRS Malaysia 2024 was held over 10 days at the glorious Sepang International Circuit, a proper FIA Grade 1 track and one of my favourite places in the world.
All the participants are then split into five groups which will rotate through five distinct stations that allow the drivers to get a feel of what all the different Porsches can do. The five stations were Acceleration and Braking, Slalom, Offroad, Handling 1, and Handling 2.
Acceleration and Braking
Our first stop of the day was the Acceleration and Braking station where Porsche elected to showcase the Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo and it’s easy to understand why. The Taycan Turbo S produces a ludicrous 700kW (938hp) and 1,110Nm of torque, enough to launch it from 0-100km/h in 2.5 seconds and 0-200km/h in just 7.9 seconds.
The car was also fitted with Porsche Carbon Ceramic Brakes which meant that the car was able to not just stop quickly but also consistently throughout the day without any brake fade.
Slalom
The next station on our tour was the Slalom. Here, Porsche’s chariot of choice was the 718 Spyder RS, the topless version of the GT4 RS sports car. With the naturally-aspirated 4-litre, 493hp engine out of the 911 GT3 mounted amidship sending power to the rear wheels, there’s more than enough go-juice to have a whale of a time.
The slalom course was the only timed section of the whole day and there was a little competition for whoever set the fastest time. I was only given one sighting lap and two timed laps but it was a testament to the Spyder RS’s agility and spot-on chassis tuning that I was able to get to grips with its handling instantly and set not just the fastest lap of the day, but of the entire event.
Off-road
Of course, Porsche makes more than just cars that are capable on tarmac, they make cars that are capable everywhere. In this case, the Cayenne S was chosen to demonstrate its off-roading prowess through an off-road course purpose-built for this event.
Though the Cayenne S has a 4-litre, twin-turbo V8, slow and steady was the name of the game at this station. A deft touch of the throttle was all we needed to get the Cayenne up, over, and around the various obstacles in our way. The Cayenne’s suspension was plenty pliable and had enough articulation to keep the car settled and in control.
Handling 1
This is what I was waiting for the whole day, the chance to drive Porsches sports cars on the main track. Porsche lined up five of their sports models for this station, a 911 Carrera 4 GTS, a 911 Turbo, a 911 Turbo S Cabriolet, a 718 GT4 RS, and a 911 GT3 RS.
All of these cars are absolute dream machines and they handled like it too. The benefit of driving them back to back meant I could discern the differences between them and really appreciate how much of an engineering marvel each car was.
The cars were let loose at the end of each day in the hands of the instructors.
For example, the Turbo S was downright monstrous in a straight line with its 641hp, twin-turbo, 3.8-litre flat-six engine coming on song to rocket it down Sepang’s straightaways faster than any other petrol-powered car we tested that day. Then you have the GT3 RS which might “only” have 518hp from its 4-litre, naturally-aspirated flat-six but its giant rear wing and other aerodynamic elements are just part of what makes this track weapon so formidable.
Handling 2
This had a slightly different lineup than what you might expect from a Sepang outing, this station was all about the more everyday models, the Macan, Cayenne, Panamera, and Taycan, once again in varying specs. We got to try out the Macan GTS, a Panamera 4, a Taycan Turbo, and two Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrids.
Even though these are not thoroughbred sports cars, you can still feel the Porsche DNA in the way they handle themselves out on the track. The body control is still excellent and the car always listens to what you want and responds well to your inputs.
So which car was my favourite?
People have been asking me this question ever since I got back and it’s really hard to pick just one so here are the top three cars that I was properly impressed with.
3. Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid Coupe with GT Package
Yeah, that’s quite a mouthful but it’s surprisingly rather handy on the circuit. It has a bellowing 4-litre, V8 engine with two turbos and electric assistance for a combined 729hp and 950Nm of torque. Porsche then fitted it with a titanium exhaust system to further enhance the rumbling V8 soundtrack and a bunch of performance tweaks over the standard Cayenne Turbo.
Despite its size, the *deep breath* Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid Coupe with GT Package is playful and agile and nowhere close to how you’d expect an SUV to handle. This felt like a proper super-SUV with direct steering and immense performance to go along with it. I really enjoyed my lap in the CTE-HCwGTP and if this is a compromised product, I can only imagine what the full-blown Cayenne Turbo GT would feel like.
2. Taycan Turbo
It is frankly ludicrous that the only requirement to own one of these is money. Granted, it’s a lot of money but it’s also a lot of performance that’s available to an average person. The Taycan Turbo is an absolute rocketship, second only in ferocity to its bigger brother the Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo that was used in the Acceleration station.
The two electric motors produce 650kW (871hp) and 890Nm of torque which is more than enough to pin you to your seat under acceleration. On the back straight, we were able to hit over 230km/h before having to jump on the brakes at our very conservative braking marker. Through the corners, the centre of gravity is so low from all the battery packs mounted in the floor and the road holding is simply excellent. The future may not look so bad after all.
1. 718 GT4 RS
If there’s one thing I took away from attending PWRS, it’s that I need a GT4 RS in my life. I need that 4-litre, naturally-aspirated, flat-six engine. I need that 9,000rpm redline and the banshee howl of a soundtrack that comes with it.
The carbon air intakes right behind your ears make a hell of a sound as they suck in gulps of air to feed that gorgeous engine. The steering is so light and the turn-in so playful, I didn’t even leave the pitlane before I realised how different this car felt compared to everything else on show.
All I can think about since I got back is how much I crave getting more seat time in the GT4 RS. What a car.
Honourable mention: 911 GT3 RS
Yeah, that's me alright. Totally not an instructor...
You might be wondering why the GT3 RS is all the way down here. Well, I’m not saying it’s a bad car, far from it in fact. The GT3 RS was frankly too good for what we were doing. At the pace our test laps were going, the GT3 RS felt like it was barely moving. It was so far beneath its limits I might as well have been driving it to the shops. I hope and pray that I will get a chance to properly test out the GT3 RS’s capabilities in the future (please Porsche) but until then, it will remain but a pleasant memory.
Thank you to Porsche for having us at the Porsche World Road Show Malaysia 2024 and we’ll see you again next year!
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