Porsche Now Offers Accelerated Driver Program for Advanced Drivers
Matt Farah was the very first student to test Porsche’s new Accelerated Driver Program for those with above-average skill.
A lot of people know Porsche loves to give people a driving experience in one of their models. There’s the Experience center in Atlanta, and another in Los Angeles to go to, and Porsche has even done a “Road Show” to bring their cars all around the country. But bridging the gap between that and Porsche’s Sport Driving School is the Accelerated Driver Program. As Matt Farah describes, it’s a one-on-one coaching session for above average drivers to really get the most out of the more serious Porsche models, and advance their own skills behind the wheel, too.
Farah describes the process with his coach for the day, Shawn Hayes. “It starts with this really neat low-friction handling circuit. It’s polished concrete, so you can only go 20 miles per hour before you star sliding all over the place.” This initial phase is to get used to the nuances of a car’s handling characteristics, even in something as renown for its handling as a 911 GT3.
What happens for most drivers when they run into oversteer or understeer conditions is they accidentally exacerbate the problem my ramping up the level of inputs into the car. Sometimes a little less steering, actually helps make the car go around a corner more neutrally. With a low friction surface, all of those handling characteristics are approached at sane speeds.
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The same goes for the actual wet skidpad. Grip here is even lower, and shows just how gentle one has to be with inputs in order to finesse the car to behave the way you want it to. What this teaches a driver is to rely on skill, in conjunction with the tire’s grip to put in a truly fast lap.
Out on the dry course, all those lessons about finesse would come to fruition. Farah learned early on to not try to impress by braking as late as possible, saying “if you get on the brake hard at the beginning of the braking zone, it gives you a lot more room to work with at the end.” This fine-tuned adjustment of Farah’s driving techniques was also combined with classroom theory as well, along with data analysis from Porsche’s own app. In all, it led to a fun, and educational experience that Farah can walk away from with far more skill and know-how than he started with.
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