High anxiety

By Pradeep Paul - May 26, 2007
The Straits Times

IN LEIPZIG, GERMANY - THINK back to the steepest slope you have ever driven up. Yes, that winding grind up to Genting Highlands could be it. Now, multiply the degree of incline by two. And throw in slippery conditions. Scary, right?

I thought so too, when faced with the 60-degree incline ramp on the off-road test track that is part of the Porsche factory grounds in Leipzig. After all, it is just wide enough to accommodate one vehicle and rises almost 18m, with pretty unforgiving slopes off to both sides.

Taking heart from the instructor's encouragement, I gingerly stepped on the gas pedal. The car rolled forward onto the ramp which was already slippery from some overnight rain, and started to climb. Soon, all I could see was the blue sky.

It felt like the slow part of a roller-coaster ride, when it hauls you and your knotted stomach to the highest point before it slips over the edge into topsy-turvy mayhem.

Bad, right? Wait, it gets worse.

Sebastian, our cheery instructor, told me to stop the car midway up the slope. I did. Then he asked me to leave it in D and take my foot off the brake pedal. I gave him my 'are you bloody crazy?' look. He smiled, and told me to hurry up.

The car stayed put - 21/2 tonnes of metal and flesh on a 60-degree slope that's wet. That is the amazing machine that Singaporean Porsche owner Eddie Keng and I are going to drive in the Transsyberia Rally this August.

The Porsche Cayenne S Transsyberia is equipped with a Hill Ascent Control system that senses the gradient the vehicle is on. That means, if you have to stop while going uphill for any reason, the car will hold station while you figure out how to tackle the other problem (in rally conditions, this might mean a deep ditch, a fallen tree or even huge rocks). No need to shift into P and yank the parking brake lever.

Just to prove it yet again, Sebastian asked us to try this scary manoeuvre in the other direction. Yes, I gave him that look again, but he was used to it, I guess.

I inched the car over the edge, braced myself on the steering wheel, took my foot off the brake and, I kid you not, held my breath. Amazingly, the car inched its way down the slope. All I had to do was steer.

Once this was done, the rest of the training was child's play. Knee-deep mud that sucked at the tyres like quicksand? Bring it on. Just flick the air suspension into its highest setting - you can literally hear the air rushing into the system and raising the car a few inches - and ease the car into the muck. There was some slithering and sliding, but the Cayenne S Transsyberia tracked true and steady.

Window-deep water? No problem. Roll up the water-proof windows and plunge in. The car cut a swathe through it like it was splashing through a small puddle. By the way, with the snorkel attached to the air intake on the hood, the car can take on deeper rivers. Hopefully we won't have to find out its limits.

Gravel and boulders? Flick the air suspension to the highest of the five settings, and drive at whatever speed you are comfortable with. Mere gravel was dispatched with abandon, the pieces of rock bouncing off the protected undercarriage with a machine-gun like clatter. Bigger boulders needed careful steering and a feathering of the gas pedal, but the car was equal to the task.

However, it was on tarmac that the 4.8-litre naturally aspirated V8 - the same one that beats under the normal Cayenne S's hood - showed its true Porsche genes. On the race track at the Leipzig factory, with the suspension at its lowest setting, the car literally hugged the road to jink its way down the slalom course, hit the apexes of corners like its sporty cousins and even braked without much of the diving and swaying associated with SUVs this size.

Of course, in case of any mishap, Porsche has equipped the car with a full rally-specification roll cage to keep the drivers safe. Plus, it comes loaded with a GPS for navigation, four spotlights on the roof, two spare wheels, extra fuel tanks and two toolboxes.

The tyres are specially designed for this rally by Dunlop. But, despite their all-terrain capability and the Cayenne's stupendous four-wheel-drive, each car packs recovery equipment. There is a winch, towing straps and sand boards, which provide traction if the sand is too loose.

Mr Keng, an experienced driver who has many long overland drives under his belt, and I are the only Singaporeans in the fray, thanks to Porsche Asia Pacific sponsoring one of the 26 Cayenne S Transsyberias. Japan is the other Asian entry, with the rest of the Porsche cars being driven by teams from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia.

Are we nervous? Yes, a little. But now that we've experienced first-hand what the car is capable of, we're cautiously optimistic. We know it's capable of getting us to the finish line in one piece. Stay tuned.

6,600km in Siberian and Mongolian wilderness

THE RALLY: Spanning some 6,600km, the Transsyberia Rally starts on Aug 3 and runs till Aug 17, with one rest day in the middle. Of the total distance, about 4,500km will be in Russia and the rest in Mongolia.

THE COMPETITION: The rally is open to a maximum of 50 vehicles. Of this, 26 spots have already been booked by Porsche, which is fielding its special rally-prepped Cayenne S Transsyberia cars.

THE ROUTE: Flag-off is planned to be from Moscow's Red Square, after which the teams will have to cross the Ural Mountains, wind their way through the sub-arctic forests that line the foothills of the Altai Mountains before crossing that mountain range too. They will also navigate their way across the vast Mongolian plains and endure the harsh conditions of the Gobi Desert. On some days, they will cover over 900km. In addition, there will be special stages on some days which require precise navigation and extreme off-road moves like river crossings.

THE WILDERNESS: Participants have to learn how to make minor repairs to their cars. They also have to carry tents and sleeping bags because there are no hotels at some of the night stops in the rural Mongolian steppes. The Porsche Cayenne S Transsyberia comes with two one-man tents in the back.

Source: The Straits Times