[Fullrevs]

Great job Tejas. Considering you had just 1.5 days to get it all organized and completed (with our 'difficult to deal' with labor force). Fantastically written and great pictures.

Wish you had taken the blue Macan turbo instead of the red Cayenne. :-)

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Tejas - an excellent review, well done

Proves that Porsches are more than a pretty face (Cayenne?)

Thanks. Yes true more than a pretty face!

Originally Posted by karan561

WOW ! Its a great sight to see the Cayenne & Macan in these conditions.

Well done Tejas

From the pics it definitely seems the cars did pretty well.

BUT my question to you is , WHAT IF IT RAINED ? And the entire track would've become SLUSHY. How would that have impacted the cars performance ? Still the cars would have made through ?

Specially with the highway performance tyres ?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Wonderful organization and event planning despite Mr. Murphy kicking in every once in a while. Kudo to you and your team, Tejas.

Same query on slush performance as Karan here. I am simply drooling just to imagine if it would have rained, how much (more) fun it would have been?

Yes, if it rained we would have had a problem. We did design the track in such a way that obstacles could be bypassed which were a safety risk.

Any vehicle with highway tyres, be these or jeeps would struggle in rains. Unfortunately we can't convince them to put MT tyres.

Infact, we just did a few GLC launch events in Mumbai and Pune. In Mumbai on the last day it rained and cars started sliding on the inclines and it became a safety issue. Initially we stopped customer drives and within an hour cut off those obstacles all together. We however had left larger areas in these tracks in anticipation of rains and had a superb slush fest. Most people have seen those videos and pics on our FB page.

Wondering if i should post here or start a new thread.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Wish you guys plan something like this in Delhi NCR, would love to take part in such event. Cheers and thanks for sharing the experience with us.

They already finished the NCR drive a few months before the Mumbai one. Even a Kolkata drive was done.

Originally Posted by nerd1200

Amazing information Tejas, Great job & Congratulations!

I did see the media drives on Youtube

Thanks for sharing

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

Thank you Tejas for this wonderful write-up. The pictures are really great, particularly the one where number 5 car is coming out from +ve incline against the backdrop of sunset and lights.

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

Great Job Tejas. We can only imagine how much planning goes into making a track like this. One question - Do you return the land in as is condition, I mean do you flatten up everything before giving back the land ?

Regards,

Pawan

Yes, they have to return the ground back to how it was. However, that's not part of our job description. The contractors supervise that bit. We exit on the last day of the event.

Originally Posted by tanwaramit

Fantastic work. I was thinking of the videos from the drive and there we have it here. Awesome. Some cars where braked quite well before the double cone mark. I could see the braking quite well.

Do you think the pit could also have had some slush ? Like rain water on Mumbai roads during monsoon.

Avoided too much slush. New drivers in slush and pit walls is not a good combo

Originally Posted by Fullrevs

Great job Tejas. Considering you had just 1.5 days to get it all organized and completed (with our 'difficult to deal' with labor force). Fantastically written and great pictures.

Wish you had taken the blue Macan turbo instead of the red Cayenne.

Thanks!

Honestly enjoyed both cars! Can't be greedy!

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Yes, if it rained we would have had a problem. We did design the track in such a way that obstacles could be bypassed which were a safety risk.

Any vehicle with highway tyres, be these or jeeps would struggle in rains. Unfortunately we can't convince them to put MT tyres.

Infact, we just did a few GLC launch events in Mumbai and Pune. In Mumbai on the last day it rained and cars started sliding on the inclines and it became a safety issue. Initially we stopped customer drives and within an hour cut off those obstacles all together. We however had left larger areas in these tracks in anticipation of rains and had a superb slush fest. Most people have seen those videos and pics on our FB page.

Agree with you on HT tires and safety related issues. I think it also doesn't make economic sense to shod the cars with MT tires, just for one event. What Porsche (or any other manufacturer, for that matter) can do is to have a couple of MT tire sets ready which can be shipped around for various events. Given of course if they want to include the slush fun as a part of their event.

What I personally think is that Porsche, Land Rovers and even big 3 Germans don't like slush too much. Too many sensors which can throw up errors due to stuck mud, apart from the basic issue with brakes that you mentioned in your case here. Old School vehicles rule in this aspect!

Please start a new thread on GLC event. Would be a fun read.

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

They already finished the NCR drive a few months before the Mumbai one. Even a Kolkata drive was done.

Had no clue! There is always a next time.

[karan561]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

What Porsche (or any other manufacturer, for that matter) can do is to have a couple of MT tire sets ready which can be shipped around for various events.

Super suggestion Ace !

I think definitely Tejas should pass on this idea & hopefully it gets implemented

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Wish it was that simple.

Firstly, they want to showcase cars in stock form.

Secondly, these cars run low profile tyres on large rims. We don't have low profile MTs available in our market. We can't change rims because then we will have problems with the brake callipers fouling.

Most of the events are governed by international guidelines by parent company. Locally they cannot change anything even if they want to. Just the fact that they are now moving away from metal ramps to naturally made obstacles is a big step. We really pushed hard for that. No one really wants to offroad on metal obstacles.

Once i start the GLC thread, you'll see the amount of slush runs we did, no issues with sensors at all.

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Wish it was that simple.

Firstly, they want to showcase cars in stock form.

Secondly, these cars run low profile tyres on large rims. We don't have low profile MTs available in our market. We can't change rims because then we will have problems with the brake callipers fouling.

Most of the events are governed by international guidelines by parent company. Locally they cannot change anything even if they want to. Just the fact that they are now moving away from metal ramps to naturally made obstacles is a big step. We really pushed hard for that. No one really wants to offroad on metal obstacles.

Ah I can understand the logic there. I appreciate your efforts for providing the newbies a good first hand experience of offroaders (with proper safety in place). It will take time to organise the Indian Off-Road Scene, you are making good strides there. Looking forward to more such events under your supervision.

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Once i start the GLC thread, you'll see the amount of slush runs we did, no issues with sensors at all.

Coming from you Tejas, thats a +point for GLC in my books. Thanks for sharing your observations and can't wait for the thread now.

[quickdraw]

Thats a fantastic writeup, I was quite impressed by the arrangements made by Porsche when I was invited to the off-road experience in Gurgaon. And you are right they didn't skimp anywhere and it was definitely world class. Also completely agree with you on the point about sharing, its not about the idea its the execution that matters.

The course we had was quite bigger. Getting to the course was also fun thanks to thesteep sand inclines. Its extraordinary how the car was able to do all this so easily, I was actually sad that I didn't get my fiancee to come since she loves SUV's and would have really enjoyed the course that was setup.

Unfortunately I was not able to drive the Macan which I came there to do. But I walked away with a lot of respect for the Cayanne for what capabilities it has and look forward to driving one to the hills someday.

Here is a little video I took that day via Snapchat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKCVtnZW_iY

[Axe77]

@Tejas:

Super show and great read!

Is this the same track that was used by Shaman for the Merc event last weekend? I drove the GLC at that event. I think you guys must have been there. A GLE scraped its bumper off I believe.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by Axe77

@Tejas:

Super show and great read!

Is this the same track that was used by Shaman for the Merc event last weekend? I drove the GLC at that event. I think you guys must have been there. A GLE scraped its bumper off I believe.

Thanks.

The venue was the same. The track was completely different. The tracks are custom built for cars that are to be showcased. We did the Shaman event as well.

I'm actually glad you brought up the GLE bumper issue. There's something i want to say here:


When we have meetings, there is always a conundrum in the minds of the dealer / company on who should drive the vehicles.

If experts drive, the tracks can be tough and the cars can be nursed. However, to sell a car, you need the prospective behind the wheel. BUT! If prospectives drive, there is always a danger that they may err - specially if they haven't in driven offroad conditions before. Plus, since its not their vehicle, they may be rash.

The briefs that companies give us is extremely complicated to execute:

- We want our entire bouquet of cars to be exhibited - so all angles go for a toss and the track is prepared with the least capable vehicle in mind
- The track must be challenging but should be done by a new driver
- The track must be scary and thrilling but not unsafe.

Most guidelines are like this. So building such a track is extremely difficult. We over leave clearances, stuff lot of people in the cars to make sure clearances are not an issue during testing.

Then in the briefings, we talk and talk about safety and driving aspects.

We reinforce it during demo drives.

We urge them not to drive fast over obstacles like rumblers, etc. You go slow, the suspension can recover before the next set of rumblers. You go fast and you are already at the next obstacle before the suspension has recovered. And thus you hit the bumper - which is what happened to the GLE. Once these plastic bumpers are hit and a clip breaks you need to replace the full thing. No other option. Which is not possible during an event where cars are limited. In the GLE, a chrome bit came loose and the front mud flap lost one clip (the flap in front of the tyre - attached to the bumper). The car was still in action till the end of the event.

If we really tame the obstacles down, then the companies will get a bad feedback that the track would have been done by my 2wd sedan.

So, it's not easy being in our shoes. As much fun as it seems driving great cars, there is a lot of stress. Now imagine: we are doing 100 rounds a day. That means we are sitting next to a customer who proudly says this is my first time offroad or i have never driven an automatic and promptly slams the brake with the left foot on a side incline! Or people who stop at wrong places for a selfie.

I'm not saying there are only bad drivers. Some are natural talents and most are willing to learn. But, they look to us as experts to keep them safe and it is our duty to keep them, us and the cars safe. So we cannot let down our guard.

Our stress and concentration levels are at an all time high and we always have a standby driver to keep replacing our experts and giving breaks.

We would love to drive around people all day without stress but we know that to sell a car means to let the prospective drive. We respect that and go along.

But we are extremely strict with rash driving and have made people get off in the middle of the course whoever they may be. That is the first thing that we make clear when signing up. Safety call is ours and it is non negotiable.

[Axe77]

Thanks. Just to clarify I wasn't really pointing any fingers about the GLE. Just mentioned it since I was planning to drive the GLE but ended driving the GLC.

I was told that one chap actually went down the pit too fast and hard or something like that - easy to imagine that novice customers must be getting carried away at times. Not to mention tendency to be rash with a company vehicle.

Making the track tough enough to be enjoyable and yet doable by novices must be a fine line to manage I can imagine. That too where the track has to deal with a range of different capability vehicles.

[StrangeWizard]

Hey Tejas,

I was at the off-road experience during the media slots. It was a nicely executed event. I was allotted the Cayenne and it impressed with its abilities. The track was nicely built and monitored but I understand your part about it not being too hardcore due to a lot of novices who come and drive at events.

Anyways, keep up the good work!

Cheers