IOL’s sister publication, supported by Porsche SA, entered a Porsche Panamera Turbo S in Kalahari Speedweek. Star Motoring editor, Denis Droppa, recalls the experience.
We arrived at Hakskeen pan thinking our aim of achieving 300km/h would be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. After all, the German uber-sedan wields a 4.8-litre twin turbo V8 packing 405kW and 800Nm, with a claimed top speed of 306km/h.
All we’d have to do was line up on the 5km straight, boot the throttle, and scoop the silverware. Simple.
But driving on clay isn’t that straightforward, as we soon discovered, and top speeds are much lower than you’d get on tar. The pan’s surface, especially if a few cars have already made runs on it, tends to become slippery as the hard clay breaks up into loose dirt.
CAR DANCING
Instead of maintaining an arrow-straight line as it does on tar, the car dances from side to side as the wheels scramble for traction in the softer turf, and you have to make frequent small (and sometimes larger) corrections to the steering wheel. The first time the car pitched sideways at over 250km/h made for quite a bowel-loosening moment, but as we got used to the track and the car, things improved.
The Panamara’s all-wheel drive, long wheelbase and traction-enhancing electro-wizardry all ensured that the big sportscar remained pointed in the right direction, and enabled us to keep the throttle pinned to the floor. Some other Speedweek participants weren’t so lucky and spun off - but fortunately without any damage as there’s nothing on the pan to hit.
We got locked into an entertaining battle for class honours with a modified Rob Green Chrysler 300C SRT8 producing 473kW. Our rival tried everything in the book to better us, including taping over the Chrysler’s body joins to reduce aerodynamic drag, but our Panamera prevailed and beat him by clocking 275km/h - scooping us the sedan category and third fastest car overall.
The two days we spent at Hakskeen pan brought out an eclectic mix of machinery and characters: from a 1971 matt black Mustang driven by a Steve McQueen-type bloke; to a 1970 Volvo Amazon whose owner desperately wanted to hit 150km/h (and so nearly made it); to the fearless Kawasaki ZX-10 superbike rider who clocked 288km/h twitching in the dirt.
We’ll definitely be back next year, but right now what we need is a good carwash.