Ice Force

[bobfair]

Last week I was in Ivalo in northern Finland attending the Ice Force course. Ivalo is some 600km north of Helsinki and some 300km inside the arctic circle so gets pretty cold. Ice Force is a truly fantastic experience so what did I enjoy?

1. Firstly you get to drive a wide range of cars including:
A 997 Turbo

A C4 S

A Boxster Spyder

A C2 S

A Panamera Turbo and a C2 S fitted with competition tyres and 8mm spikes

This enables you to compare 4 wheel drive to 2 wheel drive and mid engine with rear engine so is quite a unique experience. I loved the Boxster as it is just like a go kart. The Turbo was a little dissappointing as its additional weight shows up on the ice and you dont really need all that power. The same comments apply to the Panmera. Its a big heavy car. The C 2S fitted with 8 mm studs was fantastic. We drove that car on an elongated oval with long straights. With the additional grip I was seeing over 130kph on the clock before breaking hard and throwing the car into a drift to get round a tight bend only to accelerate along a long straight again. Fantastic fun.

2. Day 2 was rally day

We were taught how to prepare basic pace notes. We then had two laps of a complex circuit to make the notes and then didnt drive the circuit again until after dark so had to rely on the co driver.

Apologies for those that have done some rallying but for those that havnt an explanation may help. You start with each corner being a left or right and then grade it from 1 to 6. 1 being a hairpin and 6 a fast easy corner. You then add information whether you go slower or faster out of the corner and whether it tightens or opens.

In a car the co driver would be saying the following for the above sheet:

50 metres 4right minus into 4left minus long tightens 25 metres caution 2right minus long 25 metres 5 long plus open

Translated this would mean:

After a 50 metre straight gentle right turn with speed decreasing leading into long gentle left which tightens up then 25 metre straight then need for caution as long tight hairpin to the right 25 metre straight into gentle left hander which opens up so speed increasing.

Seems a bit complicated at first but you pick it up very quickly and it really helps in the dark as you can go much faster with the confidenc of knowing whats coming next. The trouble with drifting a car is that the lights are often pointing in the wrong direction.

Porsche organise this event really well. The instructors encourage and push you to your limits and I ended each day exhausted but exhilerated. On rally day we started at 10 and didn't finish until 8 in the evening so you get a lot of driving time. The standard of driving was very high and we had an Ex F1 and Lemans winner on the course so quite a privilege to see those guys at work

Finally you might enjoy this video. Difficult to make the video as conditions are extreme and I was holding a SLR in the passenger seat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3JxzeOi2QQ

 

[tscaptain]

Bob,
Great write up, photos and video as always. I'm already saving up for next year.............[][]

I trust you won't be putting any of that stuff into practice on the SW Drive in a few weeks![]

 

[CHewlett]

That was one of the most interesting posts I've read for a long time, many thanks Bob

 

[bobfair]

Some more shots

 

[garyw]

Well done Bob, nice to see you keeping the practice in []
Great pictures and information as always ...

Making me cold just looking at the pictures... see you in the SW

garyw

 

[bobfair]

I forgot the Northern Lights:

 

[Dylan1]

sounds like an awful lot of fun bob[]

awesome!

 

[vic cohen]

IMO abt as much fun as u can have in a car thats really , for me , different ......................excellent organisation from the minute u get off the plane ..............especially amused when our instructor said people from any kind of track background were the hardest to teach ................real top tuition .

 

[944s2]

Surprised no one has said the obvious

Looks cool[]

 

[Hasan]

Brilliant photos.

What i find really funny is the importance given to the photos of the Porsche...and the Northern lights get a small mention at the end!

Only a Porsche fanatic would do that..[]

 

[Nick_USA]

ORIGINAL: vic cohen

IMO abt as much fun as u can have in a car thats really , for me , different ......................excellent organisation from the minute u get off the plane ..............especially amused when our instructor said people from any kind of track background were the hardest to teach ................real top tuition .

... proved by the fact that a 'pro-driver' (name omitted after bribed with numerous post event lemonades) needed a Cayenne pull out during the 'slow' introduction lap.

 

[vic cohen]

We had various private bets as to how many /few Cayennes, various Groups / people needed over the period ....................all drinkable on payment ....we all need help sometimes !

 

[bobfair]

the importance given to the photos of the Porsche...and the Northern lights get a small mention at the end!

Seeing the Northern lights was a bonus but I really went for the driving. The comments about the difficulties of teaching a track driver ring true. On the tarmac you want to keep everything smooth and balanced to maximise grip. On the ice you deliberately destabilise the car to create or hold the drift so a very different way of driving. You also turn in much earlier and hit the brakes not something to be recommended on a dry track. Main similarity in my view is that as you get better you try and use less and less steering which is the same on tarmac and ice. As my instructor said to me "stop milking the cow and use the brakes more". When you do get the braking right you can go much quicker than if you are using the throttle or the steering to control the drift

I think this has to be the most fun you can have in a Porsche!!

Patrick the chief instructor said they are going to launch Ice Force S where all cars will have 8 mm studs (i.e much faster) with longer stages but this will be by invitation only so I hope I get invited as this is addictive it is so much fun

On the Cayenne front I needed 3 so not bad. My co driver needed 8 (including 1 in the safety zone) plus 2 push outs!! He was the worst!!

 

[lowndes]

ORIGINAL: bobfair

.... also turn in much earlier and hit the brakes.....

Crikey! Hope the unlearning process doesn't take too long!

Many thanks for an extremely interesting write up Bob. I look forward to hearing all the details over a half of shandy when we are on the SW trip.

Nick

 

[jbm]

Hi Bob,

Many thanks for taking the time to write about your experiences - all fascinating stuff and I'll also look forward to hearing more about it in the bar on the SW Drive! I would think that, given enough exposure, it would probably be possible to mentally switch between driving on ice/snow and driving on a dry track, but I suspect that it would probably require more brain cells than I possess (I have enough difficulty switching between a wet and dry track let alone coping with ice and snow!)

See you soon, John

 

[Nick_USA]

Patrick the chief instructor said they are going to launch Ice Force S where all cars will have 8 mm studs (i.e much faster) with longer stages but this will be by invitation only so I hope I get invited as this is addictive it is so much fun

Stefan, wrote to us this year for the 'S' pilot but dates didn't work for us but we are both pencilled in for next year.

I can send you the programme if your interested.

 

[bobfair]

I can send you the programme if your interested.

Yes please

 

[Nick_USA]

ORIGINAL: bobfair

I can send you the programme if your interested.

Yes please

You'll have to PM me your email address and I will send it to you.