CAR’s annual Performance Shootout looks great when it’s complete – as evidenced in the January 2011 issue. But, that only tells half the story – a whole lot went on behind the scenes…
We kicked off with a meet-and-greet at FTV in Sandton. The cars were parked outside the venue and some had to be squeezed into tight spaces in order to get the display that we wanted. There were some nervous laughs as the team maneuvered everything into place, but it all turned out for the best. We met some of our loyal readers. Thank you to those who made it.
The straight-line testing at Pilansberg airport was eventful, to say the least. Even though we had been told that there were no scheduled flights for the day, every so often we had to clear the runway so that a plane could land or take off. This resulted in us taking double the time to complete each vehicle's performance testing. Everyone walked away with sunburn – some with heat stroke and others with a drip in their arm!
The one and a half days spent at Zwartkops was, however, the best part of it all. The "Queen of the Nürburgring" – Sabine Schmitz – took each car for a couple of hot laps around the track, and after each run she was asked her opinion on the vehicle. There were some suprises as she dished out her very honest opinion!
Sabine's fans flocked to the track to meet her and get her autograph. Readers could also walk between the cars, check what’s under the bonnet, and one lucky reader even scored a hotlap with Sabine in the Porsche 911 Turbo S.
At the end of it all, the team was exhausted, but it truly was an awesome experience and one of our best Shootouts yet.
Grab the January 2011 issue of CAR, on sale now, to see which cars came out on top.
