Ice Ice Baby

Fifty of India's supercar enthusiasts met at the Porsche Arctic Centre in Levi, Finland, to drive the latest models of the iconic sports car on challenging ice tracks as part of a training programme.

- Riaan Jacob George

The opening scene at the Porsche Arctic Centre in Levi, Finland, is otherworldly. 50 of India's supercar enthusiasts stand in extreme snow conditions (it's minus 30 degrees Celsius) before a massive hangar, waiting for its shutters to open.

In the background, speakers blast Highway to Hell by AC/DC. The shutters eventually rise to reveal around 40 Porsches lined up in a single row. It's a jaw-dropping sight to see so many new models of the car under one roof.

The Insta-viral moment is a precursor to the Porsche Ice Experience, among the most exclusive automotive driver training experiences in the world.

For context, the remote town of Levi, in the far north of Finland, is an annual winter hotbed of activity for luxury automotive brands. It is here, in this nondescript yet spectacularly beautiful town, that the likes of Audi, Mercedes-AMG, Maserati, and BMW demarcate entire lakes for themselves—frozen proving grounds, if you will—to put their cars to the test in extreme conditions.

The Porsche Arctic Centre is a terrain dedicated entirely to the German sportscar icon, where its engineers, drivers, and designers test the snow performance capabilities of different Porsche models.

Porsche's drive centre is open for intense five-day training sessions for deep-pocketed enthusiasts.

Customers can—under controlled conditions and the tutelage of specialised, Porsche-certified trainers—learn to drift a 911 Carrera, rally-flick a Taycan, doughnut a Macan, or wind around a slalom course in a 911 Carrera 4 GTS—this is experiential luxury in its purest form.

From Theory to Practice