Porsche Malaysia strengthened their commitment to continually empower the fairer gender with their 2025 International Women’s Day (IWD) theme of ‘Accelerate Action’, bringing 20 driven women together for an exclusive driving experience at Sepang’s Driving Experience Centre featuring the electric Taycan and Macan. The programme was designed to improve their driving skills while enhancing their confidence to be bolder in taking decisive strides forwards, whether on the road or in their daily lives.
With professional instructors providing driving guidance, the participants tackled advanced driving techniques including precision handling, vehicle control and fast decision-making in real-world driving scenarios. The exercises encouraged these women to drive more confidently with better awareness and control, from managing slippery surface conditions to handling sudden changes in traction.
Christopher Hunter, Chief Executive Officer of Sime Darby Auto Performance stated, “At Porsche Malaysia, we believe in accelerating both skills and mindsets forward, with confidence and control. That is why this driving programme was developed – to equip women with the skills to handle more challenges on the road, while encouraging them to take charge in all areas of life. Whether it’s mastering a slippery road or making quick decisions, we want to empower women be in control and accelerate forward.”
Providing a safe environment for participants to handle unexpected real-world driving situations, the Sportscar, Electrified driving programme built up their confidence by improving reaction times and sharpening their inputs behind the wheel. The proceedings started off with the ‘Kick Plate’ exercise utilising the all-electric Taycan 4S, during which they were tasked to recover vehicle control during a sudden traction loss. Skids were induced by a hydraulic plate actuated laterally under the car, teaching the drivers to remain calm and correct their vehicle’s trajectory by instinct, in situations like driving over an oil spill or coming across a slippery road. The latter tends to be a more common occurrence, given Malaysia’s propensity for rainy weather and sometimes flooded roads.
Even in the resulting slides, participants quickly regained their effective control thanks to the Taycan’s driving precision and stability ensured by its advanced air suspension with twin valve technology and Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM). Thanks also to Porsche Stability Management (PSM) that engages to enhance stability when needed, the Taycan’s sure-footedness inspired nothing but confidence throughout this exercise.
Next on the list was tackling the Skid Circle with the Taycan, where participants further refined their inclement weather driving skills by learning to correct oversteer on watery surfaces. With controlled water jets also helping to simulate low traction conditions, the women learned how to maintain control even when grip is lost at the rear of their car. Their confident mastery of these more advanced vehicle dynamics was undoubtedly aided by the Taycan’s smooth predictability, with motorsport derived chassis and traction control systems.
Moving on to the Handling Circuit, the participants’ steering techniques and braking control were refined with the electric Macan 4 on a course that replicated even more of Malaysia’s actual road conditions, including fast sweeping turns coupled with unexpected elevation changes. With its rear-biased weight distribution and dual-valve shock absorbers, the Macan 4’s dynamic yet composed agility was key in the participants’ mastering the art of managing on-road speed and braking points.
Finally, it was in Dynamic Handling where things reached an exciting climax, with the participants’ agility being tested with a Slalom course weaving through a series of tight cones. Here the women gained insight into better defensive driving techniques, where even the base Macan proved more than capable enough in helping them react quickly to challenging occurrences. Its more intuitively direct and responsive steering was undoubtedly an asset here, having been sharpened by 15% over the outgoing model; while the precise handling and low centre of gravity further inspired assertiveness even during abrupt evasive maneuvers.
This Sportscar, Electrified driving experience imparted greater self-assurance to its participants by not only enabling them to master real world driving applications with sharper skills, but also encouraging them to break boundaries both when driving and in their daily lives. Indeed it can be said that genuinely poised confidence comes from understanding both one’s own self along with a car’s dynamic responses even on the limits of adhesion.
