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New Flagship Porsche Centre in Richmond, BC To Be Built From OpenRoad and Dilwari Partnership

OpenRoad Auto Group on November 30, 2016

November 30, 2016 (Vancouver, B.C.) – The Dilawri Group of Companies and OpenRoad Auto Group are proud to announce a new partnership to build and operate a flagship Porsche Centre in the Richmond Auto Mall. Construction of the new state-of-the-art dealership is set to start in 2018, with plans for completion in 2019.

“This is an excellent opportunity to provide our customers with greater access to the extraordinary Porsche line,” said Ajay Dilawri, President of the Dilawri Group of Companies. “We are excited to partner with OpenRoad in this new venture. We share core values and we both believe in providing exceptional customer service.”

While this joint venture is new, it will be the second Porsche dealership for each company. OpenRoad opened Porsche Centre Langley in the Langley Auto Collection in 2015, while Dilawri acquired Porsche Centre Vancouver in 2010 and opened its present day location in 2013.

“Given our success with Porsche Centre Langley and the many brands we already represent in Richmond, we’re confident that there’s tremendous growth potential for Porsche in this new market,” said Christian Chia, President & CEO of OpenRoad Auto Group. “We’re delighted to collaborate with the Dilawri Group to combine our deep commitment to Porsche and our thorough knowledge of the market to bring this exciting project to fruition.”

The multi-million dollar project will be one of Canada’s largest Porsche dealerships and will feature Porsche’s infamous curved building design, in addition to the latest in customer amenities and the most advanced sales and service technology. The building design will also accommodate a full range of new electric vehicles that Porsche plans to roll out over the next several years.

The new dealership will staff approximately 40 employees in the areas of sales, service, management and administration.

ABOUT OPENROAD AUTO GROUP
OpenRoad Auto Group is B.C.’s largest automotive dealership group with over 1000 associates representing 15 quality automotive brands at 18 full-service car dealerships. Established In 2000, OpenRoad Auto Group offers car buyers and owners an experiential automotive retail service. With sales and service in multiple languages, OpenRoad Auto Group encourages a car buying experience based on openness, participation and expertise. OpenRoad is proud to be one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, a CADA Laureate, and the recipient of multiple Canadian Best Employer Awards. www.openroadautogroup.com

ABOUT DILAWRI GROUP OF COMPANIES
Dilawri Group of Companies is Canada’s largest automotive group with 60 franchised dealerships representing 30 automotive brands throughout Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. Privately owned and operated by the Dilawri family since 1985, the company continues to expand its footprint in Canada, building on its history of excellence in the automotive industry. With more than 3,000 employees, Dilawri Group of Companies is proud to offer exceptional products and customer service in every dealership. www.dilawri.ca

 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Tanis Sullivan
Tanis Sullivan Communications
(604) 230-8008
tanis@tanissullivan.com

 

Porsche Camp4 Canada offers winter driving excitement

Benjamin Yong on February 4, 2016

Porsche Camp4 911 door
Camp4 teaches people proper winter driving technique behind the wheel of Caymans, 911 Carreras and Carrera 4s. Photos by Benjamin Yong.

There’s pretty much nothing more exhilarating than driving a Porsche. Except driving a Porsche on snow and ice.

That’s exactly the kind of experience Porsche Camp4 Canada offers. Run out of the frozen Mécaglisse racetrack in Quebec, about 90 minutes outside of Montreal, Camp4 originally started as a press drive event held in Finland for the launch of the 911 Carrera 4. It was such a hit with participants that it grew into an annual two-day training course, open to the public, and is now also held in Switzerland, Italy and even China.

Porsche Camp4 banners

Taking place over five different waves, we were fortunate to be part of a contingent of media guests invited to a condensed version of this year’s program. Camp4 is every bit as much about providing a luxury getaway as it is driving instruction, and attendees stay at the nearby beautiful Estérel Suites & Spa. Meals at the resort, as well transportation to and from the track, are included in the cost of admission.

The day got off to an early start, and before boarding a shuttle for an approximate 35-minute ride to Mécaglisse, a theory briefing was held at the hotel to cover driving technique. Head instructor Jonathan Urlin spoke at length about vehicle dynamics and car control.

Porsche Camp4 911 Carrera 4 GTS instructor car

“Your instructors today will be talking a lot about weight transfer, and what they will have you do is induce these drifts, these oversteers, by using the brake pedal,” said Urlin.

“Sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Here’s the explanation — anybody can go out there, hit the gas pedal, spin the rear tires, do the Tokyo Drift stuff and it looks cool, it’s fun. But here at Camp4, What we do we focus on driver technique. In the rally world for example, what we do to get through a corner is by using weight transfer to the nose of the car to allow the car to rotate. And it’s what we call an oversteer.”

Porsche Camp4 Cayman GTS

Urlin also talked about the three different cars that would be used in the event, and how they all perform differently, particularly in frozen conditions: a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive Cayman GTS, a rear-engine, rear-wheel drive 911 Carrera GTS and an all-wheel drive 911 Carrera 4 GTS.

Post-briefing, it was time to get into the cars. Drivers were paired off and put into different groups, and assigned to specific vehicles for the duration of the various activities. My group started off at a station focused on using the brakes and steering to purposely unbalance the Porsches, and then learning how to recover safely from a skid. Afterwards, it was attempting to drive around a circular portion of the track without losing control. Before lunch, we practiced sliding around a series of cones in a short slalom.     

Porsche Camp4 911 Carrera GTS

Following the break, the course was reconfigured into one continuous leg with different sections incorporating all the skills we were taught throughout the morning.

People who complete the standard Camp4 school, known as the Precision level, are eligible to register for the two other intermediate winter programs that Porsche offers, including the Performance (Camp4S) and Masters (Camp4RS). For more information about dates and prices, visit the website.