Conquer Winter with Porsche

Winter weather poses additional risks to drivers. Reduced visibility and traction can create dangerous conditions. If you live somewhere that experiences ice, snow, and freezing rain, the risks are even greater. It’s important to practice additional safety, keep up with your vehicle’s maintenance, and stay alert all year long, but even more so during the winter. However, Porsche models offer an entire suite of driver assistance features, collision-resistant vehicle construction, and technologies that increase traction in adverse conditions. The Porsche Southpoint team is here to break down some of the best safety features from Porsche to protect you and your family when the roads get slippery this winter.

Premium Traction Technology

Slippery winter road conditions require extra care while driving, but Porsche models feature intelligent technology features to make it easier to navigate situations with reduced traction. Porsche’s Intelligent All-Wheel Drive is available on the Cayenne, 911, Macan, and Panamera. This advanced system can send power to the wheels with the most traction. Standard features like 4-wheel ABS, electronic brake distribution, brake assist, and hill start assist all offer support without being invasive. The tire pressure monitoring system will alert you if one of your tires has low pressure, which can affect braking, handling, and traction. The Porsche Traction Management System utilizes the sensors and systems already equipped in the vehicle to reduce understeer or oversteer, both of which can result in an accident. All of these features are so responsive that drivers don’t even notice how much they contribute to the smooth handling and drive of Porsche models.

Active Safety Features

For 2021, Porsche Innodrive builds on the latest innovations in safety with features that rely on radar and cameras to detect, warn, and even sometimes prevent collisions. 

• Collision and Brake Assist – This feature can detect potential frontal collisions with vehicles or other obstacles and notify the driver to apply the brakes, or it can even autonomously apply full braking force during emergency situations.
• Lane Keep Assist – By monitoring the markings, curbs, and road edges using the forward-facing camera, Lane Keep Assist can notify you when you deviate from your lane. If needed, it can even make small steering adjustments on its own.
• Integrated Traffic Sign Recognition – As a part of the Lane Keep Assist feature, the traffic sign recognition system relies on the navigation system and camera to display speed limit and no passing zone signs on your Porsche’s instrument cluster.
• Auto High Beam Activation – Never blind oncoming drivers again. Automatic high beams can sense headlights from oncoming and preceding vehicles and automatically switch between high and low beams when necessary.
• Adaptive Cruise Control – This feature maintains a pre-set distance between you and the car in front of you by automatically adjusting speed.
• Lane Change Assist with Turn Assist – Using external radar sensors mounted around the vehicle, the Lane Change Assist feature can detect cars in your blind spot and send notifications to let you know it's not safe to merge.

Passive Safety Features

In addition to the driver assistance features available on most Porsche models, these passive safety features are quietly working behind the scenes and keeping you and your passengers safe. These features also inspire driving confidence that can help you tackle a variety of road conditions.

• Porsche Stability Management (PSM) – In instances of strong oversteer or understeer while cornering, the Electronic Stability Control system helps to regain and maintain predictability.
• Porsche Traction Management (PTM) – This feature keeps your drive wheels planted in the event of excessive throttle input on surfaces like ice, mud, and wet roads.
• Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) – ABS keeps your wheels from locking up when brakes are applied heavily, making sure your vehicle comes to a stop when you need it to.
• Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes – As a brand that’s committed to performance, unparalleled braking ability seems like a no-brainer, and Porsche’s Ceramic Composite Brake performance exceeds all expectations.

Prevention and Protection

Porsche has always been dedicated to protecting its customers, and thanks to some amazing advancements in safety technology, your Porsche isn’t just built for performance and style. It’s also built to protect you, your family, other motorists, and pedestrians in revolutionary ways. For more information about this automaker’s innovations in safety technology or to see these features in action for yourself, contact the team at Porsche Southpoint today or visit our showroom at 122 Kentington Drive, Durham, NC 27713.

Image Credit: Porsche