After visiting McLaren’s ice driving school in Ivalo, Finland, this winter, the opportunity to continue sliding around sideways in vintage Porsches built by Danish firm Kalmar Automotive proved far too tempting to pass up. Kalmar holds a similar winter experience dubbed the Spirit of Speed in central Finland, near the Levi ski resort – and though both programs cater lavishly with cozy lodges, wood-fired saunas, and spectacular cuisine, the driving and coaching are nonetheless just about as different as a brand-new mid-engined McLaren and a rear-engined air-cooled Porsche.
In summer, Kalmar pivots from winter experiences to a calendar full of off-road rallies all across the planet. Founder Jan Kalmar calls these trips “Beyond Adventure” and plans each itinerary to live up to the slogan “We start where others stop.” Kalmar’s team transforms a range of Porsches into rugged safari builds that can handle extreme abuse, from early air-cooled classics to modern Cayenne SUVs, and more recently branched into the restomod world, as well.
Nearly the entire lineup of Kalmar creations awaited me in Finland, where I learned firsthand just how seriously both Jan Kalmar and his eponymous company take the instruction at Spirit of Speed. My coach for most of the day, professional TV and film precision driver Joe Hopkins, started me off in a lifted 964-generation 911, keeping a close eye on my technique as I adjusted to Porsche’s famous rear-end weight distribution while trying to hustle through a coned-off slalom course, then a drifting donut.
Most critically, I needed to find confidence not only in my own driver inputs, but also in the set of skinny, studded Michelin tires equipped with tungsten tips, a true WRC spec setup that only Kalmar offers among any driving school in the world. Soon enough, I stepped up to a more powerful 993-generation coupe, still manual and rear-wheel-drive but with the next evolution of the 911’s rear suspension. This larger car with more power might have driven faster and smoother on the surprisingly wavy frozen lake, but I suspect the 964’s simpler setup benefited more from the skinny tires precisely because the 993 adds a fair amount of weight as well.
On a longer circuit, I started hitting higher speeds that almost caught me out approaching tighter corners, where the risk of beaching into the snow drifts increased with each lap. I then swapped into a mid-engine Cayman, an all-wheel-drive 997, and finally, into quite possibly the best single car I’ve ever driven: what Kalmar calls the 7-97 Evo.
Once again based on a 964, this customer-owned creation goes more than a few steps further than the company’s entry-level rally build. Hanging off the rear end, an RSR-spec 4.1-liter flat- six pumps out 375 horsepower through an uprated six-speed manual transmission and a Numeric shifter kit. The suspension lift included deleting the sway bars in favor of a six-axis hydraulic roll control system – somewhat similar to a McLaren, actually – and the whole body sheds weight while beefing up with aluminum underbody protection and aramid (Kevlar) panels.
Inside, a hydraulic handbrake and that Numeric shifter on the center console hint at the Evo’s capabilities, as does a central tachometer with a Danish flag indicating the screaming redline. All in, Kalmar spent years developing this car, and Hopkins cautioned me to take my first few laps a little easy. But soon enough, I fell into a spectacular flow state, ripping the Evo up through gears and holding wider drifts than ever, as the chassis rollicked and rolled around the frozen lake without missing a beat.
By riding high and allowing impeccable transfer of weight onto each tire, the Evo communicates a crystal clear picture of available grip through both the steering wheel and the driver seat. So much so, in fact, that I even found myself subconsciously shifting my hips around, trying to use my own body weight to initiate oversteer going into corners. Smitten, I kept ripping through quicker and quicker laps, fully unleashing that rasping and screaming 4.1-liter engine at full cry until at last, we stopped for a quick lunch break of piping hot Nordic stew and a steaming mug of coffee.
“You only learn and you only find the limit by exceeding it,” Jan Kalmar explained from across the table. “From time to time, we exceed the limits… We have nice food, we sleep nice, but its the driving that counts.”
Back out into the crisp wintry air, Hopkins then led me onto a more technical rallycross circuit, full of dips and dives, higher snow banks, and even more blind corners. He specifically wanted me to find, and exceed, my own limits (this time back in the “base” 964). Sure enough, I lost control more than a few times and plowed high into the fluffy stuff—but never so badly that I needed a tow out from either a Cayenne or a tractor. We spent the rest of the day switching up the cars and courses any time I started to feel comfortable, precisely because Kalmar and Hopkins wanted to keep me in full mental overload at all times.
By the end of the day, having driven no fewer than five spectacular Porsches on every track across Kalmar’s expansive facility, that regular changeups left me confident enough to climb into any of the cars and find my edge immediately. No matter the traction level, terrain, or the trees I desperately wanted to avoid, the same skillset transfers over: throttle input, weight transfer, and slow hands as I grew to trust those WRC tires more and more with each passing minute.
Hopkins then put me on the stopwatch to rank my pace on an out-and-back course that every Spirit of Speed student must complete. Though I fell just short of setting a new lap record on my third try, the fact I came even close in the 964 – the slowest car on site – showed just how well the instruction can level up any driver, regardless of prior experience.
The Evo, in particular, perfectly typifies Kalmar’s teaching methods and lifestyle. No Kalmar build deserves to live as a garage queen; instead, these cars are purposefully engineered to take a beating, and many proudly bear the scars of battle in the form of scratches, dings, dents, and bent bull bars. I learned more in that single day of rip-roaring fun than at any driving school previously, but the idea of joining a full Kalmar “Beyond Adventure” trip also sounds utterly intoxicating.
Each itinerary includes a spectacular location, from Australia to the Himalayas, Namibia and Morocco in Africa, Patagonia in South America, or even a closely curated route through unknown peaks and valleys in the European Alps. Personally, the Lima to Ushuaia route from the Pacific Ocean, across the jagged Andes mountains, and then out onto the expansive flat desert brings to mind the biggest daydreams.
<- Gallery ->
Kalmar runs each of these trips regulation rally style, to build camaraderie among clients through the fire of competition – in similar fashion to my timed runs at Spirit of Speed. Africa or Australia might seem so distant from within a cozy lodge in frigid Finland, but the same ethos of experiencing all the world has to offer, getting far beyond the comfort zone to learn more about oneself, other cultures, the cars, and crew. Every route traverses stunning nature, then days end at the finest lodging available, typically bought out exclusively for attendees. If the locale is too remote, Kalmar then builds a full camp—overlooking the Pacific Ocean or empty dunes as far as the eye can see.
“It is extremely simple, what we are doing, but quite difficult to execute,” Jan Kalmar told me. “We’re always very off the beaten track, and we have few rules, but we follow them. We always stay in the best available accommodation. The customers who travel with us never question where they're going to sleep. It's our place. We can feel home, and 90% of the time we only stay there one night. My philosophy has always been to never backtrack. I don't like to go up and back down the same road, ever.”
Cars do get stuck and break on Kalmar trips, whether by accident or simply from wear and tear over thousands of miles of hard driving. A team of support vehicles and mechanics join the convoy, on hand to hook up tow ropes, replace axles, or even fully rebuild engines if necessary.
Kalmar also offers a Safari trip to Mount Etjo Safari Lodge in Namibia’s Okonjati Game Reserve with a dedicated educational conservation focus rather than catering strictly to automotive expeditions.
I wrapped up my time in Finland with a session in the sauna, winding down my adrenaline rush after a dinner cooked by local chef Sirly Ylläsjärvi, an exquisite meal cooked family style in our private villa. Falling into the deep sleep of a silent, snowy winter night, I only wished that instead of heading home the next morning, I might spend another day sliding around sideways in the 7-97 Evo.
And dreaming of how such a spectacular lifted Porsche crests a sand dune, crosses a flooding stream, or summits a precipitous mountaintop. Everything I learned on the ice revealed the level of preparation necessary for a Kalmar Beyond Adventure drive, where the cars and drivers alike need to be ready for absolutely anything at any time.
Images: Michael Van Runkle, Kalmar Automotive
