| Feature Drive | Ivalo, Finland | Porsche Panamera |

The Porsche Travel Club is pretty special. Think of a Porsche driving experience and the chances are the Travel Club has it covered. Whether it's driving Cayennes in the desert, cruising down California's Highway 1 in a Cabriolet, touring the Alps or lapping the Nürburgring there's something in Porsche's Travel Club brochure that'll fit.

Which explains why I've spent most of the day driving Porsche's Panamera range completely sideways. Just for the hell of it. Making it simpler is the fact that I'm in Finland, and according to the satnav the Panamera I'm in should be a submarine. Thankfully the lake we're driving on is frozen, with around a foot of solid ice between me and a rather expensive aquatic Porsche experience.

For that ice to form it needs to be very cold; a sizeable double-digit number preceded by a minus sign. As part of the package Porsche usefully provides a thick jacket, while the heater on the Panamera proves very effective too.

The day starts by being bussed to a rather plain looking metal shed. Inside it's full of over a million pounds worth of spiky-tired Panameras with numbers on them. We're allocated a group and a car and follow our instructor down onto the frozen lake. With each car supplied with a radio we're let lose on a variety of circuits - everything from a figure of eight, to slalom to a full-on - and very challenging - rally circuit.

My expectation that our enthusiasm might be reigned in by cautious instructors proves completely unfounded. It's not unusual to hear 'gas, gas, gas' being called over the radio in a bid to get you going faster, or more sideways. All the stability systems are disabled and the spiked snow tyres soon relinquish their grip with so much power on offer. The challenge is to keep it neat and tidy - and out of the snow banks. Sure, there's some learning involved, but the overall aim is for drivers and passengers to have fun. And the odd trip into the snow banks is quickly sorted out by a decent chap in a Cayenne with a tow rope.

On this frozen lake, in everything from rear-wheel drive Panameras, through four-wheel drive S models and the range topping 500bhp Turbo, we're encouraged to drive everywhere as sideways as possible. It's trickier than it looks, but it's never anything less than hugely grin-inducing. Between the tracks all the stability systems need to be turned on for safety, though the traction the 7mm spiked tyres gives is quite incredible.

It's all very entertaining - and useful too. Collecting the Panameras from slides, whether provoked or not, at low(ish) speeds teaches you how to react should you experience it on the road. It's unlikely you'll ever encounter the sort of 90-degree skids that are possible in Finland, but it's all good experience whether you need it or not.

What's remarkable is just how hard you're allowed to push. Usually experiences with anything remotely expensive cars are strictly policed, though Porsche's people seem happy to let you learn from your mistakes and really enjoy the driving. Understandably it's not exactly cheap, but a few days of catered accommodation in a nice hotel in Finland - with a skidoo ride among the additional activities included - looks good value when compared to a few days of exotic car hire. Particularly as you actually get to drive the cars hard; and in this case very, very sideways indeed. It's pretty much our perfect break...