How a Porsche community founder satisfied a need for optimising performance
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Zhanna Tam has loved fast cars all her life. Today she owns a GT3 that she’s made sure gives her the very best performance on road and track
Zhanna Tam, a marketing executive in her day job, has become adept at balancing her professional and personal life by having what she calls “a work hard, play hard approach to life”. Living in the Bay Area of San Francisco with her husband and their two daughters, Zhanna is raising the next generation of ambitious women. Both of Zhanna’s daughters are ski racers, so it’s clear that Zhanna’s family shares her love of speed. “We all like to go fast. In the winter, that means skiing. And in the summer, it’s driving in our Porsche cars.” That love of pure Porsche power is readily apparent in their choice of cars – both Zhanna and her husband each own a 911 GT3, with Zhanna’s fitted with the high-performance Manthey Kit upgrade. Together, the couple regularly take their daughters out on family drives. And in those spare moments away from work and family life, Zhanna also indulges her passion for racing by taking her 911 GT3 to the track – including that most fabled of Californian circuits, the legendary Laguna Seca Raceway.Such is Zhanna’s love of her car and Porsche itself that in 2022 she began channelling her enthusiasm into herporsche.com, a digital platform that she’s set up dedicated to amplifying the voices of female Porsche enthusiasts globally. Her mission is twofold: to turn a spotlight on the experiences of women in the Porsche community by telling their stories and to push for more visibility in a scene traditionally dominated by men. “With this forum, I want to show that there’s more of us out there than people think. But at the same time, not enough,” says Zhanna.Zhanna Tam – marketing executive by day, Porsche enthusiast always – has been in love with fast cars since her childhood | Duc Le @porschefectionistWhy is Porsche your dream car, Zhanna?“What I love about cars in general is that every one of them is purpose built. You have your road cars, your track cars, your family cars or the ones you use to haul things around. For me, precision and control are the two attributes that I personally enjoy most about cars. When my daughters were little, I took a break from driving fast cars. But as they got older, I didn’t want to lose myself as an individual, so I returned to my hobbies and passions. And I went to Porsche because their cars have the two qualities I value most – precision and control.“I first fell in love with the brand when I was able to test drive a Porsche at the Porsche Experience Centre in LA in 2019. I drove a 911 Carrera S and it was exactly what I wanted to feel in a car. I ended up buying one a month later because it was just so much fun. And I wanted to have that in my everyday life.”Which Porsche cars do you drive now?“I have a 2023 Macan S, which is our versatile family car – the one we use to take the kids to school or run errands around town. Our fun cars are the 2008 GT3 from the 997 generation and the 2022 GT3. Often, we take our GT3 out at the same time to enjoy the drive together.Why did you choose the 911 GT3 as your main car?“It goes back to my favourite attributes of a car – precision and control – which are particularly important at higher speeds. Can the car continue to feel as precise when it’s going fast? That was the promise of the GT3. So when I had the opportunity to upgrade my Carrera S to a GT3, I took it. The other thing is that I often take my car to the race track and I feel that the GT3 has the perfect balance of being a vehicle that you can drive both on and off the circuit. It’s comfortable enough to take on very long drives – like when we go from San Francisco to LA – but it also has the performance I need at higher speeds on the track.”For Zhanna, track driving is all about how a car handles through corners. The Manthey Kit on her 911 GT3 takes that to an even higher level | Duc Le @porschefectionistWhy did you start the herporsche.com project?“I wanted to share my passion for the Porsche community and lifestyle with other women. I find that driving a Porsche is an incredibly empowering feeling and it’s a way to take your mind off things. That is especially true when you take your Porsche to the track. Here, you’re not thinking about work or what you’re going to make for dinner – you’re focused on the here and now.”“I feel that there are not enough women enjoying that experience and want to see how I could invite more like-minded ladies to try and be a part of this community. I also want to use herporsche.com to educate our male counterparts to be more inclusive and not assume that only men are enjoying these cars.”How was your experience with the Porsche community?“The biggest highlight was getting to know all the women through herporsche.com. I think it really shines a light on the lifestyle that Porsche represents. All these women have many common qualities. They’re ambitious. They’re successful. And they have a work hard, play hard attitude.”“I’m excited about my daughters growing up and joining me in my passion” says Zhanna of her two children | Duc Le @porschefectionistWhy did you get the 911 GT3 Manthey Kit upgrade?“When the Manthey Kit became available in the USA, Porsche Fremont [a Porsche dealership in the Bay Area] was one of the first dealers authorised to install it. I got a call from Mazen Chouman, the General Manager at Porsche Fremont, who offered me this kit knowing how much I enjoy driving my car on the track.“As I use my car both on the road and on the track, I wanted to see if I could improve its performance without sacrificing comfort. The Manthey Kit focuses primarily on improving aerodynamics, which has generally been a big focus for the GT line, and I wanted to see if I could get some of those additional aerodynamic elements improved on my car. The car is quicker on the track after the upgrade as well as being very stable, especially in corners at higher speeds. But it’s also a car that I feel comfortable driving for five or six hours to LA.“Seeing my car for the first time after getting the upgrade was wild. Both visually and in terms of the driving experience. It’s hard to believe that a 911 GT3 can get any better. But it has. It really goes to show that there is no limit to achieving perfection.”What is it like driving your 911 GT3 with the Manthey Kit on the track?“It’s a completely different experience. I invite people to try it at least once. Nobody expects you to be a professional racing driver when you first show up and there are a lot of educational track days where they teach you how to navigate the circuit. That’s exactly what I did.“An experienced driver showed me how to pilot a car in a way that was optimised for best lap times. For me it wasn’t even about the speed, it was about the corners. They all have different personalities. Some are high speed corners, some are more complex turns where hitting the apex is essential. It’s all about optimisation – that’s the fun part. And with the Manthey Kit fitted, I am even more confident navigating the track.”
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