Porsche Experience Center Atlanta Review
04-10-2017, 11:04 PM
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Porsche Experience Center Atlanta Review
I was a little hesitate about paying the fee to take this driving course, but since I was in the ATL for a week for a business conference and decided to ride my motorcycle at 55 cents a mile (660 mile each way) the money I receive for mileage will be enough to cover the price of the PECATL.
I had a wonderful time and learned a few things too
You are assigned a driving instructor, Craig was a former racer from Australia and began his career at Porsche as one of the prototype drivers for concept vehicles, maybe mid 30s. We talked about 5 minutes about what I wanted to accomplished and my driving experience and I told him I had a cayman s 6sp and now driving a 991 pdk (all cars are pdk). He said he likes when owners take the course.
Once in the car he had me adjust the seat and ensure that I could push the brake pedal to the floor and my arms had a bend in them. He turn the two outside mirrors down, and the and the inside mirror towards him, he told me to only focus on the front of the car, I asked if he was going to drive first and he said nope its all yours. He told me to lap the outside track 4 times and he would not say a word, but would correct things later. The track has a straight away at the beginning and then goes into corners (to simulate twisty back roads) with decreasing radius and height changes about 10 curves and then you are down the back straight (speeds over 100mph) then into a right hand curve and back onto the front straight. the corners are fun but the guard rails are right on the edge of the curve with no run-off. He gave me two instructions brake harder and keep hands at the 9 and 3 position always, braking harder pushes the front of the car down and gives you more grip and control in the corners.
Next we did the launch control and hard braking, I never had issues with LC and it worked perfectly each time (he also told me that a soft launch is the same except you don't get the safety feature of shutting down the engine if you hold it there to long), you basically keep the gas pedal to the floor down the straight away until he says BRAKE, the first time I braked to soon (over 100 mph and it seemed like 20 yards before the corner) but he assured me that the car will stop, next time I " nailed it" as he would say as I got things right.
Next we did the section were water sprays on a slick surface and a device kicks the rear end either left or right and you have to try and correct the fishtail. you enter at 25 mph hour the first 2 times I got it right, then he turn off the electronics, and it was 360 time lots of fun. very hard to do with electronics turned off, but he gave me a tip of focusing on an object and you can keep it steering in that direction. we did two other tracks another wet track in a circle with a polished surface you basically go in a circle increasing speed until the back end slides out and you try to correct it, the other has flat curves and another polished surface that is so slippery the wheels are spinning the whole time and you don't know it, I was perfectly drifting a 991, FUN!
Them back on the first track, I was amazed at how fast I was now going around the track ( and he told me I would be much quicker and he was right) while your not racing, a car that's slower in front of you must put their right turn signal on and move to the right, I was able to pass every car with the exception of a cayman gt4 and 911 GT? those two cars were really moving around that track.
at the end I had about another 5-10 minutes left and he asked what did I want to do, I said lets switch seats (and I would evaluate his technique, yeah right), we did 2 laps and I was amazed at how late he would brake and how fast he was going, but It got better when we pulled into the pits they had just pulled out a Miami Blue Turbo S, he looked at me and I said "hell yeah", so 2 laps in the turbo S, you basically are pinned back in the seats the whole time until he slams the brakes and its amazing how the front wheels yank you out of the curves, but I cant really say that it was much more fun than the 911S I was driving.
A few notes:
Car had exactly 1000 miles, tire pressure was 35 front and 32 rear, he promised me the rears would catch up after a few hard laps, he monitored how hard I cornered left and right based on the how much the tires heated up, I noticed that a few cars had the spoilers raised at lower speeds added cooling for the motor, even on a tight track like that the 991s handling limits are really really higher than I thought, there are no roads on the street like those and I felt just as confident on that track as I do my favorite back road, the car never scared me in anyway.
Personal achievements
as I said I really didn't know what to expect, but was happy to learn that I was a far better driver than I thought, my car is PDK and it was perfect in everyway, by the end of the day, I was getting 3 downshifts before the corners as Craig would say "you nailed it again"
I had a great time, but I was a bit tired at the end, drving like that is a workout both mental and physical, and had a big smile on my face for about an hour our so. For me it was well worth the price!
[/LIST]
I had a wonderful time and learned a few things too
You are assigned a driving instructor, Craig was a former racer from Australia and began his career at Porsche as one of the prototype drivers for concept vehicles, maybe mid 30s. We talked about 5 minutes about what I wanted to accomplished and my driving experience and I told him I had a cayman s 6sp and now driving a 991 pdk (all cars are pdk). He said he likes when owners take the course.Once in the car he had me adjust the seat and ensure that I could push the brake pedal to the floor and my arms had a bend in them. He turn the two outside mirrors down, and the and the inside mirror towards him, he told me to only focus on the front of the car, I asked if he was going to drive first and he said nope its all yours. He told me to lap the outside track 4 times and he would not say a word, but would correct things later. The track has a straight away at the beginning and then goes into corners (to simulate twisty back roads) with decreasing radius and height changes about 10 curves and then you are down the back straight (speeds over 100mph) then into a right hand curve and back onto the front straight. the corners are fun but the guard rails are right on the edge of the curve with no run-off. He gave me two instructions brake harder and keep hands at the 9 and 3 position always, braking harder pushes the front of the car down and gives you more grip and control in the corners.
Next we did the launch control and hard braking, I never had issues with LC and it worked perfectly each time (he also told me that a soft launch is the same except you don't get the safety feature of shutting down the engine if you hold it there to long), you basically keep the gas pedal to the floor down the straight away until he says BRAKE, the first time I braked to soon (over 100 mph and it seemed like 20 yards before the corner) but he assured me that the car will stop, next time I " nailed it" as he would say as I got things right.
Next we did the section were water sprays on a slick surface and a device kicks the rear end either left or right and you have to try and correct the fishtail. you enter at 25 mph hour the first 2 times I got it right, then he turn off the electronics, and it was 360 time lots of fun. very hard to do with electronics turned off, but he gave me a tip of focusing on an object and you can keep it steering in that direction. we did two other tracks another wet track in a circle with a polished surface you basically go in a circle increasing speed until the back end slides out and you try to correct it, the other has flat curves and another polished surface that is so slippery the wheels are spinning the whole time and you don't know it, I was perfectly drifting a 991, FUN!
Them back on the first track, I was amazed at how fast I was now going around the track ( and he told me I would be much quicker and he was right) while your not racing, a car that's slower in front of you must put their right turn signal on and move to the right, I was able to pass every car with the exception of a cayman gt4 and 911 GT? those two cars were really moving around that track.
at the end I had about another 5-10 minutes left and he asked what did I want to do, I said lets switch seats (and I would evaluate his technique, yeah right), we did 2 laps and I was amazed at how late he would brake and how fast he was going, but It got better when we pulled into the pits they had just pulled out a Miami Blue Turbo S, he looked at me and I said "hell yeah", so 2 laps in the turbo S, you basically are pinned back in the seats the whole time until he slams the brakes and its amazing how the front wheels yank you out of the curves, but I cant really say that it was much more fun than the 911S I was driving.
A few notes:
Car had exactly 1000 miles, tire pressure was 35 front and 32 rear, he promised me the rears would catch up after a few hard laps, he monitored how hard I cornered left and right based on the how much the tires heated up, I noticed that a few cars had the spoilers raised at lower speeds added cooling for the motor, even on a tight track like that the 991s handling limits are really really higher than I thought, there are no roads on the street like those and I felt just as confident on that track as I do my favorite back road, the car never scared me in anyway.
Personal achievements
as I said I really didn't know what to expect, but was happy to learn that I was a far better driver than I thought, my car is PDK and it was perfect in everyway, by the end of the day, I was getting 3 downshifts before the corners as Craig would say "you nailed it again"
I had a great time, but I was a bit tired at the end, drving like that is a workout both mental and physical, and had a big smile on my face for about an hour our so. For me it was well worth the price!
[/LIST]
04-11-2017, 09:18 AM
#6
Rennlist Member
Great review. Thank you for posting.
As an FYI, not all cars are PDK. You can ask for a manual and they will swap the car out for you.
Also, if you are a return customer, you get a 10% discount. Don't forget to ask them for it because they wont give it to you automatically. I've been 4 times.
Going again in June to see what the 718 feels like. Already driven the 991.2s of course.
As an FYI, not all cars are PDK. You can ask for a manual and they will swap the car out for you.
Also, if you are a return customer, you get a 10% discount. Don't forget to ask them for it because they wont give it to you automatically. I've been 4 times.
Going again in June to see what the 718 feels like. Already driven the 991.2s of course.
04-11-2017, 10:11 AM
#7
Three Wheelin'
Great write up. Thanks. A friend and I are going to take the 911 Manual course in the next few weeks. I've been driving manual for 43 years.....can't wait to learn more.
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04-11-2017, 01:34 PM
#8
Rennlist Member
I was there last June driving the 991.2 7MT in sport+ mode. The instructor decided to screw with me and take rev matching off and selected sport mode without telling me while I was on the track. Of course, a new feature with the .2 over .1 is that rev matching is also available in sport mode. (provided you have SC). He was shocked at how well I was shifting and asked me if I was using "heel and toe". Obviously we both learned the new feature of the .2 together and he confessed that he switched the sport setting.
It pissed me off that he was screwing with my settings while I was driving so I gave him some lip over it. Watch out for this. Most instructors are highly professional but others are yahoos.
04-11-2017, 11:22 PM
#9
Thanks for the write up. Just booked a date for my wife and I. Can't wait
04-11-2017, 11:35 PM
#10
Rennlist Member
I was there last June driving the 991.2 7MT in sport+ mode. The instructor decided to screw with me and take rev matching off and selected sport mode without telling me while I was on the track. Of course, a new feature with the .2 over .1 is that rev matching is also available in sport mode. (provided you have SC). He was shocked at how well I was shifting and asked me if I was using "heel and toe". Obviously we both learned the new feature of the .2 together and he confessed that he switched the sport setting.
It pissed me off that he was screwing with my settings while I was driving so I gave him some lip over it. Watch out for this. Most instructors are highly professional but others are yahoos.
It pissed me off that he was screwing with my settings while I was driving so I gave him some lip over it. Watch out for this. Most instructors are highly professional but others are yahoos.
04-12-2017, 04:39 PM
#12
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Great review. Thank you for posting.
As an FYI, not all cars are PDK. You can ask for a manual and they will swap the car out for you.
Also, if you are a return customer, you get a 10% discount. Don't forget to ask them for it because they wont give it to you automatically. I've been 4 times. Going again in June to see what the 718 feels like. Already driven the 991.2s of course.
As an FYI, not all cars are PDK. You can ask for a manual and they will swap the car out for you.
Also, if you are a return customer, you get a 10% discount. Don't forget to ask them for it because they wont give it to you automatically. I've been 4 times.
Going again in June to see what the 718 feels like. Already driven the 991.2s of course.
04-12-2017, 05:33 PM
#13
I went last month and the instructor had me braking so hard I thought I was gonna snap the pedal off. Its easy to understand now why they cost more than most cars after flogging a GT3 around for 90 minutes. I doubt a Z06/Viper/GTR could take such daily abuse.
05-03-2017, 05:44 PM
#15
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I was a little hesitate about paying the fee to take this driving course, but since I was in the ATL for a week for a business conference and decided to ride my motorcycle at 55 cents a mile (660 mile each way) the money I receive for mileage will be enough to cover the price of the PECATL.
I had a wonderful time and learned a few things too You are assigned a driving instructor, Craig was a former racer from Australia and began his career at Porsche as one of the prototype drivers for concept vehicles, maybe mid 30s. We talked about 5 minutes about what I wanted to accomplished and my driving experience and I told him I had a cayman s 6sp and now driving a 991 pdk (all cars are pdk). He said he likes when owners take the course.
Once in the car he had me adjust the seat and ensure that I could push the brake pedal to the floor and my arms had a bend in them. He turn the two outside mirrors down, and the and the inside mirror towards him, he told me to only focus on the front of the car, I asked if he was going to drive first and he said nope its all yours. He told me to lap the outside track 4 times and he would not say a word, but would correct things later. The track has a straight away at the beginning and then goes into corners (to simulate twisty back roads) with decreasing radius and height changes about 10 curves and then you are down the back straight (speeds over 100mph) then into a right hand curve and back onto the front straight. the corners are fun but the guard rails are right on the edge of the curve with no run-off. He gave me two instructions brake harder and keep hands at the 9 and 3 position always, braking harder pushes the front of the car down and gives you more grip and control in the corners.
Next we did the launch control and hard braking, I never had issues with LC and it worked perfectly each time (he also told me that a soft launch is the same except you don't get the safety feature of shutting down the engine if you hold it there to long), you basically keep the gas pedal to the floor down the straight away until he says BRAKE, the first time I braked to soon (over 100 mph and it seemed like 20 yards before the corner) but he assured me that the car will stop, next time I " nailed it" as he would say as I got things right.
Next we did the section were water sprays on a slick surface and a device kicks the rear end either left or right and you have to try and correct the fishtail. you enter at 25 mph hour the first 2 times I got it right, then he turn off the electronics, and it was 360 time lots of fun. very hard to do with electronics turned off, but he gave me a tip of focusing on an object and you can keep it steering in that direction. we did two other tracks another wet track in a circle with a polished surface you basically go in a circle increasing speed until the back end slides out and you try to correct it, the other has flat curves and another polished surface that is so slippery the wheels are spinning the whole time and you don't know it, I was perfectly drifting a 991, FUN!
Them back on the first track, I was amazed at how fast I was now going around the track ( and he told me I would be much quicker and he was right) while your not racing, a car that's slower in front of you must put their right turn signal on and move to the right, I was able to pass every car with the exception of a cayman gt4 and 911 GT? those two cars were really moving around that track.
at the end I had about another 5-10 minutes left and he asked what did I want to do, I said lets switch seats (and I would evaluate his technique, yeah right), we did 2 laps and I was amazed at how late he would brake and how fast he was going, but It got better when we pulled into the pits they had just pulled out a Miami Blue Turbo S, he looked at me and I said "hell yeah", so 2 laps in the turbo S, you basically are pinned back in the seats the whole time until he slams the brakes and its amazing how the front wheels yank you out of the curves, but I cant really say that it was much more fun than the 911S I was driving.
A few notes:
Car had exactly 1000 miles, tire pressure was 35 front and 32 rear, he promised me the rears would catch up after a few hard laps, he monitored how hard I cornered left and right based on the how much the tires heated up, I noticed that a few cars had the spoilers raised at lower speeds added cooling for the motor, even on a tight track like that the 991s handling limits are really really higher than I thought, there are no roads on the street like those and I felt just as confident on that track as I do my favorite back road, the car never scared me in anyway.
Personal achievements
as I said I really didn't know what to expect, but was happy to learn that I was a far better driver than I thought, my car is PDK and it was perfect in everyway, by the end of the day, I was getting 3 downshifts before the corners as Craig would say "you nailed it again"
I had a great time, but I was a bit tired at the end, drving like that is a workout both mental and physical, and had a big smile on my face for about an hour our so. For me it was well worth the price![/LIST]
I had a wonderful time and learned a few things too
You are assigned a driving instructor, Craig was a former racer from Australia and began his career at Porsche as one of the prototype drivers for concept vehicles, maybe mid 30s. We talked about 5 minutes about what I wanted to accomplished and my driving experience and I told him I had a cayman s 6sp and now driving a 991 pdk (all cars are pdk). He said he likes when owners take the course.Once in the car he had me adjust the seat and ensure that I could push the brake pedal to the floor and my arms had a bend in them. He turn the two outside mirrors down, and the and the inside mirror towards him, he told me to only focus on the front of the car, I asked if he was going to drive first and he said nope its all yours. He told me to lap the outside track 4 times and he would not say a word, but would correct things later. The track has a straight away at the beginning and then goes into corners (to simulate twisty back roads) with decreasing radius and height changes about 10 curves and then you are down the back straight (speeds over 100mph) then into a right hand curve and back onto the front straight. the corners are fun but the guard rails are right on the edge of the curve with no run-off. He gave me two instructions brake harder and keep hands at the 9 and 3 position always, braking harder pushes the front of the car down and gives you more grip and control in the corners.
Next we did the launch control and hard braking, I never had issues with LC and it worked perfectly each time (he also told me that a soft launch is the same except you don't get the safety feature of shutting down the engine if you hold it there to long), you basically keep the gas pedal to the floor down the straight away until he says BRAKE, the first time I braked to soon (over 100 mph and it seemed like 20 yards before the corner) but he assured me that the car will stop, next time I " nailed it" as he would say as I got things right.
Next we did the section were water sprays on a slick surface and a device kicks the rear end either left or right and you have to try and correct the fishtail. you enter at 25 mph hour the first 2 times I got it right, then he turn off the electronics, and it was 360 time lots of fun. very hard to do with electronics turned off, but he gave me a tip of focusing on an object and you can keep it steering in that direction. we did two other tracks another wet track in a circle with a polished surface you basically go in a circle increasing speed until the back end slides out and you try to correct it, the other has flat curves and another polished surface that is so slippery the wheels are spinning the whole time and you don't know it, I was perfectly drifting a 991, FUN!
Them back on the first track, I was amazed at how fast I was now going around the track ( and he told me I would be much quicker and he was right) while your not racing, a car that's slower in front of you must put their right turn signal on and move to the right, I was able to pass every car with the exception of a cayman gt4 and 911 GT? those two cars were really moving around that track.
at the end I had about another 5-10 minutes left and he asked what did I want to do, I said lets switch seats (and I would evaluate his technique, yeah right), we did 2 laps and I was amazed at how late he would brake and how fast he was going, but It got better when we pulled into the pits they had just pulled out a Miami Blue Turbo S, he looked at me and I said "hell yeah", so 2 laps in the turbo S, you basically are pinned back in the seats the whole time until he slams the brakes and its amazing how the front wheels yank you out of the curves, but I cant really say that it was much more fun than the 911S I was driving.
A few notes:
Car had exactly 1000 miles, tire pressure was 35 front and 32 rear, he promised me the rears would catch up after a few hard laps, he monitored how hard I cornered left and right based on the how much the tires heated up, I noticed that a few cars had the spoilers raised at lower speeds added cooling for the motor, even on a tight track like that the 991s handling limits are really really higher than I thought, there are no roads on the street like those and I felt just as confident on that track as I do my favorite back road, the car never scared me in anyway.
Personal achievements
as I said I really didn't know what to expect, but was happy to learn that I was a far better driver than I thought, my car is PDK and it was perfect in everyway, by the end of the day, I was getting 3 downshifts before the corners as Craig would say "you nailed it again"
I had a great time, but I was a bit tired at the end, drving like that is a workout both mental and physical, and had a big smile on my face for about an hour our so. For me it was well worth the price!
[/LIST]Thanks,
Pete