Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles Review
11-23-2016, 09:37 PM
#1
Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles Review
I had the chance to visit the Porsche Experience Center (PEC) in Los Angeles last week (11/2016). My visit was as a drop in; not doing one of the driving modules.
You enter into the main lounge. Sign in is required and they issue badges. One type of the badge identifies you as a visitor the other as someone who will do one of the driving modules.
The main room contains a sitting area and at the time I was there 6 or so Porsches. Of interest were a 918 and a 911R. The other cars were simply current models. Another visitor was having one of the staff give info about some of the cars but there were no written info cards or other info. The room is very tall and one wall is glass that looks into a service area where race cars are undergoing service. There were a couple of cars there (I am not knowledgeable enough to ID models), but no real action as far as wrenching on them.
To the side at the back of the main room leads into a large merchandise area (T Shirts, tchotchkes, etc). The store blends into a café. The café is more like a Starbucks than sandwiches.
Exit the back of the main room to the track area. I did not try to exit there as the people heading out all seemed to be escorted. You can see all the cars parked waiting for drivers but the view of the track(s) is limited because there are some elevation changes to the track. There is better viewing on the second floor.
The rest of the building is restricted access but the greeters who do the sign in will buzz you into that area. Go upstairs to reach the restaurant. I did not eat; the vibe was higher-end casual. On the edge of the restaurant is a balcony that gives a better view of the track.
The track area that you can see is mostly the limited traction sections. Those sections appear to be painted or have a slick surface and are sprayed with water. The normal traction sections all had poor runoff areas so no one was getting much speed. In one area are dirt hills that I assume were for offroading.
And that was pretty much it. There is supposed to be a driving simulator area but I did not look for it. On the plus side the cars they had for the driving modules were in a variety of colors, almost like they wanted to avoid the common configurations the dealers tend to have. 20 minutes and I had seen it all. To be honest it was not that interesting.
You enter into the main lounge. Sign in is required and they issue badges. One type of the badge identifies you as a visitor the other as someone who will do one of the driving modules.
The main room contains a sitting area and at the time I was there 6 or so Porsches. Of interest were a 918 and a 911R. The other cars were simply current models. Another visitor was having one of the staff give info about some of the cars but there were no written info cards or other info. The room is very tall and one wall is glass that looks into a service area where race cars are undergoing service. There were a couple of cars there (I am not knowledgeable enough to ID models), but no real action as far as wrenching on them.
To the side at the back of the main room leads into a large merchandise area (T Shirts, tchotchkes, etc). The store blends into a café. The café is more like a Starbucks than sandwiches.
Exit the back of the main room to the track area. I did not try to exit there as the people heading out all seemed to be escorted. You can see all the cars parked waiting for drivers but the view of the track(s) is limited because there are some elevation changes to the track. There is better viewing on the second floor.
The rest of the building is restricted access but the greeters who do the sign in will buzz you into that area. Go upstairs to reach the restaurant. I did not eat; the vibe was higher-end casual. On the edge of the restaurant is a balcony that gives a better view of the track.
The track area that you can see is mostly the limited traction sections. Those sections appear to be painted or have a slick surface and are sprayed with water. The normal traction sections all had poor runoff areas so no one was getting much speed. In one area are dirt hills that I assume were for offroading.
And that was pretty much it. There is supposed to be a driving simulator area but I did not look for it. On the plus side the cars they had for the driving modules were in a variety of colors, almost like they wanted to avoid the common configurations the dealers tend to have. 20 minutes and I had seen it all. To be honest it was not that interesting.
