Porsche's $60 million driving experience center opens in Los Angeles, California

[Sticky]

It's a good thing they started building this before the diesel scandal, eh? Porsche started on this driving center in Los Angeles, California back in 2001. What is it exactly? A place where you can test out various Porsche vehicles on and off road and it even replicates Nurburgring corners.

Why did Porsche choose California? Because California alone is Porsche's 5th largest market. Plus the weather, the beaches, the babes, and the administrator of BoostAddict lives there.

Our image is actually very closely connected to California, and then financially, if we were to take California as a country, it would be No. 5 in the world in terms of its volume importance for Porsche,

Here is a good overview:

Conveniently situated just minutes from Los Angeles International Airport, the Porsche Experience Center is near the intersection of two major Los Angeles-area traffic arteries. In a region famous for its beaches and car events, Porsche has created a destination whose singular focus is to bring to life the Porsche philosophy of Intelligent Performance. This 53 acre venue in Carson, California, is also the new home of Porsche Motorsport North America. Within our 50,000 sq. ft. building shared with PMNA, guests can get an insider’s look of our historic race cars and workshop team.

Drivers can pilot the latest Porsche models through driving modules meant to demonstrate the power, responsiveness, and safety at the core of Porsche engineering. The Experience Center also offers event spaces and dining options, state-of-the-art driving simulators and a retail store with exclusive PEC branded merchandise that all live up to the Porsche standard.

What is the pricing like? Well, not cheap. Testing out a 911 Turbo will run you $850 for 1.5 hours. The Carrera S drops to $495 for 1.5 hours. A Boxster is $385 for the same amount of time:

Just look at some of the things you can do:

• The handling course designed to mimic a country road with a number of corners and undulations.
• The Handling Circuit has been designed not as a race track but as a challenging country road. Using the contours of the land we have created a flowing series of corners and undulations that all offer very different challenges for both car and driver.
• The Kick Plate is a computer-controlled hydraulic plate set flush to the road surface is designed to induce loss of rear wheel traction, putting the car into a skid or spin.
• Ice Hill has a 7% slope, computer-controlled water jets and a low friction surface. A combination which provides a unique and challenging scenario to test even the most experienced of drivers.
• The Low Friction Circle consists of highly polished concrete on a wet surface that in turn creates an ideal environment to provoke, correct and hold oversteer all at speeds which enable you to build an understanding of car dynamics.
• The Low friction handling course consists of a polished concrete surface with many curves to provide a situation where a vehicle can be placed in a oversteer condition.
• The Off Road course is designed to show how the technical systems on how the Porsche Cayenne works in off-road conditions. Offering 40 degree declines and ascents, rough terrain and unfeasible side slopes name just a few obstacles.
• The Acceleration Straight provides a safe and controlled environment to fully explore how a Porsche accelerates using launch control with an added twist. Near the end of the nearly 3/4 mile straight, a replica of the Karussell (Carousel), the famous banked curve on the Nordschleife (North Loop) of the Nürburgring, is awaiting for your enthralling g-force experience.

Maybe it's time to give this place a visit and report back?

[Stevenh]

That pricing seems VERY reasonable to me... It would probably cost the same to take a 911 Carrera S that you OWN out for a full track day. Track rentals + consumables (plenty of Porsche guys will do an oil change after a single track day) alone will probably run you $500. The fact that you can drive up, beat on someone else's car, not worry about maintenance and go home makes this look like a screaming deal in my book. 1.5 hours of track time is more than enough to keep me happy for a few months. I'd be all over it if there were one in my area.

[Sticky]

That pricing seems VERY reasonable to me... It would probably cost the same to take a 911 Carrera S that you OWN out for a full track day. Track rentals + consumables (plenty of Porsche guys will do an oil change after a single track day) alone will probably run you $500. The fact that you can drive up, beat on someone else's car, not worry about maintenance and go home makes this look like a screaming deal in my book. 1.5 hours of track time is more than enough to keep me happy for a few months. I'd be all over it if there were one in my area.

Plus there's a restaurant, tours, and Porsche Motorsport North America is now headquartered there.

[subaru335i]

We had the first Porsche Experience Center here in Atlanta and the pricing looks a little cheaper here.
$750 for 1.5hr for the 911 turbo and $450 for the 911S/4S.
And they have a program here called the GT Academy for $1000 where you can drive the GT3 RS!