Ozvino Posted 6February, 2018 Report Share Posted 6February, 2018 I finally made the effort to get off the plane in Los Angles and visited the Porsche Experience Centre in Los Angles last Saturday. Its one of two experience centres in the USA, the other is in Atlanta. The LA centre is located 15 minutes south of LAX, its in Carson/Torrance, adjacent to the 405 for those who know the area. Its the opposite side of the freeway where the store the Goodyear Airship. These things are essentially "Brand" centres with tracks where you can road/track test cars (at a cost). They also have a retail store with Porsche branded Merch (like you see in dealers, just larger), a cafe, restaurant, simulators and a handful of cars from the Museum. The LA venue is also home to the Porsche Motorsports team in Nth America. The experience centres are owned and run by Porsche. The LA venue is around 50 acres and has a high speed loop track, ice hill, ice corner, ice road and high speed cornering track. They also have a dedicated off-road track with hills, water obstacles etc. for Cayenes and Macans. The ice simulators are driven by hi-tech water sprayers (is LA, so its recycled water...they make sure you know). I paid around $700 USD to take the mid v rear chasis package. I got to drive a 718 Cayman S and a 991.2 Carrera S for around 2 hours. The cars in my package were PDK but they do have manual cars also, they just werent available for the mid v rear package. The driving instructor I got was a life long race car driver who owned a chasis shop in LA and built low volume race cars - he was hired as a result of his knowledge around chasis and did an excellent job taking me through the dynamics of each car/motor setup. His goal was to teach me how to drive both cars to the edge and then recognise when each was about to go beyond the edge - he was very keen to make sure I knew what that feeling was and for that alone, it was worth the money for me. It was 2 hours of really good driver training. You can choose to drive any current model Porsche incl. the Hybrids. I had each car for an hour - took them through all of the obstacles/tracks, did launch control starts and full brake application at speed.....that was something, hammering the brakes on at 170km/h. The fastest I could get the car on the straight with launch control was around 115mph, I have to say they were both special cars. The 718 really impressed me, it sounded stupid but went like a rocket. The Carrera S was my pick of the two, it felt nowhere near as big as it really is and the handling was amazing for what it is. I could get the Carrera to pull around 1.2Gs in the cornering track. I also booked a simulator - very cool and one of the better simulators I have driven. I thought it was worth the money, for the instruction alone. Porsche makes an effort to hand pick drivers, these aren't just go fast jockeys. The instructor quickly gets a feel for your skills first and then determines how hard he pushes you. The track for where it is has been well thought out and the cars aren't babied - they encourage you to hammer them. That said, its very safety focused and after 12000 sessions they have had one "event" - mirror smashed of a Cayman. The other thing I came away with - its really hard to go past PDK. With instruction and the use of Sports Plus mode the way you can push the cars with the PDK is just amazing. My instructor was a life long manual driver (stick...) and even he said it was hard to go past the PDK for pure speed and drivability. If you happen to be in LA, go check it out. Its not a destination in itself, but my advice is if you are in town you certainly should check it out and take one of the driver packages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KG Posted 6February, 2018 Report Share Posted 6February, 2018 Nice review. I pass by this centre often and was thinking of doing something similar. Do you have to book in advance? Another fun option I found when you have some spare time in LA is to hire a car from https://turo.com/. This is like an AirBNB for sports cars. You can usually get your pick of Porsches. My usual drive includes heading up to Malibu and then enjoying the canyon runs back through the Hollywood hills. Obviously this doesn't come with driving instructor and/or track safe conditions, but its a neat way to spend a morning experiencing different cars + awesome views and you tend to see a lot of other neat cars (Highlight was watching some locals dogfighting in a GT3 vs GT350 Just the sound of them going at it!) Also, its nice to be able to push a car an not have to deal with cops really caring too much unlike back in Aus. Here's a few examples: https://turo.com/rentals/cars/ca/los-angeles/porsche-911/214159?s=PjrjwY29 https://turo.com/rentals/cars/ca/irvine/porsche-911/258575?s=PjrjwY29 https://turo.com/rentals/cars/ca/los-angeles/porsche-cayman/226879?s=PjrjwY29 If only we could hire these in Aus for these prices! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANF Posted 6February, 2018 Report Share Posted 6February, 2018 Nice one @Ozvino looks like a great venue and time! I did try and fit it in my recent US trip but ran out of time and other areas where more "important". The Silverstone one is on my list for next Euro trip for sure! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozvino Posted 6February, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 6February, 2018 @KG - I would suggest booking, I did so a week in advance. They have a calendar online where you can see whats available. They had some walk ins but Saturday is the busy day. I have seen Turo and been tempted ! @ANF - for sure check out Silverstone. Like I said, to me these are nice places ti visit if you happen to be around, they arent destinations in themselves I forgot to add - the cars go to the wholesale market after 6 months and apparently get snapped up by local dealers. Even though you would think they are driven hard they are carefully broken in and always driven under instruction. If the car touches the wood chips it goes for service and inspection.Oil changed every 1000 miles, brakes changed regularly etc. I was also told if a manual car gets a category 3 or worse over-rev it gets re-engined by Porsche before its wholesaled..... Here are some old girls getting sent off to the wholesaler... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philbee Posted 6February, 2018 Report Share Posted 6February, 2018 Nice review. I pass by this centre often and was thinking of doing something similar. Do you have to book in advance? Another fun option I found when you have some spare time in LA is to hire a car from https://turo.com/. This is like an AirBNB for sports cars. You can usually get your pick of Porsches. My usual drive includes heading up to Malibu and then enjoying the canyon runs back through the Hollywood hills. Obviously this doesn't come with driving instructor and/or track safe conditions, but its a neat way to spend a morning experiencing different cars + awesome views and you tend to see a lot of other neat cars (Highlight was watching some locals dogfighting in a GT3 vs GT350 Just the sound of them going at it!) Also, its nice to be able to push a car an not have to deal with cops really caring too much unlike back in Aus. Here's a few examples:https://turo.com/rentals/cars/ca/los-angeles/porsche-911/214159?s=PjrjwY29https://turo.com/rentals/cars/ca/irvine/porsche-911/258575?s=PjrjwY29 https://turo.com/rentals/cars/ca/los-angeles/porsche-cayman/226879?s=PjrjwY29 If only we could hire these in Aus for these prices!Hire a GT4 for $300us... wow!!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KG Posted 6February, 2018 Report Share Posted 6February, 2018 Thanks @Ozvino, noted. FYI, I signed up with Turo and picked up my first car in less than 30min (including a 20 min uber drive). Way too easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy73 Posted 6February, 2018 Report Share Posted 6February, 2018 I'd looked through Turo's site a few months ago and figured what a great way to go experience the Angeles crest highway etc. Have to do it one day! Looks like the PEC is on the list now too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleazius Posted 6February, 2018 Report Share Posted 6February, 2018 I've driven past it 4 or 5 times but not had the time to book in. Definitely inspired me to make the time next time I'm over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozvino Posted 6February, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 6February, 2018 Just now, sleazius said: I've driven past it 4 or 5 times but not had the time to book in. Definitely inspired me to make the time next time I'm over there. Its worth dropping in even without a booking - they rotate the museum cars through and the cafe and restaurant are decent. If you want to buy Porsche stuff they have a decent selection. It costs nothing to go in apart from the drive packages. I found the people really helpful and low key, not at all snobby. Very accomodating, happy to show you around etc. What I really liked was the car park was full of old Porsches - everything from old long hoods to 996s, etc. Many of these cars belong to employees who happened to be fans of the marque Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted 6February, 2018 Report Share Posted 6February, 2018 51 minutes ago, Ozvino said: I finally made the effort to get off the plane in Los Angles and visited the Porsche Experience Centre in Los Angles last Saturday. Its one of two experience centres in the USA, the other is in Atlanta. The LA centre is located 15 minutes south of LAX, its in Carson/Torrance, adjacent to the 405 for those who know the area. Its the opposite side of the freeway where the store the Goodyear Airship. These things are essentially "Brand" centres with tracks where you can road/track test cars (at a cost). They also have a retail store with Porsche branded Merch (like you see in dealers, just larger), a cafe, restaurant, simulators and a handful of cars from the Museum. The LA venue is also home to the Porsche Motorsports team in Nth America. The experience centres are owned and run by Porsche. The LA venue is around 50 acres and has a high speed loop track, ice hill, ice corner, ice road and high speed cornering track. They also have a dedicated off-road track with hills, water obstacles etc. for Cayenes and Macans. The ice simulators are driven by hi-tech water sprayers (is LA, so its recycled water...they make sure you know). I paid around $700 USD to take the mid v rear chasis package. I got to drive a 718 Cayman S and a 991.2 Carrera S for around 2 hours. The cars in my package were PDK but they do have manual cars also, they just werent available for the mid v rear package. The driving instructor I got was a life long race car driver who owned a chasis shop in LA and built low volume race cars - he was hired as a result of his knowledge around chasis and did an excellent job taking me through the dynamics of each car/motor setup. His goal was to teach me how to drive both cars to the edge and then recognise when each was about to go beyond the edge - he was very keen to make sure I knew what that feeling was and for that alone, it was worth the money for me. It was 2 hours of really good driver training. You can choose to drive any current model Porsche incl. the Hybrids. I had each car for an hour - took them through all of the obstacles/tracks, did launch control starts and full brake application at speed.....that was something, hammering the brakes on at 170km/h. The fastest I could get the car on the straight with launch control was around 115mph, I have to say they were both special cars. The 718 really impressed me, it sounded stupid but went like a rocket. The Carrera S was my pick of the two, it felt nowhere near as big as it really is and the handling was amazing for what it is. I could get the Carrera to pull around 1.2Gs in the cornering track. I also booked a simulator - very cool and one of the better simulators I have driven. I thought it was worth the money, for the instruction alone. Porsche makes an effort to hand pick drivers, these aren't just go fast jockeys. The instructor quickly gets a feel for your skills first and then determines how hard he pushes you. The track for where it is has been well thought out and the cars aren't babied - they encourage you to hammer them. That said, its very safety focused and after 12000 sessions they have had one "event" - mirror smashed of a Cayman. The other thing I came away with - its really hard to go past PDK. With instruction and the use of Sports Plus mode the way you can push the cars with the PDK is just amazing. My instructor was a life long manual driver (stick...) and even he said it was hard to go past the PDK for pure speed and drivability. If you happen to be in LA, go check it out. Its not a destination in itself, but my advice is if you are in town you certainly should check it out and take one of the driver packages. Prick......... What a great experience. Love your work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted 6February, 2018 Report Share Posted 6February, 2018 Putting that one on my bucket list ,,,,,,,,,,,,,looks awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taffy Posted 7February, 2018 Report Share Posted 7February, 2018 On 06/02/2018 at 3:46 PM, KG said: Another fun option I found when you have some spare time in LA is to hire a car from https://turo.com/. a vote for Turo, what you can rent for the $ is really good. Had a mustang and a Caymanin Hawaii with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldmxnut Posted 7February, 2018 Report Share Posted 7February, 2018 Same... always thought just a glorified dealer so hadn't worried. Tick off for next LA trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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