Porsche Experience Center Atlanta — Attraction in Atlanta

It lives up to the Porsche brand name. As you would expect everything is high end and professional. There are a couple flaws, but they won't hurt the experience.

There are many options available, so you can tailor your experience to your liking. They have general guided tours if you just want to look around the museum. There is a driving simulator that is more virtual reality, than a video game. It may very well be the same training experience, that racing drivers receive before races. Its definitely not an Xbox with a steering wheel.

To gain access to the center you will need to reserve a spot on the tour or book an experience. The resturant 356 is more high-end. They have a StarBucks if you just want coffee and a snack. There is a Porsche retail store so you are able to buy neat Porsche Brand gear.

The driving experience is the centerpiece of the center. You can choose from just about every 911, 718, Panemera, Cayenne, and Macan in Porsche's lineup. Prices start at $350 for a Boxster(non S) and go all the way up to $950 for a(911 GT3). You receive 90 minutes of seat time for each package, and if you are a couple or bring a friend you can split the time so both can enjoy the car.

It is best to take an instructor with you; as from my understanding you are able to solo drive the vehicle but you will pay a $10,000 deductible if the vehicle is damaged. For $50 you can have an instructor and the deductible becomes $2,000. This could be wrong and may just be better coverage for $50.

Eitherway, take the instructor with you. They are all professional and amateur racing drivers, and you will get more out of your experience having them with you. You will learn advanced driving techniques, saftey manuevers, and car control after you finish. If you have a Porsche car, or SUV you will have better appreciation for its capabilities.

It also seems that some dealerships are including a Driving Experience with the purchase of a new vehicle, this is good.

If you purchase an SUV package you have the option of driving it on the road course, and skill modules and also on the off-road course. I did not see anyone using it, however, it is available.

Along with driving packages you also can purchase demo laps in a GT3 by a tamed racing driver. They will push the car to reasonable limits, while giving you an exciting ride. I discovered that the instructors are actually graded by how consistent their laps are and their ability to do donuts on the polished skid pad.

All of this is visible from the terrace, a large courtyard next to the Carrea Cafe(Starbucks) and Resturant 356. There is also an upper level terrace, overlooking the track, and the Airport.

Being that this experience center is also Porsche Corp North Americas headquarters, they have more going on than just food, fast cars, and art. There is a full training center in the building beneath the cafe. Atleast two floors dedicated to training porsche Technicians.

There is a work shop purposed for maintaining Classic, Antique, Vintage, Retro, and out of production Porsches to factory condition. You are able to observe work in progress, and if on a tour, enter the workshop and see how it works.

The center also has design specialists on staff that help you pick and choose options and colors for your new Porsche. The center also specializes in New Delivery Experiences. If you purchase a new Porsche, you can opt to have it shipped to one of the Experience centers, be it Atlanta, or...

I planned a graduation surprise luncheon for my husband - I planned to invite friends and family to spend an hour in the simulator lab, and then head upstairs to Restaurant 356 for lunch.

Planning the event wasn't that difficult, but I was a bit disappointed to learn that you had to pay for all guests up front (4 days before your reservation) when reserving the semi-private space. When you're working with a group of 18 people (many who were taking off work on a Friday or scheduling babysitters), life happens and I was nervous about someone canceling on me (I would not be credited back any money paid for them in the headcount, I was told). I understand from the catering perspective that they must plan accordingly, but at $55+/head, the risk seems to be far greater to the customer. I'm used to paying for a minimum, and then paying the difference on-site. Long story short, 1 person got sick, but 1 person at the last minute was able to make it, so it was fortunately a wash.

I had given the names of guests at the gate, but there still seemed to be a lot of confusion and questions I received from the front desk - not just for the single person we had attending last-minute.

Once in the Simulator Lab, the Porsche employee didn't ask if we had a preference on track or car (I didn't learn until after the fact that we had choice). Apparently, one of our guests asked, and he was told, "You won't like that one." He is, in fact, an amateur racer, and knew he would enjoy it. That was disappointing.

While in the Lab, a man and his young child came in and started using some of the hands-on experience stuff in the room (and touching the stuff that said "don't touch."). When I discreetly asked our guide about it, he brushed it off and said, "Oh, they're probably just touring and walking around." After a while, I was disturbed by this because not only did I pay for the entire room as a private event, but they were getting in the way of guests. I went to talk to the front desk, and they said they'd message the guide back in the room. Unfortunately, no one wanted to "be the bad guy" to this guy and his son (and I didn't feel it was my place to do so). They eventually left (and I shut the door to hopefully be less of an open place to hang).

The guests had a great time and most didn't know the frustrations I was having, but in hindsight, I wish there had been a little more communication on the front end (or some sort of announcement/introduction in the room) so that everyone was aware of how it all worked.

The food was very good at Restaurant 356 and the wait staff extremely friendly and attentive.

The museum is very cool - lots of unique pieces, equipment, and information. The staff on-site is very helpful and knowledgeable.

It was also a lot of fun hanging out and watching people enjoy their time on the track experience.

Overall, the experience was a good one because it was unique. The staff was friendly and the cars, of course, very cool. If there were partial stars, I'd probably rate this closer to 3.8 stars, just because that Simulator Lab experience bugged me so much and the communication I had on the front end for the luncheon reservations, but for the sake of a few friendly folks on-site, a 4 is fair.

If you're looking for something different to do - this is it. You'll pay for it, of course - it's not inexpensive. That said, just ask a heck of a lot more questions on the front end...

Had my drive/experience Saturday June 12 at 2PM. Arrived around 1:30 having stayed at the hotel next door (reviewed that on their listing). Going through security was fine, we stayed in our car, had our temps taken (COVID precaution) my license was verified against my reservation, and we were directed to our immediate left down into the parking garage. I completed the registration via the envoy app, which made it easy.

Entrance was through the double glass doors, on the left is the museum (a really cool exhibit) and upstairs either via stair or elevator is the main lobby. The gift shop is there to the left of the check-in desk. Just a really nice vibe in there and if you're a Porsche guy/gal you'll be in heaven.

The check in was great. Nice and friendly associate took my info, gave me a lanyard and one of those buzzers like they use in a restaurant and you can browse everything around while you wait to be buzzed back over for your drive.

There are a few interactive/touchscreens in there that go over past/present Porsches, a really nice art installation hanging from the ceiling, and multiple iterations of the 911/Cayenne to gawk at.

We met our driver after being buzzed in, his name was Chase and he was a very relaxed, chill and confident dude that asked me about my interests, my driving experience, and went over everything in a very thorough manner without being boring. I loved that dude he really made the whole thing that much better.

The actual drive was in separate cars - I followed the coach/instructor in a 911 4s and did my best. Each portion of the track is really amazing in that it will challenge your ability in different ways. The track portion (which is the 'main' part) is nice, but I found the low-friction course to be the most fun. Make sure you're communicative with your coach/instructor so they know what you like and dislike. They are really there to make the most of the experience for you and there's no shame in saying 'eh' to one part in favor of another. My coach was super encouraging even when it was obvious I was a terrible driver at portions of the track, and did a great job at post-session feedback. All-in-all it made me want to get a Porsche, which is probably part of the point of the experience, so great job Porsche and great job Porsche driving instructor Chase!

After the driving session we did a quick inside refresher, the coach made sure we had a great time (my voice was hoarse from laughing while i was driving, it was that fun) and we parted ways.

I can't comment on the food options, other than to say the cafe looked well stocked and clean, and I didn't see the restaurant. I was too busy driving a dream car!

Bottom line is, if you're thinking about doing this...DO IT. Just do it. Yes it can be expensive, yes it's extravagant, yes it's crazy, but just do it. If you're interested in Porsches at all, do it. If you like driving fast, do it. If you want to see how good of a driver you are, do it. An...