Porsche let me drive their cars on an actual track and now I want one

"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
09/13/2020 at 10:00 • Filed to: porscheperformancedrive, Porsche, Parsh, track day bro

Me and another race car driver. I’m not the skinny one

For some reason, Porsche invited me to Autobahn Country Club to play with some of their cars. Who was I to say no to such a kind offer?

The event was at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL last Thursday. A very cool place, although the surrounding area apparently carries 90% of the world’s truck traffic (and the roads reflect it).

I arrived about 8 am and met up with my buddy (they let me bring a guest). They had a bunch of cars on display, and some friendly (and knowledgable) folks there to greet us and talk about the cars (including a 911 GT2 RS Clubsport and Cayman GT4 Clubsport). They even had some nice-looking breakfast boxes, though I had already eaten.

They gave us a brief intro, and told us the plan was to drive the Panamera GTS and 911S on the track, then drive a Cayenne off-road, and finally a mini-rallycross course in a Macan S. Fun stuff!

Panamera GTS

First, we were issued helmets - the first time I’ve driven a car with a helmet on, TBH. The group was pretty small - I would say there was only about 10 drivers total, and we were split into 4 groups. My group consisted of me and my buddy for the whole event. We each jumped into our own Volcano Grey Panamera GTS with the Sport Chrono package for lead/follow .

The interior of the Panamera is gorgeous, and very comfortable. A bit cozy - snug, really for a car of that size. That’s a good thing to me, but drivers who are a little wide might be too snug. The one issue that I had was fiddling around with the seat to get comfortable with the helmet on. That was solely due to the helmet though. Other than getting comfortable, getting mirrors etc set up, and turning the knob to S, I didn’t pay much attention to the interior, really.

The V8 engine sounds fantastic - there’s a bit of meanness to it even at idle. We’ve got in-car radios to listen to the leader, we’re all good, and we’re off!

It’s a big car, easily north of 4,000 lb, but it doesn’t feel that way accelerating (instructor quoted 3.7 s from 0-60). Engine sounds great, seemingly zero turbo lag, and the PDK is in perfect sync. Braking is outstanding - curves are when you can feel that weight. The instructor has us follow his line, with cones on either side of the track to guide us on the proper line. He has us doing virtually all braking in a nearly straight line before entering corners. The car corners flat, and has a tremendous amount of grip in spite of the weight. We get 4 laps, each one a bit quicker as we build up confidence. That last part isn’t easy for me - - this is my first time *ever* on a track, and the car has so much capability. Plus there’s also the thought that you don’t want to be *that guy* who spins it or takes it off road (though Autobahn is well set up that you’d be hard pressed to do anything worse than a grass excursion).

911S

OK, so after 4 laps in the Panamera, we park those and immediately jump over to a couple of red 911S’s — PDK, Sport Chrono. For whatever reason, it’s easier to get comfortable with the helmet in the 911. Perhaps just because I’ve gotten used to it.

And I thought that the GTS was capable. The 911 actually belongs here. Engine sounds fantastic (neither one sounds or feels like a turbo to me - and yes, that is absolutely a compliment). Ride is a lot firmer, yet bumps don’t feel harsh. This car is wayyyyy more capable than I am. It’s impossible for me to push the car that hard in 4 laps.

Maybe what blew me away more than the power or handling was the braking. It amazed me how late you could brake and still be in great shape to make the turn.

And the PDK makes me understand why people aren’t buying more 3-pedal cars. In sport mode, the transmission just did exactly what you would want it to do manually - but a hell of a lot faster. Nice pops on the downshifts, and always seemed to be in the gear you wanted it to be in. I was grateful for it, because I had enough to do without trying to heel and toe and match revs on an unfamiliar car.

I want this car.

Cayenne

This was a bit different, because I don’t think we exceeded 15 mph in the Cayenne. Again, it was lead/follow (everything was, with 1 way radios for them to give instructions), only this time we were driving through the woods. We put the cars into ‘mud’ mode which involved a few steps on the touchscreen menu - basically pumping up the air suspension to give us more ground clearance.

We went over rocks and stumps through a surprisingly tight course - it would have been easy to leave some paint on the trees. Crossed through a creek twice (another thing I’ve never done!) with steep approach and exits both times. Fun stuff, and it was neat to do that in a Porsche, but I prefer speed.

Macan S

RallyX time! Parts of the course were deemed too muddy, so we had to go around a few spots in the grass. This put a damper on the fun, because you couldn’t really get a lot of momentum going. The fun bits were a ramp that you went up at ~25-30 MPH which immediately leveled off at the top - at least giving you the impression that you were airborne, though the landing was amazingly soft (thanks air suspension!), followed immediately by a sharp left-hand 180 in the dirt. I’ve done enough playing in the snow in my Pathfinder that I knew exactly what to do here - - I kept lagging further behind the instructor so I could take that as quickly as possible with a bit of Oppo. I could do that all day, too.

Summary

This was an insanely fun morning. The Porsche (and Autobahn CC) people were awesome - incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. The cars were awesome.

I first drove a couple of Porsches a few years ago, and fell in love with a 981 Boxster. This only reiterated my dream of trading the E46 for a Porsche one day.

On top of that, they have some other cool stuff available, too - I will likely get to do this before I buy a Porsche :

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

The instructors at Autobahn were all from the Porsche Track Experience Birmingham. They were great, and 9 11/10 would recommend. I didn’t realize that Porsche had 3 locations here in the US.

So, please go buy a Porsche and tell them that WilliamsSW sent you, so maybe they invite me again?

DISCUSSION (21)

vondon302 > WilliamsSW
09/13/2020 at 10:12

Damn that sounds fun. How’d the hell did you get invited to that ? Mr big shot.

Great write up.

WilliamsSW > vondon302
09/13/2020 at 10:21

Thanks - it was a blast! No clue - - maybe because I test drove a used 911 and Boxster at a dealer a couple of years ago?

vondon302 > WilliamsSW
09/13/2020 at 10:24

Looks like I’m going to have to stop at the Porsc he dealer this week.

QCGoose > WilliamsSW
09/13/2020 at 10:30

That’s awesome! I’m only 2 hours west of Joliet, so I consider it one of my “local” tracks . It and Blackhawk Farms are the closest road courses to the Quad Cities.

I’ve only been to Autobahn once before, in 2011, when my wife (then girlfriend) got me an exotic car driving experience package and it was awesome but we only ran on a smaller setup of the full course, so I’d love to get a day there on the big track layout.

I plan on taking my GT350 there eventually (as well as Blackhawk Farms and Road America), but would love to attend some of these manufacturer events. Looks like a great time!

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > WilliamsSW
09/13/2020 at 10:30

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Yeah, I really want a private track as well. In my back yard

WilliamsSW > vondon302
09/13/2020 at 10:38

Mine was pretty cool about letting me test drive - - drove a 911S Cab and Boxster S the same day (both were used though - a 2008 and a 2013).

WilliamsSW > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
09/13/2020 at 10:39

I should have mentioned that this trip also had me looking at memberships to Autobahn. They’re not cheap though - it wouldn’t make sense for me, but it’s a cool thought.

vondon302 > WilliamsSW
09/13/2020 at 10:43

Never driven either one so it might be fun.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > WilliamsSW
09/13/2020 at 10:46

I could never “justify” Monticello when I was back east, but Spring Mountain beckons (and isn’t that expensive... really...). Or, Chuckwallah is sort of the budget version— pretty good track, low costs and you can build pretty easily on site.

It’s just a pain to get out there from Santa Barbara.

WilliamsSW > QCGoose
09/13/2020 at 10:48

We were on the South Circuit - not the full, but that’s still 2+ miles with 15 turns, and a pretty long straight for some speed . Plenty for this exercise - more would have been too much to learn in a few laps.

Getting your GT350 out there would be a blast! Hope you do it soon!

I was surprised (but probably shouldn’t have been) that Autobahn also has a rallyX course and some off-road trails. Pretty cool.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > WilliamsSW
09/13/2020 at 11:42

That’s amazing! What a fun day! I love that you got to drive such a huge variety of cars over such varied terrain.

There’s a Porsche Experience Center at their headquarters in Atlanta. The track looks a lot more technical than that one from driving past.

Kinja'd!!!

I could drive a 718 Boxter there for $365 but something like the mid vs rear engine experience would cost me double that. Some are close to a grand.

https://www.porschedriving.com/atlanta/driving

P5guy now GTIguy > WilliamsSW
09/13/2020 at 12:18

I was there 2 weeks ago for a different event and saw all the cars they had there perfectly line up. The curiosity was killing me but I figured it must have been for some private Porsche thing.

WilliamsSW > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
09/13/2020 at 12:30

Those are both big hikes from Santa Barbara. I'd have a hard time justifying that. Autobahn is a good 50 minutes from me, so doable, really.

WilliamsSW > vondon302
09/13/2020 at 16:53

They’re both a lot of fun. Great noises, happy to rev but torquey too. And great handlers.

WilliamsSW > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
09/13/2020 at 16:54

The instructors were fantastic. Think these guys were all from Birmingham, but I’m sure the Atlanta team is awesome too. I’m sure it would be memorable if you took the plunge ( I want to find a way to get down there maybe next year?)

WilliamsSW > P5guy now GTIguy
09/13/2020 at 16:55

Yup. This was a week and a half ago. What brought you there?

P5guy now GTIguy > WilliamsSW
09/13/2020 at 16:59

Savagegeese was doing a meetup and car show there. How did you get the invite to the Porsche event?

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > WilliamsSW
09/13/2020 at 17:07

I would need to look more into it but $365 isn’t that bad for an official Porsche experience in a PDK 718 Boxer on a track. I wonder how many laps that gets you? And there are other fast car on track experiences out there but a boxer would be a great place to start. They'd better be fantastic if they are working at the company headquarters.

It’s pretty centrally located considering it is enough land for a full blown track. Neat that their North American headquarters is so close.

That’s not the only important Porschephile pilgrimage site around. Automobile Atl anta in Marietta is one of the premier Porsche 914 specialists in the world.

Stef Schrader > WilliamsSW
09/14/2020 at 03:22

I do need a running parsh. Extremely jelly.

WilliamsSW > P5guy now GTIguy
09/14/2020 at 09:24

No clue - it came in the mail.

WilliamsSW > Stef Schrader
09/14/2020 at 09:24

It was awesome. Only bad part was that it ended.