The Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles: More Family Excitement Than Disneyland?

I’ve been driving my family to Anaheim for the past 25 years, but not anymore. My two children have outgrown the mouse, so the four of us are seeking more engaging, challenging, and enlightening experiences. As it turns out, the Porsche Experience Center, Los Angeles, fills those requirements perfectly.

Porsche opened its first North American Porsche Experience Center (PEC) in Atlanta in mid-2015, and the $60 million Los Angeles facility opened its doors in late 2016 – the two have welcomed over 570,000 visitors to date. The Porsche-owned facilities serve as brand embassies where visitors may experience track driving, heritage displays, simulator labs, restoration facilities, fine dining, shopping, and more. While new vehicles are not sold at the PEC, the center hosts a popular new vehicle delivery program.

The PEC Los Angeles is located in Carson, less than 15 miles from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The 53-acre complex, easily viewed from the crowded 405 freeway, has a 50,000-square-foot building and a massive eight-model development track. In addition, the two-story building contains offices and workshops for Porsche Motorsport North America, classrooms and meeting spaces, a simulator lab, an Exclusive Manufaktur Studio, Speedster Café & Patio, and fine-dining Restaurant 917.

There are eight different driving modules at the facility. These include the Acceleration Straight, Kick Plate, Ice Hill, Handling Circuit, Low Friction Circle, Off-Road, Low Friction Handling Course, and a Dynamic Area. Consider each a hands-on classroom where participants learn and practice while behind the wheel of a Porsche. While some of the experiences have a loosely defined curriculum (e.g., Porsche Young Driver Experience), most experiences allow the attendee to choose a Porsche model and then work with their instructor to select the modules they’d like to drive. Therefore, it’s unlikely that any two experiences are ever identical. Experiences range in price from $450 to $2,350, depending on the vehicle (or vehicles), length of time, and program.

I’ve visited both North American PECs before (there are currently five additional facilities around the globe), but my wife Michele, 23-year-old son Patrick, and 18-year-old daughter Keira were new to the experience. So, all four of us pre-registered for different ‘experiences’ on the PEC website – I would wring out the race-ready Porsche 911 GT3, my wife was to drive a Porsche Cayenne crossover, and my son would be piloting a Porsche 911. At the same time, my daughter would attend the Porsche Young Driver Experience.

Patrick, like his father, is a car enthusiast – he eagerly anticipated the visit. On the other hand, the women were more than a bit hesitant. “I had seen the Experience Center from the freeway multiple times, so I figured it was just a big racetrack for guys to go and race. I don’t race or off-road, so I couldn’t figure out why I was signed up,” recalls Michele. My daughter was equally as concerned. “I know how to drive a car on the road, but not on the track, so I felt like I would be out of place. I was nervous that everyone else would be far more advanced than me. I just got my driver’s license last year, so I didn’t know if I could do everything correctly,” added Keira.

The Porsche Young Driver Experience drops its young participants behind the wheel of several vehicles. My daughter drove a Porsche 911 – one of the world’s highest-performing sports cars – and the all-electric Porsche Taycan (two vehicles that will understandably provide an adrenaline rush). Fortunately, the trepidation dissipates as the instructors walk them through acceleration, ABS braking, and slalom exercises on the expansive Dynamic Area. “We went full throttle and then jammed the brakes as hard as possible to stop. Then we had to zip through cones to get used to how the car handled,” explained Keira. After the basic car control exercises, the teens moved to more advanced challenges. For example, they drifted sideways on the Low Friction Circle (a wet skidpad) and learned how to quickly steer into a skid on the Kick Plate (a computer-controlled hydraulic pad under the rear tires that unsettles the vehicle into an oversteer condition). “I’d never spun a car before… and now I know how to straighten out when I am in a skid,” she adds.

My son went into this with some previous track experience, so he used his visit as an opportunity to improve his skills. “I told my instructor that I wanted to try all of the modules and that I wanted to learn better car control,” he remarks. “So, I was able to do everything at the PEC.” Patrick started on the Dynamic Area, driving a Porsche 911 through a similar slalom warm-up exercise. He then moved over to the dry Low Friction Handling Course (there’s a slippery powder atop the polished concrete) and Low Friction Circle. After a few full-throttle runs down the Acceleration Straight, he focused on the Handling Circuit. “The track time was definitely my favorite, as I learned how to properly set up the car to balance the chassis before hitting the apexes.”

My wife, Michele, headed over to the Off-Road module in an all-wheel-drive Porsche Cayenne crossover, where she negotiated several challenges. “I climbed a crazy steep hill, crawled over rocks, went sideways… at one point, I had two wheels lifted off the ground,” describes Michele. “After driving in the dirt, I drove on the Low Friction Circle. I even did a launch control start and hit 100 mph on the dragstrip [Acceleration Straight], which is as fast as I have ever driven!”

My time in the Porsche GT3 was just as exhilarating. I’m a seasoned veteran on a racing circuit, so I asked my instructor to sit in the vehicle with me (rather than chasing him in a lead-follow parade) and observe my eye, hand, and foot movements as I navigated the modules. I spent a lot of time on the Low Friction Handling Course practicing smoothness with my steering, throttle, and brake inputs, before heading to the large Handling Circuit. Of course, none of the laps are ever timed, but the instructor suggested that I could cut time off my laps by looking further down the track and moving my feet more rapidly between the pedals – and it worked!

The entire family gathered back in the PEC lobby after our 90-minute driving experiences to share a few words before heading upstairs to Restaurant 917, which overlooks the driving venue. The gourmet hamburgers and fries were spectacular and filling – none of us could finish.

During the drive home, I asked everyone about their experience.

“I learned how to get a car out of a skid, drive over rocks, and go fast. I pushed the Cayenne harder than I had ever pushed a car, and it was a lot of fun,” offered my wife. My daughter energetically bragged, “I got to do things in a car that I normally would never do… like skid sideways on a skidpad. And I’m likely the only student at my high school who has driven a car like that!” My son had a blast, but he was left wanting more. “There are so many challenges, and each takes practice to get better. I’d like more time on the Handling Circuit. And a lot more time on the Kick Plate – it’s hilariously simple how it works, but it humbles everyone.” (Patrick brought up a good point – everybody will be challenged at the PEC regardless of driving skill level.) For myself, I took home a new way to shave a second off a lap. I also learned how to drift a rear-engine sports car around a wet skidpad.

Yet there was something else I learned – the PEC is an enjoyable and educational experience for the whole family. Even my wife and daughter, who had approached the day with visible hesitation, thoroughly enjoyed themselves. All four of us were able to experience high-performance vehicles in a safe and controlled environment, and we shared it as a family (on that note, I’ll never forget seeing my wife signal for me to pass her… on a racetrack). We left exhausted but wearing huge smiles. The unanimous vote was for us to return.

Of course, the Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles doesn’t have costumed characters, fairy tale castles, or a pirate ride. Nonetheless, the facility offers something much more tangible for families with youths of driving age – a learning experience that has real-world relevance (it could even save a life). And if you still need confirmation that this is unparalleled family entertainment, I’m going to let you in on a secret: The happiest place on earth doesn’t serve butter molded into the form of a Porsche 911.