[dpaul]

The wife indicated that I MUST make a reservation at the Atlanta Porsche Experience as a gift for my up coming birthday. I have decided to do the Mid-engine vs. Rear engine comparison. It will be a base Cayman and a base 911 on the same track back to back. I will get 3/4 hour in each.
Has anyone else done this comparison at one of the Porsche Experience events?

 

[rle737ng]

Not the comparison, I did the 718 Cayman experience. Lot of fun.

 

[Viffermike]

Not the comparison, I did the 718 Cayman experience. Lot of fun.

@dpaul Ditto: I did the base 718 Cayman experience -- and IMHO, if you've never had a mid-engine car before, I would do that before the 718-vs-911 comparo. There nothing like learning what the limits are of the car you will actually own, particularly a mid-engine design that behaves a bit differently than others -- and you just won't be in either car long enough to get a feel for that during the comparo.

Plus -- since you're in Atlanta, you can go back and do one of the other Experience drives anytime you want! (I personally drove from Dallas to there and back -- yep: turned it into a road trip -- a month after taking delivery of my car last year.)

 

[OldJedi]

I have to go along with Viffermike. My wife and I went to Atlanta and did the Experience when we picked up our GTS. I spent an hour and a half on track and it seemed like it was over in mere minutes. I know 45 minutes on track sounds like a lot, but it really goes by very quick.

 

[Wine.O]

Work sends me to Southern Cal a lot. My next trip I'll be booking the Boxster S MT session in LA. Can't wait.

 

[timlaw]

I did the 718 experience at Silverstone in May 17. drove 2 Cayman S (pdk and manual) and a Boxster S pdk over 2 hours with the same instructor - great fun and very informative

it was free at the time as a close friend was ordering a base Cayman at the time and his OPC offered him 2 places to "seal the deal"

not so free 18 months later as I picked up a Cayman GTS 3 weeks ago

I can see the attraction of driving a 911 but you may well got more out of 90 minutes in a Cayman - you wont believe what these cars will do until you track it - I recall the instructor telling me to commit into what looked an impossible right hander at 110 mph in the cayman S and me cowarding out leading to a messy effort (car still refused to let me get in real trouble) - next pass oh yes it will do that bend at that entry speed wont it.....

 

[Viffermike]

I did the 718 experience at Silverstone in May 17. drove 2 Cayman S (pdk and manual) and a Boxster S pdk over 2 hours with the same instructor - great fun and very informative

it was free at the time as a close friend was ordering a base Cayman at the time and his OPC offered him 2 places to "seal the deal"

not so free 18 months later as I picked up a Cayman GTS 3 weeks ago

I can see the attraction of driving a 911 but you may well got more out of 90 minutes in a Cayman - you wont believe what these cars will do until you track it - I recall the instructor telling me to commit into what looked an impossible right hander at 110 mph in the cayman S and me cowarding out leading to a messy effort (car still refused to let me get in real trouble) - next pass oh yes it will do that bend at that entry speed wont it.....

I have some track experience -- mainly on motorcycles, so I understood how a different platform could potentially behave on a track. Right off the bat I was lapping PEC Atlanta -- a very short and technical track -- fairly quick, and my instructor picked up on it right away. There is one compound parabolic curve at the back of the track that I had all sorts of problems with initially, though.

We took a break and played on the skid plate and slalom, during which we talked about that curve after my instructor noticed that I never looked at the cones while doing the slalom -- I focused on the end of the course. (A habit I developed from motorcycling). He said something that was like flipping a switch:

Basically, that on a bike it's natural and correct to look where you're going. But in a car, sometimes it's better to treat it like a golf putt by aiming at a point a foot or two in front of the ball instead of the hole itself, then doing that several times in rapid succession. It helps you push the car closer to its limits and hold a compound line.

By the end of the session I'd increased my trap speed in that section by nearly 20 MPH.

I'm tellin' ya, OP: do the Experience that matches the car you're getting. It is WAY valuable.

 

[dpaul]

PEC complete last week-end... Great time!
The package I paid for indicated that it was a base 718 vs. a base 911.
It was Boxster GTS and a 400+ hp 911 with rear wheel steering.
The GTS had 75 more hp than our Cayman, but I found the limits of the GTS quickly. The 911 had more low end torque, but the rear steer made the handling similar to the GTS at low speed in the wet track sections.
I was going into the corners too late according to the instructor, which would increase lap times. He drove at the end and his braking was sooner than mine which led to different lines in the corners. He was faster and also has 1000's of laps under his belt on that track.
He was a very talented young driver.
The Kick-Plate was fun, but not really a challenge for someone who grew up in Ohio and had been drifting in snow since they got their driver's license.
I was amazed at how much quicker you could stop with threshold braking compared to full ABS.
No regrets on choosing the package I did. I have prior track time so learning the limits was not an issue.... but it sure was fun!
There was a Porsche car show that same day at the PEC facility for vehicles with special order colors... what a great display!

 

[don]

sounds like a great day out. Any photos?

 

[dragonsdreams]

Porsche Experience

I did the 718 experience at Silverstone in May 17. drove 2 Cayman S (pdk and manual) and a Boxster S pdk over 2 hours with the same instructor - great fun and very informative

it was free at the time as a close friend was ordering a base Cayman at the time and his OPC offered him 2 places to "seal the deal"

not so free 18 months later as I picked up a Cayman GTS 3 weeks ago

I can see the attraction of driving a 911 but you may well got more out of 90 minutes in a Cayman - you wont believe what these cars will do until you track it - I recall the instructor telling me to commit into what looked an impossible right hander at 110 mph in the cayman S and me cowarding out leading to a messy effort (car still refused to let me get in real trouble) - next pass oh yes it will do that bend at that entry speed wont it.....

Agreed, great fun at the Porsche experience at Silverstone a few weeks ago. It was a damp day but the car handled brilliantly. I've never tracked before but it's a great way to find out what the capabilities of even the base Cayman that I have.
The kick plate track was great fun even though I failed several times, I'm sure I was getting better towards the end!

The instructor told me how to do the non- chrono 'launch control' and I was impressed how the car handled in an emergency swerve- stop situation. It certainly gave me more confidence in the Porsche's brakes.