journalhighperfdriving
Saturday July 6th, 2024

I went to the Porsche Experience Atlanta today and drove a yellow 2024 718 Cayman. I was thoroughly impressed with the car’s handling. Being a mid-engine car with almost perfect 50-50 balance, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it was so incredible stable and predictable.

It was my first time doing a manufacturer-sponsored performance driving experience like this, and Porsche really made it worth while. The entry experience including the lobby, museum, and shop yield excitement for gearheads and lay people alike. There was much to see and do, but I’ll stick to the subject of driving.

My driving experience took place on the South track, which included an 1 mile long outer handling track that encircled a high-speed dynamics area for launch control and slalom exercises, kick plate to test the driver’s ability to recover from sudden losses in traction, low friction circle to practice recovery from understeer and oversteer situations (and practice drifting), and a low friction handling circuit to test multiple skills simultaneously. My favorite was the outer handling track, which most resembled larger race tracks and felt the most like my simulator experiences.

Source: PEC ATL

I don’t have much footage from inside the car, as my camera couldn’t stay alive for the majority of the day, but I was able to get some stuff. My family was also helpful in recording a bit from the viewing porch.

Launch control in the high-speed dynamics area

A walkthrough of a little over half of the handling track

Two passes over the kick plate. I later went over it almost twice as fast and wasn’t able to recover in time.

A flyby while on the handling track.