LCW

Hello folks – as promised, here is my report of my delivery experience at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta.

PLEASE – if you are 991.2 hater or if you only have nasty comments or nothing interesting to say, we would all appreciate it if you could just move on to the next thread.

This is intended to give a better idea of what to expect if you decide to do PEC delivery on your new car.

So here we go:

I flew into Atlanta the night before and stayed at a hotel near the airport just a couple of miles from the PEC. I arrived at the PEC about 15 minutes early as I could not contain my excitement any more. I was promptly met by Ray, the new car delivery manager, and Fred who would be my delivery specialist / instructor for the day. The day started with a full tour of the facility led by Ray. The facility is absolutely fantastic! The highlights of course were the museum and the classic car restoration facility. Yes, they have an amazing workshop where they do vintage / classic car restorations and rebuilds. This workshop was absolutely amazing. I think a surgical operating room would have been dirtier and messier! Ray introduced me to the head technician who has been with PCNA for over 40 years! The passion for Porsches was really palpable. Then the tour carried on to almost every corner of the facility and, of course, the excitement and impatience to see my new car kept building up…. Well, finally, it was time for the big reveal! They have a very nice delivery area with two delivery bays. My car was under wraps. After taking several snaps, finally Ray and Fred pulled the cover off! It was a fantastic sight and feeling. I then spent almost two hours with Fred going over the car while still in the delivery bay. I have to say this bit can be a little overwhelming to take in at once, in particular with respect to a lot of the settings of the PCM. After that, the car was moved to the courtyard where I was able to take a few more pictures in the sunlight. At this point, it was time to have fun on the track! Note – you drive one of their cars on the track, not yours, which is good since most people would want to break it in before taking it to the track. The staff had promptly brought a similar car to mine to the drive way. So we got in and went down to the track. The track is short and very technical with a lot of sharp turns and elevation changes. This is why they call it a “handling course” rather than a track, so don’t expect to hit triple digit speeds but do expect your handling and precision to be challenged! So we did a few laps working on a few aspects of my driving, which admittedly was a little rusty, progressively working through the different drive modes and increasing the pace. Then it was off to an inner area dedicated to launch control and autocross. It is always a good day when you can do several launch controls over and over in a safe environment! All I can say, be sure you keep your head against the head rest as you may get some whiplash!! This was mixed in with a few laps on the autocross circuit which was fun as well. After that it was time for the kick plate handling field (I think that’s what it is called). So you accelerate to about 25mp and then go over some kind of machine that kicks your rear end at random either to the right or left into a wet slippery area and you have maneuver as best as can to hold the car straight – not easy! You do this a few times with different drive modes selected. Of course, Sport + with stability control off is very humbling! Then it is off to the skid pad – a round wet concrete area where you go around in tight circles and try and control and drift the car. Again you go over several drive modes and increase your speed until you make a fool of yourself doing several 360s!! Then it is back to the track for a few more laps… well by now you should be on sensory and emotional overload and its lunchtime! They have a very nice restaurant that overlooks the track where they serve a very nice lunch. At this point your “experience” is concluded and you are free to go as soon or as late as you wish. Your car is parked in the garage in a special spot ready to begin the journey with you.

Note – they just started doing deliveries at the PEC the week before last, so I was the second person ever to do a new car delivery there. The first car was a Cayenne hybrid which was being shipped to the west coast after delivery. So I was the first to take delivery of a 911 (a 2017 991.2) and the first to drive off from there.

In conclusion: if you have a new car on order or if you are ordering a new car and feel like a read trip from Atlanta, I highly recommend the experience!

tnns911

Congratulations LCW and thanks for the write-up!! What are your thoughts on driving home from PEC in the new car?

LCW

Could not wipe the grin off my face.... 800 miles in a day and a half and almost all of them with the top down... :-)

MEBound

Thanks for sharing it sounds like an awesome experience. Oh and congratulations on the new car too!

You know the old saying though...pictures or it never happened 😀

tnns911

Jealous...my C4S also is in Port of Houston, hoping to take delivery in a week or so!

Share some pics LCW!! Enjoy!

ddodds

Pictures?

STG

LCW. One criticism! Pictures???

Glad you got to experience such a great delivery. Congrats on the car. You're a true gentleman on Rennlist.

By the way, did the guys you were working with mention anything about "break in period"? You hear so many stories, and if you're hitting the track and launching, probably not an issue.

I need to check out the Atlanta facility sometime.

LCW

here are some pics

LCW

good question STG. I asked the same question about break in. The delivery specialist told me they only put 100 miles on THEIR cars before they then "push" the cars around the track. However, they are supposed to tell customers to put 2,500 miles at under 4k.... so of course, i am following the 2,500 mile rule... but I think it is more for my heart's sake than for the engine... :-)

subshooter

Is the 2500 mile limit new for the 991.2s? They raised it from 2000 miles?


Thanks for posting. PEC - Atlanta is wonderful. I've been three times and going again next month to drive a 991.2.

neurotic

well...guess I have to buy another one, just not a turbo

j/k lovely ride!

stjoh

Thanks for the great review. I'm picking up my GT4 there in just over two weeks. Can't wait.

racemor

Thanks for the write up. I'm planning to pick mine up there in July and it's good to hear what to expect. How did scheduling your pick up work? Did they have a pretty good lead time for you to make travel plans, or was it short notice?

Porsche_nuts

Facility looks fantastic. Thanks for review. Time for a road trip, I think.

Senna01

Congrats on your new car. Looks fantastic!
Can't wait for mine on Sept 1