{"id":28413,"date":"2021-12-09T13:47:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-09T17:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=28413"},"modified":"2021-12-09T13:47:22","modified_gmt":"2021-12-09T17:47:22","slug":"payne-for-christmas-track-your-dream-car-in-an-affordable-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/payne-for-christmas-track-your-dream-car-in-an-affordable-experience","title":{"rendered":"Payne: For Christmas, track your dream car in an affordable experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Atlanta<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Just a direct flight away, Michiganians\u00a0can visit Avengers headquarters, jump in a $150,000 Porsche 911 like Tony Stark, and spend an afternoon doing hot laps with an expert instructor.<\/p>\n

Cost? About $500.<\/p>\n

The world of Porsche and other performance makes has become a lot more accessible this Christmas for auto buffs who don\u2019t necessarily have the means to purchase the cars of their dreams.\u00a0The Porsche Experience Center\u00a0<\/a>(which Marvel used to film Avenger headquarters in the superhero franchise\u2019s hit movies) is the cutting edge of a growing menu of auto experiences available to consumers directly from manufacturers.<\/p>\n

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Once the exclusive domain of expensive driving schools and track rentals, automakers are opening affordable opportunities to bond with their creations. The opportunities come as the performance product landscape has never been so robust. Track enthusiasts can find everything from a $38,000 Ford Mustang GT to a $60,000 Dodge Challenger Hellcat and even a $60k Chevy Corvette \u2014 an exotic, mid-engine package once unthinkable under $100,000.<\/p>\n

These thoroughbreds are complemented by off-road performance\u00a0too: think Jeep Wrangler, Ford Bronco\u00a0and Ford F-150 Raptor.<\/p>\n

The manufacturer programs signal a golden era for auto performance not seen since the ’60s. While emissions mandates and $8-a-gallon gasoline are squeezing vehicle choice abroad, U.S. makers are thriving on cheap gas and deep pockets.<\/p>\n

Ford has long been a pioneer in offering performance opportunities to owners beyond getting the kids to school on time. Ford is opening a network of \u201cOff-Roadeos\u201d to celebrate the debut of its much-anticipated Bronco \u2014 and owners can take advantage of the opportunity for free (travel to these sites not included). Not to be outdone, the Jeep Adventure Academy caters to 4×4 owners with rugged playgrounds from Hollister, California, to Vermont starting at $329 a day.<\/p>\n

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But the buffet is opening up for non-owners as well.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Ford Performance Racing School in Charlotte, North Carolina<\/a>, offers one or two-day driving schools in the iconic Mustang GT starting at $1,695. \u201cAll Ford Performance Racing School classes are conducted by professional instructors (offering) exhilarating, on-track driving instruction for every performance driving enthusiast, regardless of skill level or goal,\u201d says the website.<\/p>\n

GM has a similar program for those who want to see if the sexy Corvette C8 is their cup of tea before dropping their life\u2019s savings. The opportunity costs $3,695 for a two-day school and buys them a ticket to Pahrump, Nevada. Owners get in for a grand.<\/p>\n

Cadillac sweetens the deal<\/a> for those who want to saddle up a ferocious CT4-V or CT5-V Blackwing sedan. Tuition is free for owners,\u00a0$3,545 for non-owners. The school attracts about 12 to 24 Cadillac students per week.<\/p>\n

Closer to home in Pontiac, Dodge makes available Dodge Charger Hellcats and Viper sports cars at M1 Concourse. For $2,000, customers can get schooled in how to drive M1\u2019s race track in their own car, then take a spin in the Hellcat and Viper for comparison.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe package was suspended last year due to COVID and we\u2019re looking at bringing it back in 2022,\u201d said Marc Molzen, chief instructor for M1 Concourse.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Porsche. Its affordable offer to non-owners is unusual for such a high-performance brand.<\/p>\n

The automaker keeps a fleet of 911 supercars, mid-engine Caymans\/Boxers, Cayennes SUVs\u00a0and Taycan EVs for curious drivers to experience. Porsche is the world\u2019s baseline for performance, and drivers can experience the extraordinary limits of these automobiles for the price of an airline ticket to Atlanta.<\/p>\n

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The experience not only allows Porsche the opportunity to addict potential buyers to the brand\u2019s legendary speed, but also enables exposure to new products like the 2022 Porsche 911 GTS hellion \u2014 or the Taycan EV as the industry makes a risky bet on battery-only vehicles.<\/p>\n

A visit to Porsche\u2019s Georgia facility \u2014 which backs up to Atlanta\u2019s Hartfield International Airport (fewer\u00a0complaints from the neighbors about noise that way) \u2014 is also evidence of how foreign automakers have come to dominate geographical regions of the country outside the Detroit Three\u2019s lair.<\/p>\n

Today, Honda rules central Ohio with two plants churning out some of the highest-volume vehicles in the U.S. market like the CR-V SUV and Accord sedan. South Carolina is home of BMW, which produces its North American SUVs in Spartanburg \u2014 while also offering a driving experience like Porsche\u2019s to whet consumers\u2019 appetite for the Bavarian brand.<\/p>\n

Out west, Tesla has become the signature California brand \u2014 its electronic wizardry in sync with a West Coast tech culture. Tesla does not offer driving experiences, but manufactures vehicles in a Fremont plant once home to GM.<\/p>\n

Porsche has no production in the U.S., yet the American market is essential to its success.<\/p>\n

Since the first 356 Speedster was sold in 1950, Porsche has aggressively marketed to Americans, establishing a New Jersey-based North American HQ in 1960. Porsche\u2019s headquarters in Atlanta (established in 2015) is an ambitious effort. Set on 27 acres, the headquarters building is an architectural gem that has attracted multiple movie studios for filming \u2014 including Avengers. The company plans to expand the facility with a sprawling networks of roads and proving grounds.<\/p>\n

For now, the Porsche Experience is concentrated on a 1.5-mile track that envelopes a complex of skid pad, wet-skid pad, slalom course\u00a0and off-road course. The 90-minute program is designed with German efficiency to accommodate a traveler with an overnight stay in Atlanta\u2019s airport on their way overseas.<\/p>\n

Customers can choose from an extensive menu of driving experiences, from a singular date with the Porsche Boxster ($365) to a comparison test of 500-horsepower 911 Turbo and 911 GTS ($975). Allow me to recommend the latter. It\u2019s the Christmas season.<\/p>\n

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The program includes food at the palatial headquarters and a guided tour of the facilities \u2014 featuring the Porsche Heritage Museum \u2014 a rotating exhibit that features some of the most legendary cars in Porsche\u2019s racing\/production pantheon.<\/p>\n

My tour included Jack Ryan\u2019s black #12 Porsche 911 \u2014 the first 911 to go to victory circle when it won the 2.0-liter class at the 1964 24 Hours of Daytona.<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Atlanta\u00a0\u2014 Just a direct flight away, Michiganians\u00a0can visit Avengers headquarters, jump in a $150,000 Porsche 911 like Tony Stark, and spend an afternoon doing hot laps with an expert instructor. Cost? About $500. The world of Porsche and other performance makes has become a lot more accessible this Christmas for auto buffs who don\u2019t necessarily […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28413"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28414,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28413\/revisions\/28414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}