On April 1, visitors to Porsche’s Experience Center in Atlanta will be able to test out the brand-new track that the company has constructed there. The Corkscrew at Laguna Seca, the Bus Stop at Daytona, and the Karussell at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife are all modelled after sections of the track. At a recent media event, we got to try out the track, along with a wet skidpad and an autocross circuit. Distance of 7,500 miles. To drive the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca, the Bus Stop chicane at Daytona, and the Karussell at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife would need you to go nearly that distance, until today. As part of a multimillion-dollar upgrade at Porsche’s North American headquarters, a new track featuring recreations of all three legendary bends will open to the public at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta on April 1. Porsche claims that around 400,000 people have visited the Experience Center since it opened in 2015. Hermann Tilke, the man responsible for the design of various Formula One track layouts including the Bahrain International Circuit, has added a new course to the complex, which previously housed a handling circuit, restaurant, gift shop, and small museum space showing old Porsches. The 1.3-mile West Track, which we visited at a media event before the grand opening, will be used for 90-minute private lessons in Porsche’s sports cars and can be merged with the old circuit or run on its own. We originally rode along in the 1073-horsepower 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance prototype at Porsche’s Experience Center in Franciacorta, Italy, last year and have since driven the course in a number of Porsches, including a 911 GT3 and a Taycan. The new Atlanta circuit may not have as long of a straight segment as the one in Italy (where the ePerformance reached speeds of approximately 150 mph), but the undulating landscape gives it a more exciting vibe. The Racecourse Environment After emerging from the tunnels, you’ll ascend via a series of short esses before descending to take a tight right-hand turn at an acute 90 degrees. After a 30-foot climb, you’ll reach the Laguna Seca–esque Corkscrew, where you’ll make a heart-stopping 25-foot descent via a chicane. The track’s latter half features a twisting segment designed to evoke the Great Smoky Mountains’ famed “Tail of the Dragon” road, followed by the rough and banked “Carousel” (Porsche uses the English spelling), which does its best to unsettle the chassis. Three other configurations exist inside the West Track’s boundaries to accommodate additional driving instruction. Porsche’s “low-friction circle,” or skidpad, is 196 feet in diameter and made of wet, polished concrete. It’s designed to help drivers learn to control understeer and oversteer. We rented a 718 Cayman GT4 and spent our time on the skidpad holding a lengthy drift while grinning stupidly. The Ascent of Ice Hill The Ice Hill is another option; it simulates the slippery ascent of a mountain in the northern United States during the winter. Its 8 percent incline and irrigated, polished surface are excellent for teaching drivers to control their vehicles under pressure. We tried it out in a range of vehicles, including a Cayman with rear-wheel drive, which required a light touch on the petrol to get up the hill, and an all-wheel-drive Macan, which made it easy to execute slides without losing control. Finally, an autocross course with cones in a large paved area enables a range of instruction, from honing skills like launch and heavy braking to fine-tuning ones like steering in tight bends. Both the roaring 911 GT3 and the silent but face-melting Taycan Turbo S were put through their launch control paces. The new handling course is a segment of a longer road that totals 2.9 miles when all potential track surfaces are included, including the previous circuit. The Experience Center is located just a few miles from the busy Atlanta International Airport, and the track is open to everyone, not just Porsche owners. This text was taken directly from the poll. The material shown here may be available in a different format on their website, or you may find additional resources there. Caleb Miller started writing automotive blogs when he was 13 years old, and after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University, he finally got to work for the vehicle magazine of his dreams, Car and Driver. He’s a huge fan of motorsports and lives for the chance to get his hands on a rare and unusual car, like a Nissan S-Cargo. Post navigation The Tribute 2023 Ferrari F8 Is a One-Off The Prices for the 2024 Porsche 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster Have Been Released.