Do you like to watch car racing? Or have you driven on the track?
In this post I take you to the Porsche Experience Center in Leipzig! We’ll be driving around the track, touring the factory and just having a great time.
What is this place? The Porsche Experience Center in Leipzig is a real car factory, tracks on which you can drive, and an interesting alternative to spend your time. An unusual and little-known attraction of Leipzig, which in my opinion is a real firecracker. But let me start at the beginning…
Table of Contents
Porsche Factory in Leipzig – Sightseeing and Background
The Leipzig factory was established in 2002, prepared for the production of the Porsche Cayenne. Currently, you can see there the production of models such as Panamera and Macan. What is interesting this factory produced 1270 units of the Porsche Carrera GT supercar, with prices reaching 7 million zlotys! These were hand-assembled models.
In addition to driving, we had the opportunity to see the production process. The organization of work at Porsche is impressive. It’s extremely clean inside, plus robots or self-driving cars. Simply 21st century!
Inside the Porsche Werk, due to security procedures, no filming could be done or photos could be taken, so the photos from the production hall come from the owner.
Driving on the Tracks at Porsche
During our visit we drove on two tracks – off-road and on a test track. In both cases the adrenaline was at its peak!
On the test track we drove the Porsche Taycan, which has 761 horsepower. It accelerates to 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds, and it’s an all-electric car. For me the emotions were really strong, I can’t quite remember what happened. On the other hand, on the offroad track we drove a Porsche Macan. I will write more about the track and the experience.
What Does the Porsche Test Track Look Like?
The test track of the Porsche factory in Leipzig is unusual. It was designed by Hermann Tilke, a rally driver and designer of legendary tracks. Among other things, he designed the Formula 1 track in Malaysia. In the case of the construction of the track in Leipzig, he came up with a unique idea. He created a track composed of ten corners of world-famous, legendary racing tracks. There are corners known from the Nürburgring, Monte Carlo, or Monza. I was most impressed by the “Corkscrew” of Laguna Seca.
Off-road Track – Off-road in Leipzig
The second experience was driving on an off-road track. On this track we drove a Porsche Macan, until then I thought it was a city car that looked off-road! I was wrong.
The off-road track is located on a vast area of 132-hectares. The area has been a military training ground since the German Empire in the 19th century, and was later used for military purposes during the GDR era. Today, Porsche uses it to test Porsche models off-road, but that’s not all.
This Porsche off-road track surprises with… nature. You can see bison, wild ponies, sheep and deer there. We managed to see pheasants, for example. Interestingly, the area is set up as homes for millions of bees. Thousands of tons of honey are taken from the hives every year! This unusual concept of grazing animals impressed me. If you are interested in this topic, go on the Porsche Safari, a specially prepared tour for children and teenagers.
And the ride itself… As I mentioned, I didn’t expect much. I thought we would drive on the verges and that would be the end of it. It turned out that we rode at a gradient of 80%, crossed a fairly deep “river” and did wonders. Once again wow.
Porsche Experience Center. What Else is There to Do in This Place?
Arriving at Porsche, between the test track and the production hall, there is an unusual building. Its shape resembles a diamond (according to others, a UFO ship). However, it is built of concrete and metal. And it’s where the customer center and cafe are located.
What’s great is that at this Porsche Experience Center you can also just have a cup of coffee, eat a pastry or look from the observation deck at the cars speeding around the track and take the opportunity to place an order for your Porsche?. You can admire the cars there, really rare models.
There is also an option to use the machine, during which you will create your dream car. We chose the model, color, equipment, and with the printed receipt we went to the store. We paid 5 euros and waited. To be honest, I was expecting some kind of printout, and it turned out it was a car that had been assembled on the spot. Yes, a small, toy one, but every part was as I chose. Amazing fun – I sincerely recommend it.
Definitely, this place is one of the most interesting I have seen in recent years. An amazing experience that I will remember for years, and if I have the opportunity and time I will definitely return. And in the meantime, I’ll be exploring similar factories and tracks, because it’s the kind of thing that drives me on.
