This past July, Porsche Cars Canada opened the Porsche Experience Centre Toronto in nearby Pickering, Ont., to give paying customers a chance to experience some of the most desirable performance vehicles on the market. With that in mind, I was invited to spend most of the day getting an up-close-and-personal look at the new experience centre, along with 90 minutes to test the limits of the hybrid Porsche 911 equipped with the eTurbo system, which debuted in 2024.

The Test Drive

Before they let you on the track, the Porsche Experience Centre sits you down with an expert to go over track safety and general rules. Interestingly, one important thing they discussed is proper weight transfer, tire grip, and braking points, which all go into how to properly handle a vehicle of this power level (because it ain’t no Honda Civic) around a course with lots of turns and sharp corners.

To start things off,  I was given 90 minutes to test the limits of a provided Porsche 911 GTS with an instructor (hello, Matt!). The course has a few areas available: a 1.5km Handling Circuit featuring corners inspired by famous race tracks, a Dynamics Pad that helps better understand Porsche’s vehicle dynamics in cold weather, and a Low Friction Drift Circle. This polished concrete pad is usually coated with water to demonstrate how to handle a car in wet conditions. But, due to the freezing weather, it was set up as a miniature course focused on braking and vision in icy conditions.

I mainly spent my time testing the vehicle’s limits on both the Dynamics Pad and the Handling Circuit, really pushing the 911 to its limits. We flipped through the Sport, Sport Plus, and Normal drive modes, though I mainly used Normal mode as a warm-up before moving to Sport and Sport Plus to improve performance.

One aspect of the 911 GTS that I really enjoyed throughout my time with it was the T-Hybrid system that has been configured into the vehicle. Based on a concept developed for Porsche Motorsport, the T-Hybrid system consists of a hybrid battery pack that powers the previously mentioned eTurbo (the 911 Turbo S has two), and an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission with an integrated electric motor.

This system made gaining and holding power effortless, and I noticed zero ‘turbo lag’ or anything else affecting the vehicle’s responsiveness. The 911 GTS is also much lower and broader than expected, which made it super easy to handle at speed through both the slalom and the road course.

The Facilities

In the main area, three Porsche vehicles were on display: a Porsche Cayman, the all-electric Porsche Taycan, and the Porsche 918 Spyder. These vehicles were decked out in the Porsche Experience Centre Toronto logos and were positioned alongside a very well-done Christmas tree.

The facilities also feature the Carrera cafe, which serves salads, sandwiches, and coffee, and includes the Porsche Experience Centre logo, which is pretty neat. Following our 90-minute test drive, we were then treated to a small lunch within the facility’s boardroom, which can be booked as well for any company event or meeting.

We were also given access to unique selection and delivery rooms within the facility. Although you cannot order a vehicle from the experience centre, the facility shows what it is like to go through the process of customizing and ordering your own vehicle, including a display of the tools used to make handcrafted leather.

For an optional price, Porsche customers can also choose to take delivery of their new vehicle at the experience centre, where it comes with a tarp reveal and a two-hour walkthrough of all of the features, which includes having a technician sync the Porsche Connect infotainment system with your phone.

We also got to try the experience centre’s SimLab, which sports five custom racing simulator rigs and a racing simulator based on Assetto Corsa. We were given the last half-hour of our tour to drive around on the rig, where a few of us ran competitive five-lap races on different tracks (Silverstone, Spa Francorchamps, to name a few) that Porsche provided on the software.

All in all, this was an excellent way to get familiar with a brand that I have had my eyes on for most of my life. If you want to experience one of the best performance brands in the world, I highly recommend booking with them (you can do so via the experience centre’s website). If you are looking to book the experience, it starts at $600 to test the Macan SUV, with the most expensive being $1,450 to compare the 718 GT to the 911 GT.