Touring in a Panamera and an Air-Cooled 911

A while back, I was invited on a tour to Fuji Speedway by Mr. Suga, president of WRP. He recently invited us on another drive, this time to Fukui Prefecture. We’d been looking forward to joining as a family of four, but the day before the trip, our younger daughter came down with a stomach bug…(This has practically become a family tradition by now, haha.)

I thought, “Looks like I’ll have to stay home after all.” But the medicine prescribed by the doctor worked wonders, and our daughter’s health improved almost immediately. So, at the last minute, we were able to join the tour after all.

As it happens, this was my first-ever group tour. I was a little nervous, wondering, “What will everyone talk about?” and “What kind of people will be there?” But once we arrived, I found everyone so friendly, and my first Porsche tour turned out to be a wonderful experience.

Lunch at Soranone Shokudo

WRP, the organizer, is based in Nagoya, so many of the participants were coming from that direction. Since we were driving from Hyogo, we arranged to meet everyone at Soranone Shokudo, our lunch stop. The restaurant is in Azumikawa, Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture. With rice cooked in a traditional wood-fired kettle and dishes made with locally grown vegetables, it has the feel of a thoughtful, nature-focused restaurant.

*Image: Soranone Shokudo

We left home at 8:30 that morning. My husband set off in his air-cooled 911 (964 C2), while I took the Panamera with the girls. We joined the Meishin Expressway and made good progress toward our destination, though traffic got pretty heavy after we exited. Well, that’s what you get on a holiday.

After driving on local roads for about 30 minutes, we decided to stop at a convenience store for a break. There were rice fields everywhere, and since it was rice-planting season, the girls were unexpectedly excited, exclaiming, “There’s water everywhere!”

It struck me then: the girls had never seen rice being planted or young rice seedlings growing in a paddy.

I grew up in the countryside near Kyoto, surrounded by rice fields, so this was a familiar sight to me. At elementary school, we’d borrow a nearby paddy to plant and harvest rice. Every year, we’d make mochi from the rice we’d grown ourselves and eat it together.

We used to plant rice barefoot, with students shrieking, “Ouch! A leech bit me!” and “It really is sucking my blood!” Maybe children don’t get to have that kind of experience anymore, for safety reasons.

After looking out over the fields for a while, we set off again for Soranone Shokudo. The area had beautiful, peaceful farm roads, but there were plenty of slow-moving cars, so we couldn’t really pick up the pace. Still, these are local roads people rely on every day, so that’s only to be expected.

With about five minutes left to our destination, the road suddenly narrowed. In a few places, it was barely wide enough for one car. The compact air-cooled 911 had no trouble, but it was a tight, nerve-racking fit for the Panamera.

After winding through the mountain road, we came to a cluster of homes. “Wait, is there really a restaurant out here?” I wondered. Then we turned the next corner—and there it was: Soranone Shokudo.

It was a lovely spot, surrounded by greenery, with horses grazing in the distance. Then I looked toward what seemed to be the parking area—and there were already Porsches and other classic cars gathered there!

“Porsches on a carpet of green”—it felt a little unexpected at first, but the cars looked right at home. Around 30 people in roughly 15 cars had joined the tour. The plates included Hamamatsu and Nagoya, as well as Kobe, like ours.

At the restaurant, we ordered the rice cooked in a traditional kettle set, while the girls had curry. Every dish brought out the natural flavor of its ingredients. It was delicious—and the kind of food that makes you feel good from the inside out.

After lunch, the owners and their families chatted and traded information, while the kids kicked off their shoes and ran around. I did think, “Yikes—getting back into the Panamera with all that sand and grass on them!” But the girls clearly loved being able to run free in the countryside.

Next page → Touring the brilliant blue coast of the Sea of Japan in the sunshine!

Setting Off for the Sea of Japan

After we’d had our fill of chatting and playing, we set off for the coastal roads of Fukui. Before long, the weather began to clear.

As I drove, I glanced to the side and saw the deep blue Sea of Japan stretching out below us. Its rich color was different from the Pacific, and it was absolutely beautiful.

I’d always had this silly image of the Sea of Japan as a gray, stormy place, with waves crashing and spray flying everywhere. But on a sunny day, it’s unbelievably beautiful. The view was spectacular.

It was so beautiful that we made an impromptu stop at a parking area and took some time for photos. Meanwhile, the girls in the Panamera slept right through it.

Judging by the way they were sprawled out, I guess I must have been pushing it a little on those mountain roads… (-_-). After that, we headed for our final destination, Nihonkai Sakana-machi, a seafood and souvenir market in Tsuruga. The roads along the way were beautiful, too.

Paid scenic routes with names ending in “Line” are certainly beautiful, but some of the best drives are on unnamed regional farm roads and coastal routes. It made me realize all over again that Japan still has countless wonderful roads. Before long, we arrived safely at Nihonkai Sakana-machi.

You can buy seafood to take home, or sit down for a seafood rice bowl or sashimi. A few tour groups were there, and the market was fairly busy. But we’re not especially food-focused, so after a quick look around, we bought only habutae mochi—a soft, chewy local rice cake.

While we waited for everyone to finish shopping, I didn’t get to speak with the whole group, but I did chat with a family who had joined in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta. As it turned out, the husband had bought a manual Giulietta, and now his wife was the one who drove it with ease.

“Oh, so you’re another wife who’s been converted by her husband!” I joked. We had a lovely chat with the family. There were other people who already knew about this blog, too. The tour was a great reminder that people who love cars really are such a friendly bunch.

After the group dispersed, we took the Maizuru-Wakasa Expressway home. My husband was driving behind us and took a photo of the Panamera from the rear. I had no idea it looked this menacing. No wonder nobody tailgates us, haha.

What I Thought About the Panamera

After joining my first tour in the Panamera, I found myself thinking this on the way home:

“The Panamera is an incredible car, but I felt like something was missing.”

I know that’s the sort of thing that earns a “Seriously? How can you say that?”(And yes, I’m fully prepared for the scolding.) Still, I’d never felt that way after a drive in the Panamera before, so I was a little surprised myself.

The Panamera is rock-solid at speed, effortless on long highway drives, and never leaves me feeling tired. It handles mountain roads beautifully, too, sweeping through corners without ever feeling like a big car. The rear seats are spacious and comfortable, and I sometimes think, “There’s no better car for taking the family out for a drive.”

But the truth is, it’s such a brilliant car that there’s very little room left for the driver to make a difference.

Even someone like me, who isn’t confident in her driving, can leave everything to the Panamera and still drive smoothly—perhaps even better than I normally would. On mountain bends, I don’t have to think about weight transfer. Whether I brake early or get back on the throttle, the car turns in beautifully. It can even make me feel like I’ve suddenly become a better driver.

In other words, the Panamera is so capable that it’s hard to get that feeling of being the one in control. I’ve been driving it for more than three years, so perhaps I’ve simply grown used to it. Either way, this time I realized that the Panamera is the model student of cars.

When I told my husband, he said:

If you want to experience what the Panamera Turbo can really do, you’d need to drive on an unrestricted section of the Autobahn or take it to the Nürburgring. There aren’t many places in Japan where you can get close to its full potential, so you end up with more car than you can use.
And as Mr. Matsutoya once said, “I prefer cars with a bit of character to perfect, straight-A-student cars. That’s why I still cherish my 996 GT3.” I know exactly what he means.

That made sense. Still, if someone asked, “So would you choose a different car instead of the Panamera?” I don’t think I could. I’d probably end up driving whatever replaced it while thinking every day, “Oh, the Panamera was wonderful… I miss the Panamera…” (lol)

There’s no question: the Panamera is a fantastic car.

I never imagined I’d feel this way about it. For now, though, I’ll focus on learning to drive the BMW 320i well!