I hadn’t written Vol.2 yet…

The other day, my husband said to me, “You often end your blog posts with something like, ‘I’ll write more about ●● later’ or call it Vol.1 as if it’s a series, but haven’t you actually never followed up with those articles?” Indeed… (−_−) So, I decided to write a sequel to this article I posted before.

→【Past article】Mastering the Boxster GTS (MT) – Until That Day Comes Vol.1

Since writing that article on April 25, I actually haven’t driven the MT Boxster even once (LOL)—at best, I practiced driving with paddle shifters on PlayStation. But saying that won’t make me any better at manual driving, so last weekend I finally decided to give driving the Boxster GTS a try.

Reviewing manual driving

I asked my husband, “Can I go to the Royu Driveway tomorrow to practice driving the Boxster? I’ll drive the Boxster, and you can follow behind in case anything happens, so it’ll be safe.”

Okay, that’s fine. But really, you should be able to go alone without saying stuff like that.

Still, before going to bed, I reviewed manual driving. I asked, “Wait, how do you start again? Do you press the clutch and brake while the gear is in ‘parking’?”

What are you talking about? Manual cars don’t have parking; it’s neutral (−_−)

I was surprised. “Really? Is that right…? (ﾟдﾟ) Then, um… do you move the gear first? When do you release the clutch? Do you press the accelerator first?” I kept asking silly questions, and my husband finally gave me a disbelieving look:

…Are you seriously okay? Are you really asking these questions (−_−)?

But somehow, the morning of the day arrived.

Finally, practice time in the Boxster!

First, my husband led the way in the Boxster, and I followed with our daughters in the Panamera. We switched drivers at a parking lot just past the Royu Driveway toll booth. Just in case, we set up a FaceTime call, and I climbed into the driver’s seat of the Boxster. (From here on, the story follows the words and actions of a complete beginner at manual driving, so please forgive the very basic level of the story.)

I checked the steering wheel position, adjusted the seat position and height,

and tested whether I could fully press the clutch and brake pedals,

and practiced gear operation,

but I kept hesitating and not moving forward while chatting on FaceTime.

Come on, just start moving already.

My husband urged me…

Since the parking lot was slightly uphill, the “HOLD” light came on, so I took my foot off the brake, pressed the accelerator to about 1000 rpm, and slowly released the clutch. Someone used to manual driving would probably do this in about 5 seconds, but for me, it felt like it took about 30 seconds because I released the clutch way too slowly (LOL).

Eventually, the car started moving forward little by little. At that moment, the feeling I had practiced before with manual driving came back. That’s right, that’s the feeling when the clutch engages ( ﾟ∀ﾟ). It’s hard to understand when thinking about it, but my body remembered that feeling well.