Will I ever be able to drive the Boxster…?

Last year, at the start of 2017, I set a goal: “This year, I will finally be able to drive the Boxster GTS (MT)!” But when I look back, I only drove the Boxster two or three times all year. Far from getting better, I actually found myself drifting further away from the Boxster GTS.

Then this year’s New Year came around. With a faint hope in my heart, “Maybe this year I can finally drive the Boxster GTS (MT)… that would be nice,” I went out twice to practice driving on the Royu Driveway. But I stalled repeatedly, couldn’t get hill starts right, and put the car into reverse instead of first gear by mistake — all sorts of unbelievable mishaps happened, and I was half ready to give up, thinking “MT driving is just impossible for me…”

So, the chance to experience the kind of exhilarating rush like this while driving the Boxster,

or that kind of thrilling speed,

had sadly never come… until one day this year was almost over. Then a blog reader who knows the joy of MT driving left encouraging comments:

“Don’t say that, keep at it!” “Once you can drive MT, it’s really fun!” “A woman who can drive MT is super cool!”

Their words gave me a fresh burst of motivation, and recently, I asked my mother-in-law to watch the kids so my husband and I could go out to practice.

Practice on the Royu Driveway!

That day, around 11 a.m., my husband’s friends were gathering on the Royu Driveway, so I tagged along and decided to practice MT driving on the Royu Driveway and Mount Rokko. But since the route from home to the Royu Driveway has some tricky spots, we first headed to the observation deck with my husband driving.

While receiving tips from my husband on MT driving, I soaked in the “This is the Boxster!” sound, the rush, and the refreshing autumn breeze…

I thought, “It must feel great to drive like this… no, wait, I will be able to drive like this! …But hill starts, ugh… (-_-)… No, no, I can’t think like that!” As I wrestled with myself, the Boxster quickly arrived at the Royu Driveway observation deck.

Although we arrived around 9:30 a.m., my husband’s friends were already gathered.

I’ve heard of being five minutes early, but one and a half hours early? Never heard of that… (；ﾟДﾟ)

Everyone was eager to get on the road in their cars and had arrived early. Afterwards, we took turns driving each other’s cars and chatting about cars (I got to ride shotgun in several different cars, which I’ll share in another article), then headed to Rokko Garden Terrace for lunch together.

Then my husband casually told everyone,

“My wife is going to drive up Mount Rokko to practice MT, so she’ll be driving slowly. We’ll go ahead.”

…Wait, what… (ﾟдﾟ)！？

“Your wife’s serious? Then we’ll see you off until you leave the parking lot!” they said, either kindly or out of morbid curiosity. My husband and I quickly got into the Boxster, adjusted the seat and steering wheel.

Okay, gears: first, second, third, fourth… third, second, first… wait, once more, first, second, third, fourth… third, second, first… and that’s reverse. Alright, clutch and brake first…

While I fumbled, my husband said firmly, “Enough talk, just get moving already!” So, I took a deep breath, cleared my mind, and set off in the Boxster.

(Totally nervous here ↑)

I eased the clutch while gently pressing the accelerator, listening to the engine sound. As the clutch engaged and the car started moving, I drove around the parking lot in half-clutch.

…Hey, maybe I can do this after all (・∀・)

Feeling encouraged, I left the parking lot and headed up Mount Rokko. There was a toll booth on the way, but I managed to get through it too.

“You’re slow to press the clutch and shift!”
“You should give a little gas before shifting to avoid jerks and make it smoother.”
“Your downshifting needs work.”

I got all sorts of feedback from the passenger seat, but once I was driving, I felt in control.

“Alright, next up third and fourth gear!” I thought — but then a minivan appeared ahead. And it was crawling at an agonizingly slow pace, with a line of cars behind it. The speedometer showed just 25 km/h.

…Come on, no way (－_－)

Sure, the road to Rokko has sharp curves, but 25 km/h is way too slow. I thought it might pull over and let us pass, but for the entire 15 minutes up to Rokko Garden Terrace, that minivan never gave any sign of yielding and kept crawling along.

Even with a Boxster behind it, roof down, both of us wearing sunglasses (which probably didn’t matter, lol), it still kept going at 25 km/h — that’s some serious mental strength.

Honestly, I have to admire that determination, lol.

Conquering Mount Rokko!?

At lunchtime, Rokko Garden Terrace was quite crowded, and getting into the parking lot meant lots of stop-and-go — great practice. The ticket machine was on a slight uphill where the HOLD function didn’t work, so I got a bit nervous but managed it. Parking with cars behind me was tricky, so I got some help from my husband…

On the way back, I ended up leading a convoy of my husband’s friends’ cars — a Ferrari California, Ferrari 488, Lamborghini Huracán, and Porsche 911 GT3 — which made me very nervous.

I stalled once on a hill while waiting at a construction traffic light, but recovered and managed to drive up and down Mount Rokko.

Well, “conquered” might be a stretch — I just drove it (￣ー￣)…

My husband said,

“Why do you keep adding steering mid-curve? And why do you always misjudge the curve so badly, lol?”
“Don’t rush away just because cars are behind you. Your nerves show way too much in your driving, lol.”

But he also said, “Well, that was the best you’ve done so far. Feels like you’re finally at the starting line.” That gave me a bit of confidence. Most importantly, I got a tiny taste — about 2% — of how fun MT driving can be and thought for the first time, “If I can master MT driving, it really looks fun! I want to get better!”

Riding this momentum, I’ll ask my mother-in-law to watch the kids again next month so I can practice more!

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!