Driving the Boxster to Wakayama

The other day, I drove my Boxster from home to Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, to attend the Porsche Track Experience held at the former Nanki-Shirahama Airport site. Meanwhile, my husband and daughters headed there in the Panamera.

The distance from home to Shirahama is about 180 km. The day before, when I met some moms from the kindergarten, they said, “You’re going again tomorrow, right? Be careful,” and I replied, “Yeah, but it’s not as far as Fuji, and Shirahama is pretty close this time.”

They responded, “No way… Shirahama is still quite far (-_-)”

That’s when I realized my sense of distance was starting to drift from reality (lol).

Although 180 km is relatively close for our long-distance trips, I had never driven that far in the Boxster before, so I was a bit nervous. But after actually driving that distance, I was reminded:

The Boxster is a car that’s great to drive anywhere.

Whether on the highway, mountain roads, or regular streets, it’s a joy to drive. The ride at low speeds isn’t uncomfortable, the highway cruising is smoother than I imagined, and it’s a stress-free car no matter where you drive it.

I’d also heard the rumors, but the fuel economy isn’t bad either. On the way there, there was a huge traffic jam on the Hanshin Expressway, forcing me to crawl in first gear for about 2 km between Ebie and Awaza. But including the highway cruising afterward, the overall fuel efficiency on the way there was 10.2 km/L (9.8 l/100 km).

Not bad at all!

Last month, when I went to Fuji in the BMW 320i, I often got cut off or couldn’t accelerate as I wanted, which was stressful. Of course, the 320i is a great car with excellent highway stability, but I couldn’t help comparing it to the Porsche… With the Boxster GTS, a little throttle input brings smooth, powerful acceleration, making highway driving truly comfortable.

That said, highways in the Kinki region often have two-lane sections or heavy traffic (it narrows to one lane for a while after Arita IC), so I mostly drove safely without pushing the Boxster’s limits. On the other hand, on wider, less busy highways like the Chugoku Expressway on weekdays, I realized I need to be very careful not to overdo it.

Even when forced to crawl slowly on the highway in the Boxster, just downshifting a bit or switching to Sport Plus mode to enjoy the engine sound made it fun. (Since my husband was driving the Panamera ahead, I wasn’t tailgating anyone, lol)

Being able to add variety and keep things interesting while driving helped me stay fresh and not get tired on the roughly 180 km drive to Shirahama.

Manual Transmission Is Fun

This trip made me think again, “I’m really glad I learned to drive a manual.” Of course, automatics shift smoothly, can be faster, and are easier to drive, and you can still enjoy driving them.

But with a manual, even though I’m still not great at shifting and fuel economy is definitely worse than an automatic, you get the real feeling of driving with your own skill, which is the true joy and appeal.

It’s also rewarding to feel yourself gradually getting better at the controls.

Before driving a manual, I thought, “Shifting in traffic jams is such a hassle.” But actually, that’s where the depth and fun lie.

I’m also glad I bought the BMW 320i. If the Boxster was the only manual car in our family, I probably would still be too scared to drive a manual and never have learned (lol).

Readers have often advised me, “Why not practice driving manuals in a non-Porsche manual first? You’ll improve faster that way.” I thought, “There’s no way I could make a manual my daily driver,” and “If I’m going to practice, I’d have to buy one myself.” After discussing with my husband, I finally took the plunge and bought a manual car.

By practicing daily in the 320i, I got used to manual operation, lost my fear of the Porsche manual, and now I can drive the Boxster normally. I feel like I’m opening a new door in the world of driving.

At first, I was full of anxiety, but I’m really glad I took that step, and I’m grateful my husband accepted adding another manual car to our family as a replacement for the Golf.

Now, I purely want to get better and better at driving.

I used to have no interest in cars at all and even thought they were useless, but now I feel like, “Wow, over the years, I’ve been completely brainwashed by my husband…” these days (lol).