Annual Year-End Touring At the end of last year, I went on my usual year-end tour. In our family, my wife and kids head to their parents’ home, and I take off alone on a trip with my beloved car—that’s become our tradition. Usually, this time of year means snow and icy roads, so the destination tends to be somewhere in the south like Shikoku or Kyushu. But this time, since I was driving the...
The other day, my friend Tomozō-san took delivery of his 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet (early 991), so the three of us—TAKURO’s 981 Boxster GTS, my Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet, and Tomozō’s car—headed out for a day trip touring the usual wide-area Okayama farm roads. This time, I’d like to share a report on that tour and my impressions of the Carrera GTS Cabriolet. AM 7:30 I met up with TAKURO at a convenience store, and...
911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet This time, I had the chance to test drive the 991.1 (early 991) Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet. The name is a bit of a mouthful, but to sum it up, it’s the all-wheel-drive GTS model in an open-top version—basically the convertible counterpart to my own Carrera 4 GTS coupe. It’s an extremely rare model. Just the Carrera 4 GTS and the AWD GTS are already scarce, but add the convertible...
Porsche 911 Targa 4S Lately, I’ve had the chance to test drive the early 991 models quite often. Everyone truly falls in love with this naturally aspirated engine, unanimously praising its thrilling sound and feel. This time, I drove the early 991 Targa 4S. When it comes to the Targa, its production numbers are even lower than the GT3 variants, making it the rarest 911 grade. On top of that, this particular car is Racing...
Following up on the previous Autumn Touring in a Porsche 911: Journey through Shinshu, Noto, Hida, and Mino (1), here is the continuation. Hakusan Shirakawago White Road On the morning of day three, I checked today’s route on the touring map. Since it was peak autumn foliage season, I was quite torn about whether to go to the Hakusan Shirakawago White Road, but since it was a weekday and early morning, I expected it wouldn’t...
Solo Touring in a Porsche 911 To visit the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo, my family had come to Yokohama with the Cayenne and 911 (991 early model Carrera 4 GTS), but the next day, our family trip officially ended with everyone going their separate ways at the hotel in Yokohama. As soon as I finished breakfast at the hotel, I quickly packed my belongings into the 911, checked out alone, and left my family behind....
Since purchasing the 991.1 (early 991) Carrera 4 GTS, I’ve become completely captivated by the early 991 generation. Recently, I had the opportunity to test drive the base (standard) 991 Carrera, so I’d like to share my report along with some thoughts on the appeal of the “pure” 911. Why Do Porsche Enthusiasts Return to the Base 911? This is something I had heard many times even before owning a Porsche: well-known automotive critics and...
Why Did I Choose the Four-Wheel Drive 911? When people think of the Porsche 911, many imagine it as an RR (rear-engine, rear-wheel drive) car. I’m no different. To me, the 911 is synonymous with RR. However, as you know, there are four-wheel drive models of the 911. These include the Carrera (Targa) 4 series and the Turbo models. The first Carrera 4 was the 964 generation, which, according to period documents, featured a fixed...
Some readers might wonder, why I own the latest 992 model and until recently even had a GT3 Touring Package, yet I deliberately chose to buy an older, early 991 model used. This time, I’d like to talk about why I chose the 991, which is technically inferior to the 992 and GT3, and why I went for the early model. Why buy an older model with lower performance on purpose? I used to think...
The other day, I wrote an article about purchasing a 991.1 911 Carrera 4 GTS, and today, continuing from last time, I’d like to share the delivery day and my first impressions. Delivery Day After preparing and sending the necessary documents, about three weeks later, the delivery day finally arrived. You can pay extra to have the car transported on a carrier, but I chose not to. As a true Porsche enthusiast who believes the...
