Back Behind the Wheel of the Manual Boxster GTS

The other day, I took the Boxster GTS (981, MT) for a drive on the Royu Driveway after quite some time. Since I usually travel with my kids, I don’t often get to drive a sporty Porsche, so this was my first Boxster drive in several months.

I’ve written extensively about how great the Boxster GTS is, so today I want to share a slightly different perspective.

After driving the manual Boxster again, I realized, “PDK suits me better than the manual.”

Until now, I had never been able to drive a manual well. I practiced, bought my own manual car, and drove it almost every day, so the joy of finally mastering it was huge.

I loved the feeling of controlling the car myself and thought, “Manual is definitely the best.” But this time, I found myself thinking for the first time, “Maybe PDK fits me better.”

The reason? My timing for shifting gears had become shockingly bad… (crying)

Of course, I didn’t stall at takeoff or get jolted with every shift, but I had lost the ability to rhythmically and sharply downshift before corners, and smoothly accelerate and upshift after them.

On the straight just before a corner, I’d think, “Oh, this straight is longer than I thought,” and shift up prematurely, then immediately downshift again. Or I’d go for a long stretch without shifting at all, making the manual pointless.

I’ve driven the Royu Driveway dozens of times and know the course well—I’m aware that “the next corner is coming” and “this one is pretty tight.” Yet, I just couldn’t sync with the car like before.

In that sense, I thought, “Maybe I can enjoy driving more if I leave it to the smart PDK.”

Remembering How to Drive

When I got home, I told my husband:

I drove the Boxster for the first time in a while today. It’s such a great car, and driving it open-top with the manual was fun… but my shifting timing was so bad I couldn’t drive the way I wanted.
I only drive manuals a few times a year now, so no wonder I’ve gotten rusty.

He replied:

Yeah, that makes sense. When you were driving the manual 320i (BMW) before, you drove it every day, so manual driving was second nature. But now it’s different.
You’ve already learned how to operate a manual, so you won’t forget the basics, but maybe you’ve forgotten the “rhythm of driving.”
If you ride with me on the Royu Driveway and feel when to upshift, when to brake, and when to downshift, you might get your feel back.

He’s right… I’ve completely forgotten the rhythm of driving. (And I’m probably still a bit shaken from recently scratching the Cayenne…)

If I could drive better, it would be more fun. I want to regain that feeling and drive like I used to.

Just as we were talking about this, I got exciting news from the dealer: the production schedule for my manual car has finally been set!

Oh, finally…!

Production will finish in mid-September, and if all goes well, delivery could happen by the end of September.

Since I ordered the car with no emblems and custom decals, delivery might slip into October, but at least there’s a clear timeline now, which is a relief.

I placed the order in mid-April and expected delivery by June, so I never imagined I’d have to wait this long… (laughs)

Once the manual car arrives, I’ll probably drive it every day, so I’m determined to regain my feel and enjoy Boxster drives again through some serious practice.