My Husband, Who Test-Drives Porsches Almost Every Week

My husband often gets to drive Porsches owned by acquaintances, as well as cars from various other manufacturers, almost every week on the Royu Driveway. Later, he shares his test drive reports here on the blog.

He says each test drive lasts about 15 minutes, but owners are often surprised and say, “How can you write so much after such a short test drive?”

If he can understand so much in such a short time, I wondered if there were any key points to focus on when test driving at a dealer. My husband said this:

Well… I think it’s impossible to really grasp that much during a dealer test drive, especially with a sports car like a Porsche. At a dealer, you probably only get a sense of the ride comfort.
After all, the test routes are usually on national roads or city streets with lots of traffic lights, right?
If you’re seriously considering buying, you might get to drive on the highway, but there’s no way you can drive on mountain roads or winding routes.
But with a Porsche, unless you drive on those kinds of roads, you just can’t understand its high performance, handling, braking ability, and the true joy of driving.
Also, in the past, some import car dealers let salespeople drive a bit faster while you experienced it from the passenger seat, but times have changed, and salespeople are busy, so you don’t get that kind of test drive anymore.

That’s what he said.

That makes sense. Test drives on regular roads give you a good feel for everyday ride comfort. But with Porsches (especially 2-seaters and sports models), I think many people don’t get a great impression from driving on normal roads.

The suspension is stiff, and the interior and features aren’t luxurious, so some might end the test drive thinking, “In that case, a Mercedes-Benz or Lexus is way better.”

For Porsches, you really need to drive on mountain roads, tight corners, or highways where you can open up the speed a bit to truly experience how trustworthy, reassuring, and fun a Porsche really is.

The evaluation you get from a regular road test drive is quite different.

My husband also said this:

Also, the reason people say I understand so well even with short test drives is because I always drive the same route on the Royu Driveway.
I’ve driven it hundreds of times, so I know the course well, and driving the same road in different cars lets me really feel how different they are. That’s why I can gather a lot of information even in a short time.
For example, even with the same 991, the Carrera 4 GTS and the base model feel very different when exiting this corner, or even among convertibles, the Boxster and 911 Cabriolet feel different. I compare these things throughout the drive.
I think that’s a big part of it.

Test Drive Reports Only Possible on a Personal Blog

As I listened, I said,

“Still, it’s rare to get a chance to test drive on mountain roads, so usually people have to rely on YouTube car reviewers or blog articles to gather information.”

He replied,

Yeah, that’s probably the only way in the end.
But car reviewers often sugarcoat things quite a bit.
They borrow cars from manufacturers or companies, so they have to be somewhat careful with their words. Even if there are negative points, they might not say them outright.
That can cause viewers to misunderstand or miss the true intent of the reviewer.
That’s why I want to write honest reviews on this blog.
I’m not paid or commissioned by anyone, so I can write freely without holding back.
Also, because I get to drive many Porsches, I try to compare and convey differences.
Simply saying the ride is stiff can mean different things to different people, so I try to write relatively, like “How it compares to the GT3” or “Compared to the previous generation”, to communicate more accurately.
Cars aren’t just good or bad—they depend on personal preference, so I also try to say things like “This car might not suit these people, but it’s great for those people”.
Of course, it’s still my personal opinion, and I’m not a professional, so there are parts I can’t fully express yet, but I want to keep using the strengths of a personal blog to share my thoughts.

Thankfully, recently I’ve been contacted by readers saying “Please let him drive it!” and have had more opportunities to test drive. Since these are precious cars to their owners, I try to treat them carefully while sharing insights you can’t get from dealer test drives or professional reviews. I hope to keep delivering these genuine voices through this blog.