Experiencing the GT3 from a Wife’s Perspective

The other day, I took a rare ride in the 911 GT3. I suddenly thought, “Usually, I ride with the perspective of how amazing the GT3’s performance is, but today, let’s try to feel the GT3 from a wife’s point of view.”

That day, my husband was driving on the way there, so I sat in the passenger seat. When we hit a rough downhill section, the impact from the uneven road made the GT3’s ride quality quite uncomfortable.

“Oh right, the ride does get pretty rough on bumpy roads…”

Looking around the interior carefully afterward, I noticed there’s no rear seat, it’s a two-seater (though there’s space, so maybe someone could squeeze in, haha), the interior isn’t exactly luxurious, the cup holders are disappointingly cheap (kind of tacky), and on top of that, the engine noise is loud.

From a wife’s perspective, the GT3 really isn’t an appealing car at all. Then I asked my husband, “By the way, how much did this GT3 cost again?”

With options, about 27 million yen.

That’s right! The GT3 costs about as much as buying a house (ﾟдﾟ)!

I couldn’t help but say, “If a husband suddenly comes home saying he bought a Porsche, and it’s a two-seater GT3 for 27 million yen, any wife would be furious. She’d say, ‘Why didn’t you get a Macan or Cayenne instead!?’” My husband, to his credit, replied,

Yeah, if you think about it normally, a Macan or Cayenne makes more sense, haha. Plus, they cost less than half of the GT3.

(laughs)

From the Passenger Seat to the Driver’s Seat in the GT3

Thinking about it, the Mercedes AMG S63 Coupe (C217) we had before was ultra-luxurious inside, with plush seats, tons of safety features, and every convenience you could want.

メルセデス・ベンツAMG S63 4MATIC クーペ （C217）を所有してみた感想

So I thought, “It makes sense that wives would accept a car that expensive when it’s that luxurious.” (Though it still didn’t cost 27 million yen, haha)

On the other hand, the GT3 is a two-seater with no luxury inside… as I mentioned earlier, so it’s really hard for a wife to appreciate the value for that price.

While I was thinking about this, my husband was excitedly driving, saying things like,

“It turns so sharply, it’s amazing!” “Look at this acceleration! This is the GT3!”

But sitting next to him, I thought, “Unless you’re a car-loving wife, you probably wouldn’t get that excited just riding shotgun…”

Then, as soon as we switched seats and I got behind the wheel, I suddenly said,

Wow!! The GT3 really is incredible (ﾟдﾟ)!!

I’m by no means mastering the GT3, but from the handling to the powerful behavior, everything about it made me feel just how insanely amazing the GT3 is—not just logically, but physically.

Truly, seeing is believing, or rather, “Being the driver beats being the passenger a hundred times over.”

As I drove, I muttered, “If someone told me this costs 27 million yen, I might just believe it.” My husband grinned and said, “Right? Haha.”

Let Your Wife Drive

In comments and messages on this blog, I often hear things like, “My wife isn’t against Porsche but isn’t interested, so I envy Mina and her husband.” (Well, it’s natural to have no interest, haha)

In that situation, no matter how much a husband raves about Porsche’s greatness, the wife won’t really get it and might just think, “Here we go again with the car talk (-_-).”

After all, Porsche is a “car meant to be driven.” It’s hard to truly feel its essence just by sitting in the passenger seat. So if you want your wife to understand the appeal of a Porsche, I think the best way is to “let her drive it herself.”

For me, the moment I truly felt “Porsche is amazing!” wasn’t when I first rode shotgun in a Porsche 911 4S on the Autobahn in Germany, nor when I took the Boxster GTS out for its first drive after delivery.

It was the moment I was allowed to drive a Panamera at the dealer.

(This photo shows that test drive. My hand position on the steering wheel is weird… haha)

That day, we got an invite to a test drive event, so we went to the dealer as a family without any intention of me driving. The car was a massive 1900mm+ wide left-hand drive, something I’d never driven before, so I was adamant, “No way!”

But my husband said,

You don’t get many chances to drive a Porsche, so why not take even five minutes?

Reluctantly, we switched on a quiet street, I sat in the driver’s seat, gripped the steering wheel, and pressed the accelerator—and I was blown away.

What is this?! This is amazing!!

The Panamera was in a completely different league from any car I’d driven before. The accelerator, brake, and handling were perfectly in sync—this is what “oneness between car and driver” means, this is an incredible car. I was so impressed that I became a Panamera fan from that moment.

And for the first time, I finally understood a little why my husband kept saying “Porsche, Porsche.”

Of course, at first, your wife might say, “I don’t want to drive a Porsche, it’s impossible, I’m scared.” (I was like that for a long time too) But it might help to have your husband drive to a quiet street that’s easy to drive on, then switch seats and let her take the wheel.

Come to think of it, in my case, my husband was so persistent about me driving his “first Porsche,” a Boxster (MT), that he kept saying, “Get your automatic license restriction removed before delivery!” I had to juggle work and daycare schedules and reluctantly went to driving school as a tough measure… (LOL)