A while ago, my husband went on a solo tour in our air-cooled Porsche and wrote down his impressions. I’m sharing this in two parts—front and back—so please enjoy if you like.

Porsche 911 Touring Day 1

With some free time at last, he decided to go on an overnight tour, something he hadn’t done recently.

This time, his partner was the Porsche 911 Carrera 2 (964). It’s been about a year and a half since it came to our home, and the mileage has surpassed 10,000 km. At 28 years old this year, the car remains healthy with no major troubles, thanks to regular preventive maintenance.

Lately, it’s been running better than ever, and the engine is in perfect shape. It’s noticeably more lively than when we first bought it.

Choosing the destination was tough, but when in doubt, we turned to wata-san’s blog. There, we found an article about driving Route 195 in Shikoku. Although we’ve been to Shikoku many times, it had been over 20 years since we last drove Route 195, and our memories were vague. So, we decided to head for Kochi for now.

Firing Up the Air-Cooled Engine

I always feel that starting an air-cooled engine is better described as “lighting a fire in the engine” rather than just “starting it.” You can really sense the intake, compression, explosion, and exhaust happening inside the cylinders through the sounds and vibrations—it’s a tactile experience.

This feeling can’t be experienced with modern air-cooled Porsches.

Heading Toward the Famous Route 195

Crossing the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, we headed south on the Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway, one of Kansai’s fastest highways. The 964’s rear suspension still uses the semi-trailing arm plus coil springs setup. Also, due to the body shape and aerodynamics, it’s quite vulnerable to crosswinds. Battling strong winds on the bridge that disturbed our course, we slowly made our way toward Shikoku.

Once in Shikoku, we took a break and decided to drive the Naruto Skyline. We exited at Naruto IC, a famous road we also visited last year in the GT3. It’s still popular with sports cars and motorcycles. Switching the Tiptronic to manual mode and fixing it in 2nd gear, we rolled down the side window, listened to the engine, and pressed the accelerator deeply.

Navigating the ups and downs of the straights and moderate corners, he consciously managed weight transfer to handle the 911. Especially on uphill corners with strong undulations, caution is key. If you let your guard down there, this era’s 911 just won’t turn. Without PASM, the chassis warns the driver of danger not through electronics but with an analog feeling of the front end slipping slightly and smoothly.

Whenever he drives an air-cooled Porsche like this, he always thinks that the more you drive modern water-cooled Porsches, the worse you get at driving air-cooled ones. That just shows how much water-cooled Porsches have evolved to be accessible to everyone.

We passed through the traffic-heavy, stop-and-go city of Tokushima, grabbed a Cheese Teritama at a McDonald’s drive-thru, and hurried onward.

Finally, the long-awaited Route 195. Leaving the town behind, we gradually entered mountainous terrain. Seeing a sign that said 133 km to Kochi, excitement peaked. To think such a road stretches for 133 km—it’s like a dream. How luxurious an environment! Muttering to himself, he pressed on.

We took a short break at the Momijigawa Onsen roadside station. Around here, cherry blossoms were in full bloom, beautifully contrasting with the water’s surface. From this point, traffic clearly thinned out, and at times he had the road almost entirely to himself.

Route 195 has a few narrow sections, but there are plenty of areas wide enough for two cars to pass, and traffic is generally light, so it’s not much of a concern. Most of the route is two lanes with a decent width. The pavement is well maintained throughout, featuring straights, mountain winding roads, and riverside stretches, offering a wonderfully varied and never boring drive.

As the distance signs to Kochi steadily decreased, he found himself wishing “Don’t end yet, please keep going,” reluctant to part with Route 195.

At one rest stop, a boy about elementary school age approached, asking, “What kind of car is that?” “Oh, a Porsche.” “I have a miniature of this one!”

After showing him the car for a while, he hoped that this encounter might inspire the boy to dream of owning a Porsche someday. Then, he arrived in Kochi city.

Continue reading here → A Two-Day, 700km Journey in a Porsche 911 (Air-Cooled 964) [Part 2]