Drive 1,100 km in a Porsche 911 GT3 (997.1)

Head to Niigata Prefecture to see the Nagaoka fireworks

The Nagaoka Fireworks Festival, held in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture, is said to be one of the three major fireworks festivals in Japan.

This major event in Nagaoka city began as the Nagaoka Reconstruction Festival, held the year after the Nagaoka air raid that occurred on August 1st, 1945, and is still held every year on August 2nd and 3rd to commemorate those who died in the war and to pray for world peace.

Therefore, the event is not held on the xxth Saturday of August, but always on August 2nd and 3rd every year.

This year, by coincidence, August 2nd and 3rd fell on a Friday and Saturday, so we imagine a huge number of people were able to enjoy the fireworks display.

I went to see the Nagaoka fireworks in Niigata Prefecture!!

My original plan was to use the self-driving BMW M3 to get around easily, but plans changed.

I decided to go in my 997.1 Porsche 911 GT3, which was just delivered on August 1st, two days before the fireworks festival.

At first, I was quite timid about the 997 GT3, saying, "The clutch is heavy, and since I've only known Porsches since the 991, driving an older Porsche seems difficult for me, so I might not be able to drive it much..."

I felt that if I continued driving like this I would be so scared that I would never drive again, so I decided to take a chance and drive the 997 for a long distance.

I didn't have a radar installed yet, so I brought out the radar from my rental car and secured it with masking tape. It was a cool car, the GT3, but it suddenly looked uncool (lol).

My husband drove until we got out of Tokyo, and I took over on the highway along the way.

The first thing that made me think "Oh, good!" when I drove the 997GT3 myself for the first time was that the bucket seats were fine.

When I've driven bucket seats in other cars up until now, the height couldn't be adjusted, so the seat height was too low for me and it was difficult to drive unless I put a cushion or something in. But the bucket seat of the 997GT3 can be driven as it is without putting anything on it, so this is a relief.

On the other hand, I thought that tall men would have a much higher sitting height, but I guess that's not the case. Oh, maybe my upper body has become taller (oh no)?

At first, I drove at high speeds where I hardly needed to change gears, getting used to the feel of the car, and then I got caught in traffic along the way, experiencing stuck in a traffic jam with a heavy clutch, and just kept driving.

As I started driving, I suddenly noticed, and it may seem strange, but at some point I no longer noticed the weight of the clutch or steering.

When I drove it in the parking lot right after it was delivered, I thought, "The clutch is heavy! The steering is heavy!" But surprisingly, once I started driving it properly, I didn't notice it at all.

I was scared that my left leg would die if I was stuck in a traffic jam, but what's this again? Maybe my left leg has really strong muscles (not that (lol))? For some reason, I was totally fine. On the contrary, I found this heavy clutch fun, or maybe it felt natural to drive this car, or, yes, it felt natural.

I was stuck in traffic for about two hours, but it was okay.

The manual gears in the Carrera T shift smoothly, but the 997 GT3's shifts feel like a toy with a clanging sound, which is fun in its own way.

The only thing that made the 997GT3 seem difficult was the ride height.

It's really low. It's supposed to be 9cm, but it feels even lower. And this car doesn't have a front lifter. So, when I got the car, I was told that the lip is a consumable item, so I didn't worry about it rubbing.

Of course, I won't go all out and scrub it! But I'll take it slowly and be prepared for it to happen. My goal is to scrub it cleanly. A strange goal.

Nagaoka fireworks from a special seat

After arriving in Nagaoka, we headed to a second home-like place for someone we met through Porsche.

I was invited because the Nagaoka fireworks can be seen from this person's house. Thank you very much.

When we arrived, our friends were already drinking and it looked like a fun atmosphere. There were children participating, so while the children were watching the Paris Olympics, the adults were drinking champagne at the Eiffel Tower.

I had not planned on drinking that day as I had to drive again that night, but my husband said it was okay to drink as he was driving...so I readily took him up on his offer and had a good drink.

We had a variety of delicious drinks and it was a wonderful time with all of you.

When the fireworks started, we went up to the rooftop. Since the sun had already set, the heat wasn't a problem and we were able to watch the fireworks from the best spot. It was just amazing. I can't believe I was able to watch the Nagaoka fireworks from such a special seat while drinking.

The fireworks start at 7:20 p.m.

The fireworks were bigger and more beautiful than I had imagined, and they went up right in front of my eyes. It was really beautiful.

Each firework in Nagaoka has its own sponsor, and the sponsor's name and explanation of the fireworks are announced before each launch, and at the end of each announcement, they say "The launch has begun," which is unique and kind of fun ^^

After the announcement of "The launch has begun," the fireworks from the sponsors, which we had just been briefed on, were launched with a bang.

Furthermore, when the biggest one (maybe a big 3 shakudama?) goes up, an alarm goes off. I later found out that this is an air raid alarm.

Nowadays, when this alert sounds, we get excited and think, "There will be huge, amazing fireworks!" This fireworks display made me realize once again what a peaceful and wonderful thing it is.

By the way, the sponsor who was able to launch these three huge three-foot balls in a row was "Harashin."

The children who were watching the fireworks with us seemed to be having fun, saying things like "Wow, what you'd expect from Harashin!" and "It's Harashin after all," so when I asked them about it, I found out that Harashin is a supermarket that everyone in Niigata knows.

Wow. But the fireworks at Harashin were really amazing. I think they were the best of the day. Next time I go to Niigata, I'd like to shop at Harashin.

It was truly amazing to be able to watch the fireworks in Nagaoka. Of course the fireworks themselves were so beautiful, but what was even more impressive was that as the fireworks were shooting up into the sky, a starry sky spread out above it, incomparable to anything you see in Tokyo.

Although you can't see the fireworks at the exact moment they go up, when they stop for a moment and it gets dark, the starry sky spreads out before you. It was so beautiful that I was surprised that the constellations could be seen so clearly with the naked eye.

After the fireworks, children could play on simulators, etc. (※We have received permission to post photos of the rooms, etc.).

When I looked next to me while I was playing with the simulator, I saw a Porsche. It was so cool!

Parked here was a Porsche 911 Speedster. It's rare to see a Miami Blue Speedster. It was really cool.

If I had to spend my days using a simulator while being stared at like this by a Porsche, I think I would just stay home and drink forever (laughs).

Everything was so wonderful, and I can't thank them enough for the wonderful experience of watching the best fireworks in such a wonderful environment with wonderful people and delicious food and drinks. Thank you very much.

Continue to Ishikawa Prefecture

Well, since I was drunk, I left the driving to my husband and we moved on.

After getting in the car for a while, I was completely drunk and fast asleep, but I still woke up to the sound of 997 that kept coming from time to time, and as I was dozing off, I heard the sound of 997 and thought, "Ah, this is awesome," and fell asleep.

It's quite a pleasure to be woken up by the realistic sound of the 997 GT3 engine at high speeds, and then go back to sleep with that sound as background music.

So, after my husband drove us that night, we finally arrived in Ishikawa Prefecture.

We spent the night in Ishikawa Prefecture and then got back on the move in the morning.

This was my first time using a flap parking system. I parked slowly, carefully checking, and there were no problems.

Where did I go this morning? The Omicho Market. It was great to enjoy sushi and other foods in the morning.

Next, there was a place I wanted to go to in Ishikawa Prefecture, so I headed there.

I parked my car in nature and when I came back, I found some kind of insect. It looked like a bee, but it wasn't a bee. I wonder what it was.

I had heard that bugs were attracted to yellow cars, but it certainly seemed like the bugs were attracted to this car more than any other car I've had before.

Speaking of yellow, when I fill up with gas, the fuel nozzle for high-octane gasoline is yellow, so I get impressed and say, "Wow, yellow and yellow!" I'm so simple-minded (lol).

Speaking of gasoline, another thing that impressed me was the gasoline tank capacity. I didn't know this, but the 997GT3's tank capacity is 90L. No wonder the gasoline didn't run out so quickly.

At one point I thought to myself, "This car seems to have worse fuel economy than the black Carrera, but I still have half a tank of gas left after driving this far?", but it was simply because the tank was full (laughs).

Well, even so, if I drove mainly on the highway, the fuel economy would have been around 9.6km/L. I don't think it's bad.

Finally, we head to Shizuoka Prefecture.

After finishing my business in Ishikawa Prefecture, I went through Gifu Prefecture and Aichi Prefecture before heading straight to Shizuoka Prefecture.

At the end of this drive, there were two people I wanted to meet in Shizuoka Prefecture, so I wanted to say hello to them before heading home.

One of them was someone who had been very kind to me for a long time, but I had not been able to meet him since he moved to Shizuoka, so I visited him. I was very happy to see him looking well after such a long time.

And the other oneA flower shop called Milk Flowers that I have visited before.is.

I was connected to him through various Porsche connections, and it was fun to meet him again after a long time and talk about our car circumstances!

This two-day, one-night drive started with a trip to Niigata Prefecture, and from start to finish we were able to have a very fulfilling and enjoyable time.

The total distance driven was just over 1,100 km over a 36 hour trip.

Although I took turns driving with my husband, I think I've driven at least 600 kilometers, so I think I was able to get used to the 997 GT3 all at once.

Of course, I'm not yet familiar with it enough to be able to drive on a circuit, but I can drive it naturally enough to enjoy long drives. I no longer have any worries that I might not be able to drive.

997.1 My impressions after driving the Porsche 911 GT3

I'm sorry, but those who have been following this blog for a long time will understand that I am not good at describing a car's performance or driving in a cool and accurate way (lol).

Because I can only understand it through my own senses.

But from my own insensitive perspective, the 997 GT3 is not at all difficult to drive, the manual transmission never stalls, and the heavy clutch and steering feel natural enough to feel right. Overall, I think it's a fun Porsche to drive.

The engine start-up sound is quiet, and while driving it was quieter than the 991.2 GT3 and there were no rattling noises, but it sounded even better once the revs reached 4,000 rpm.

And I thought, "It's not very noisy," but when I got home and tried driving a black Carrera (991.2 base Carrera) for a bit, the sound I heard from inside the car was so quiet that I thought, "Huh, was the black Carrera really this quiet?" So maybe the constant low-pitched engine sound of the GT3 was actually quite loud after all (or maybe I just drove too much and my senses were numb at the end (lol)?).

Then, on the other hand, I was impressed by how light the steering of the black Carrera was (lol).

When accelerating, the black Carrera feels like it's sliding on ice, whereas the 997 GT3 has a sense of weight, not in terms of actual weight, but as if the body is firmly planted on the ground and stable, yet still drives lightly. Although they are completely different, they are both Porsches after all, and each is very fun in its own way.

It was a very enjoyable long drive to get to know the 997 GT3. It was a great two days with the best 997 GT3 and the best Porsches and cars.

Thank you so much to everyone I met this time! The 997.1 Porsche 911 GT3 was also great!

Related article:
◆The 997 Porsche 911 GT3 has been delivered
◆Meet the new owner of the Porsche 911 GT3 I was riding