kiznarsh

I like the low curbs on that street. Wheel repair business must hate them though.

Kuro Neko

Thanks!

The curbs are mostly OK, but wait until you see the U-channel drain beside the roads - just wide enough to swallow most wheels, and just deep enough to ensure suspension scrapes along pavement until you come to a grinding stop.
Most fun when you're on a country lane wide enough for 1.5 kei... especially in a Cayman, when you have to reverse back, around a corner, to that place you think you can remember that was wide enough for two cars to pass, if you pull in your mirrors.

Kuro Neko

The final installment from our recent tour North.
The run from Tochigi-ken, South onto the Boso Peninsula and home...



Our accommodation included a few discount coupons for spending at local shops and services.
We topped off with hi-oku and got a few yen off per liter.



Long closed gas stand - Maruzen.



Relatively clear expressways South.



The BMC Mini in Wolseley Hornet disguise.
Basically, a Mini with a trunk.
A rare car anywhere these days, especially in Japan.



Coming into our area, we spotted this Speedster replica, perhaps on delivery.
We've seen it once since, and based on the license plate it now lives in our area.



After over 2000km, the Cayman was surprisingly clean.
Apart from an excess of brake dust perhaps...

(Camera: Voigtlander Bessa R3a. Film: Kodak Ektar 100.)

forestial

A Wolseley! Haven't heard that name in 50 years, and amazed to know there is still one running. Its owners must have fought a heroic battle against rust.
A Wolseley 18/85 (a bigger model than this) was one of the earliest cars my father owned that I can remember.

Kuro Neko

Ha!
Indeed...
I can recall them too, off in the distant past.
The Land Crab 18/85 was particularly stylish!

Mostly due to their famed illuminated badge:

Kuro Neko

With the new Porsche Experience Center - Tokyo opening a short time ago, we decided a day out was needed.
Sub-titled 'Tokyo', we guessed because 'PEC Kizarasu Chiba-ken' just does have the same marketing cache, but it's a quick run North from where we live these days, so we're pleased with that.



We car-pooled in the C4 and stopped for breakfast halfway there.



ポルシェ道り (Porushii-dori) Porsche Strasse is the new name for the local road.
I guess if you're spending mega-yen to open a PEC, the local ward will give a name to a previously un-named road.



With the reception and service facilities built on a hill, you get a great view out over the track.
As per usual PEC, the second floor has a restaurant.



Inside, you can see a few classics, and inside the service center.



The facility includes an off-road circuit, skid pan, drift circuit, dynamic area, a kick plate, and the main handling track.

The dynamic area is where Launch Control was played with repeatedly, and the main handling track includes a Karussel and a Corkscrew.
With the circuit built over some significant hills, the designers included the famed bowl corner from the Nurburgring, and the challenging set of corners from Laguna Seca.

I've not driven the 'Ring, but the replica Corkscrew was a good emulation of Laguna Seca.
The Karussel bowl, with it's bump / thump and angle certainly was fun flat out in a 992.



I drove the blue 992, and my friend the silver.
Chasing each other around the main circuit was one of the highlights.
No real racing allowed, but you can still go full on otherwise.

I first drove the PDK 992 in A-mode, letting the car make the shifts as needed.
Blindingly fast; so much so that after 20 minutes, flat out, trying to get the best out of the car, I started feeling sick.

I had to back off, and take a few minutes to calm my stomach, and went back out in M-mode (how I drive the Cayman).
Not as fast obviously, but with the car now making more noise on shifts for some reason, and controlling the shift point into the corners, it was a lot more fun.



Cayman GT getting serviced.
We're likely going back in the Spring with a bigger group, and I think a Cayman of some flavor is needed next time - RS?



After a post-race bragging lunch upstairs, we took a restrained drive home through some great roads in Chiba-ken...

See ya!

kiznarsh

Awesome! I've been to PEC in LA but haven't actually taken part in it. It's built on what used to be a golf course and while the track has some elevation changes, it doesn't seem anywhere near as fun as what you described.

The 992 has obviously become an even larger GT car but I really like the interior. Hope they continue offering a manual in it.

Kuro Neko

PEC was wild forest before they built the facility.
Something that concerned some locals, however its also in an industrial park area, and they supposedly planted more trees too...

The 992 certainly felt a large car after the Cayman...
Possibly also due to different systems, and more NVH control, I felt a lot more removed from the road.

Here's the facility layout:


and Porsche's official quick vid:

and a more lengthy summary:

Both give a reasonable view of the main track.

Dietrich72

The PEC Tokyo looks amazing! So cool! What a set up. I am enjoying all of your adventures...great thread! My first wife is from Chiba prefecture (Funabashi - closer to Tokyo proper). My current wife is from Fukuoka and she took me to Suzuka in 2014 (though not during a GP weekend). Can't wait to get back to Japan...once COVID settles down. I love all the great photos...keep it up!

What a gorgeous Wolseley Hornet!!!!!! I actually love the wheel arches, little bumperettes and Minilites! I miss my '63 Mini...

Kuro Neko

Chiba? It is indeed a small world, at least pre-Covid.

I've never driven a Mini, or a Wolseley for that matter, but a friend had one with a big Weber where I thought the radio should be... sounded good.
While Japan likes all classic cars, the Mini and its derivatives (Ginetta!), are disproportionately more popular than most.
On any drive, you will see at least one - typically stock, but often kitted out like a Monte Carlo entrant or similar.

We hope you're able to get back soon.



More pics from Boso Hanto area of Chiba then...
Here a local station, still active but looking one step away from haikyo.



Early Subaru, with Flat 4 acknowledgment.
Flat 4 is a shop in Tokyo specializing in air-cooled machines - VW, 356, 914, Dannenhauer & Stauss, Karmann, and similar flat fours.
An amazing place.



A recent trip was to track down a highly-rated tonkatsu restaurant in Chiba.
Seating for perhaps eight people, at one table and the counter.
We sat at the counter and with one other Peugeot driving customer, enjoyed possibly the best tonkatsu ever.
This includes a one-star Michelin rated tonkatsu place in Shibuya.



Showa-era gas stand (with Copen).



Chiba-ken means 'Land of a Thousand Leaves', and this is our street showing both the scars of typhoon triggered landslides, and the turning of leaves.
The local momiji get tourists day tripping to the prefecture to enjoy the marvelously diverse colors.



The sun goes down in the Big Smoke.
Enjoy the year-end holidays, wherever you are... see ya!

Kuro Neko

There are many myths about driving in Japan, but one that is generally true is the good condition of the roads.
Many, if not most, are indeed as well-kept and as smooth as a F1 circuit, including most of the famed touge across the country.

But, that still makes a small number that are rough and less well-kept, including in our local area.
This was one of the reasons we switched from the 19-inch 20 spoke Sport Design wheels the car came with, to the five spoke 18s it now wears - more sidewall, and a smoother and safer ride on rough roads.
More sidewall is always a good idea on rough roads for obvious reasons.

Sometimes, we are out exploring and see an interesting road - not in the Mazda AWD but the Cayman - and the 18s give a bit more confidence to hit the rough stuff.



In winter, the vending machine operators convert some of the chilled drinks to hot drinks, so a hot can of sweet, milky, coffee-like substance is available to warm you up.
If you can find a nice place, you can sit and watch the sport bikes and classic cars go zipping by too...



One small road we took recently, ended with a landslide between two tunnels.
Some adventurous Jimny though had made the journey past the barrier, but this was as far as the Cayman went.



Getting in was relatively easy, with not much more than fallen leaves and bits of tree to worry about.



With no one about, and just a few deer for company, we parked the Cayman and took a quiet walk... and were home in time before the winter sun set.

Dietrich72

More great pics!!!! These will tide me over until I am able to get back. (Hopefully the Japanese will allow me to move their with my wife when I retire.)

My wife just made tonkatsu on Thursday. She's a very good cook but she doesn't have an Michelin stars. Would love to try the place you mention!!

Thank you for the kind words! Be safe out there.

Kuro Neko

I get tonkatsu-chikin if I am lucky in our house...
The place mentioned above is called Okano, and is here.
Seriously worth the trip!

Nothing special this time, just one of those still winter days where the bright bright sun burns straight into your brain.



Typically these days, most road signs are in romanji (Roman characters), so they can be read by foreigners, and domestic tourists.
You know you're out-back when the roads signs are just in Japanese.



I think this was a public well in a local town square.



If you're ever in Japan, and want some serious me time, a visit to a local barber like this one is recommended.
It takes at least one hour; cut, wash, dry, shave, 20 towels, a massage or two, ear cleaning, nose hair trimming, and fuzz shaving (woman and man).



Quiet local roads, with six digit telephone number dating to the 1980s.



Dam viewing spot for a quiet drink...

(Camera: Bessa R3a. Film: Portra 400.)

BWJones

I look forward to every single one of these posts. Thank you Kuro Neko.

TMc993

The six digit telephone number reminded me that when we moved to Dahlonega in 1975, just 80 miles north of downtown Atlanta, we used only four digits for local calls. Now we use ten...

Thank you again for ongoing tour and the lovely images. They are just wonderful to see.