I left Tokyo and made my way to Gotemba, and from there I took one more bus over to Fun2Drive. The plan was simple- Spend the day driving around in a small group with a guide, looking at some sights and enjoying a wonderful selection of cars.
As it’s been a while since the last time I drove a fully manual car, and I didn’t really have any experience driving on the left side of the road (and partly because I booked the tour on a short notice and was a bit limited by the choice of cars), I chose to drive the Nissan Skyline GTR R35.
After checking in and meeting the other members of the small group, we had a briefing with safety tips and an explanation of the route we were going to take. With that out of the way, it was time to get in the cars.
Not being used to the car, or the roads, I set the gearbox to automatic mode for a start. The first part of the drive was supposed to be slower, to give everyone a chance to get used to driving in their car of choice. The GTR was wider than I expected, and having the driver seat on the right side of the car made it even more difficult, changing the field of view that I’m used to. I had to concentrate hard, on the one hand not to run into a wall or get into a ditch, and on the other hand not to crash into oncoming traffic (Fortunately, in the first part there wasn’t much traffic). It was quite stressful in the beginning, which kinda got in the way of being able to enjoy the experience.
Eventually we got to our first stop, the Entrance to Fuji Speedway. We parked the cars and got out to look at the view, take some pictures, and discuss our first impressions of the drive so far. After we all took some pictures, we got back in the cars and into Fuji Speedway, driving around for a few short minutes before we stopped again, this time to have some lunch. I was surprised by how fast time went by.
Sitting down at the restaurant, we had a great view of the race track, so we could watch the occasional cars driving around as we ate and chatted for a while. After lunch I went around to take some pictures around the parking lot until it was time to get back in the cars and keep driving.
At this point, I started to feel a bit more comfortable with the GTR, and so I switched the gearbox mode from automatic to manual. Having more control over the car certainly made it more fun, although we didn’t really go fast or had many corners, so as we drove around the track I mostly just stayed in second gear.
When we left the race track and made our way toward the next stopping point, I had more chances to change gears, get a better feel for the car, and take in the view of some nice driving roads. Every now and then we would stop for a quick break to look at the view, stretch our legs, and use the bathroom.
As time passed, I started to feel more and more comfortable with the GTR, and although the roads we took didn’t give the option to go very fast, the twists and turns were challenging enough on their own, and I found myself going into a few corners faster than I should have.
While I don’t remember every single stop we made, toward the end of the day we had one more stop at the beginning of the Hakone Skyline. At that point, the view was a bit cloudy, and the wind got stronger, so we quickly got back in the cars, paid the fee, and resumed our driving. Being all the way in the back, and with a bit slower pace, the other did wait for me a couple of times along the road, although the road didn’t split at any point, so I couldn’t get lost even if I tried.
We made one more stop, to refuel the cars, and then made our way back to Fun2Drive and said goodbye, feeling somewhat sad that the event was over so quickly. Overall, this was a very enjoyable day, one that I’d love to experience again, with a different car.