By A.J. Baime / Photographs and Video by Gem Hale for WSJ

Tosin Abasi, 42, a Los Angeles-based progressive-metal guitar player and founder and CEO of the guitar company Abasi Concepts, on his 2022 Porsche 911 GT3, as told to A.J. Baime

My car journey began, in a sense, in a bar in Savannah, Georgia, roughly half my life ago. My band was playing a show and I met a girl who was from Ketchikan, Alaska. While road tripping from Georgia to Ketchikan, she taught me to drive a manual transmission, in a Volkswagen Golf. That was the first time I really identified with a love of driving.

When I got a little money, I bought a VW GTI, which is a performance version of the Golf. Later, I went to a Porsche Cayman, then an Audi R8 V10, then a Ferrari 488, a McLaren 720S and now, a Porsche 911 GT3, successively. With each, I was almost afraid to own something so nice and powerful, but each was also a personal trophy.

Like an electric guitar, a car is an instrument, a piece of technology that interfaces with the human body to achieve a goal. There is so much overlap. In each case, there are ways to design the instrument to make it more precise. You synergize with it and it becomes part of your identity. You evolve with it and through it. The aesthetics, down to an electrifying paint color, are a celebration of the performance.

But at the same time, form follows function. The slopes, the contours, the weight -- all of it informs the way it behaves and your journey with it.

The Porsche 911 GT3 had always been on my radar, because of this model's legacy. The GT3 is basically a racing version of the 911 that Porsche had to make street legal and sell to customers in order to qualify it to compete in certain racing series. It is identifiable as a 911, but it is something quite different. The suspension, the amount of downforce -- everything is race derived.

It was not until the 992 generation -- the eighth and current generation of the 911, launched in 2018 -- that I seriously considered it. In a way, it was a departure. My previous car, a McLaren 720S, was more powerful on paper, and it looked like a spaceship. I was going from over 700 horsepower to about 500.

The Porsche 911 GT3 looks like a Porsche 911, which is not exactly a rarity in Los Angeles. But when I test drove one, I realized that its legacy is a real thing. I was hooked and I cannot think of a car I would rather own. It feels as purpose-built as a race car. The front end is incredibly responsive. The power and precision have to be experienced to be understood.

I modified mine with smaller Apex wheels so I could have more tire options, and I have wider tires to increase the contact patch between the rubber and the road. I added a BBI roll cage with racing harnesses, and a bunch of aerodynamic features to increase the downforce.

My favorite place to drive this car is the canyons outside of Los Angeles. I would describe these as some of the best driving roads in the world. You have an expansive network of roads that are gorgeous, with tight radius turns, long sweeping bends and big elevation changes. You don't have to worry about weather. You can get up early and feel like you're soaring through these canyons that you have all to yourself.

Another thing that supercars have in common with guitars is the way each sings with its own unique voice. I put a Fabspeed exhaust system on my 911 GT3, and it is very loud.

But the 4.0-liter naturally aspirated boxer six[-cylinder] engine is the centerpiece. It's like a living thing, and experientially, it is the most imposing, visceral part.

Write to A.J. Baime at myride@wsj.com.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 24, 2025 09:00 ET (13:00 GMT)

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