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Our route today is taking us over the Grossglockner pass. It’s raining here this morning but supposed to clear this afternoon and nicer as you go south. But I wasn’t too sure I wanted to drive the pass in bad weather so I checked their webcams and found this:
LOL!! Guess I better put my big boy pants on and go!
Great pics and thread! I'm a bit partial but I love the color!
And where the heck did you find a Manual SS?! I have been looking for one!
Thanks! The SS was about a 6 week search, started not too serious, but the more I researched the more I realized it was ideal for me. Nationwide on Autotrader usually no more than 10 nationally for sale at any time and low mileage cars are usually sold in a week. So finally I got serious and nabbed a 2017 one with 7K miles just outside of Denver the second day after listing, and it was GM certified as well- almost a new car! Absolutely love it. Keep looking, you'll find one but act fast and be prepared to travel. Might check the chevy SS forum too.
The day turned out fabulous- about 45 minutes into our trip the sun came out and the roads dried up. By the time we got to the Grossglockner pass it was completely dry and virtually empty! I couldn't believe our good fortune after hearing all the bad experiences others have had with traffic on the popular mountain passes in Europe. We were never held up for more than one turn and I was pretty much able to link hairpin after hairpin together on the way up, usually using the whole road when sight lines were good. It really was incredible. The only thing holding me back was Suzanne getting very uncomfortable with my pace. We stopped for lunch at the top and met a Dutch couple that were admiring our car and I theirs- a Golf R wagon, very cool. On the way down we immediately had a couple of motorcycles on our rear so I lead them all the way down, pretty much near max pace on the turns where I would easily loose them, but for sanity's sake kept it under 120 kph on the straights where they would catch back up- Suzanne was not happy, but I sure was! I think we had to pass one car, otherwise it was maximum effort all the way down.
The car in this element was simply a joy to drive, I had forgotten the rush you get accelerating out of corners with a GT3, it's just so intoxicating getting that rear hooked up and shooting out of the hairpins. Steering feel too is just so dialed in, the feel is a huge step up from the cars I've been driving lately (other than my race car). Only overcooked one hairpin on entry, the front washed out as the ABS kicked in, a little bit of a pucker moment, but really it just resulted in missing my apex by a couple car widths- (yes, you can see far enough ahead especially when going down to take a full racing line on entry and middle and exit- heaven!). I'm still getting used to the more aggressive rear steering on the .2- it creates some extra movement in the rear that my race tuned butt picks up on. Today in a couple of corners as I neared maximum grip or hit looser surfaces I felt the rear move and help the car tighten in the corner - at least it felt that way to me. As others have said, eventually I'll get used to it.
After Grossglockner pass we "cruised' into Muran Italy. So much Sunday traffic going south today, we only averaged 60 kph for an hour until we hit the Autostrada. Ugh. Still the car felt good and the clutch and throttle were easy to modulate and with the manual even remained engaging! After 5:30 hours of driving when we got to our new hotel, I was ready for more.
Here's some pictures from the day:
Rain greeted us in the morning.
Clouds parted as we head up the Grossglockner!
The views are incredible!
Top of the pass.
New friends from the Netherlands.
More USA unobtanium- Golf R wagon!
Near the bottom on the south side
Just another alpine town...
STOP! Surprise, Loaker factory, awesome.
Results so far, G force from the Grosslockner, and max from the first day driving to Austria (I know... wait until break in done!)
Glad you stoped a the Loacker factory, forgot to tell you :-)
not sure if you are still there, best Pizza is at Pizzaria Helm in Vischerau, same road second village in Italy after the border. Both stops are a must for every year we are in the dolomites.
Best roads to come, hope you can drive up to Cortina to Passio Giau and than Sella Ronda. This is epic, even better than Großglockner.
I am *in San Francisco, *Audi launced the eTron last week, could not imagine to do ED with it and do those roads...so enjoy
Have fun!
Yes Stuttgart, although we are probably not doing anything in Stuttgart- we drive all day to get there on Sunday from Provence and leave the next morning. I had planned on a day there at least, but Suzanne really wanted to experience Provence and take a cooking class- I'm in no position not to indulge her!
Thanks for the advice- I don't think we go back to Germany until our drop off a week from Sunday.
Sounds like you will be able to drop the car off on the Monday morning? Be careful if you plan a Sunday drop off - mine went totally wrong!
Our route today is taking us over the Grossglockner pass. It’s raining here this morning but supposed to clear this afternoon and nicer as you go south. But I wasn’t too sure I wanted to drive the pass in bad weather so I checked their webcams and found this:
LOL!! Guess I better put my big boy pants on and go!
Wow! If I had only known I would have talked to him longer! No wonder he insisted I visit the monument to Ferdinand Porsche at Ferdinand Porsche Park.
Originally Posted by beoliving
Glad you stoped a the Loacker factory, forgot to tell you :-)
not sure if you are still there, best Pizza is at Pizzaria Helm in Vischerau, same road second village in Italy after the border. Both stops are a must for every year we are in the dolomites.
Best roads to come, hope you can drive up to Cortina to Passio Giau and than Sella Ronda. This is epic, even better than Großglockner.
I am *in San Francisco, *Audi launced the eTron last week, could not imagine to do ED with it and do those roads...so enjoy
Have fun!
Yes, it took me like 10 seconds to figure out why I knew Loacker- 'Quadratini's!, STOP!! Turn left NOW!' LOL! We will be doing the Sella Ronda tomorrow! I'll try to route in Passio Giau too! Suzanne is still a little traumatized from Grossglockner!
Originally Posted by bccars
The Grossglockner is absoluty EPIC ! Must do that one again someday !
With no cars it was heaven... timing is everything!
Originally Posted by Dalema
Sounds like you will be able to drop the car off on the Monday morning? Be careful if you plan a Sunday drop off - mine went totally wrong!
love the car - huge congrats!!
Uh, Oh... We are dropping off on Sunday, but it is through the same drop off company. What went wrong?
Originally Posted by TRAKCAR
LOL awesome :-)
Yes, what is the chance of seeing that? Incredible...
*
09-23-2018, 05:01 AM
awesome :-)
