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Today we left the Tyrol region in Italy to our Hotel in Kemmeriboden Switzerland. I thought this route had three passes, but in fact it had four! In order they are:
Stelvio Pass
Umbrail Pass
Ofen Pass
Fluela Pass
This route (map posted previously) goes right through a Swiss Nature Park and it is very scenic and unspoiled country- in fact the whole drive except near Zurich was very scenic! The route took us through the heart of the nature park which is very rugged and unspoiled. The roads were narrow with lots of blind curves, in many cases down to one lane. I would say about half the drive time wise was on roads less than two lanes wide, so that made it a little stressful. I couldn't imagine this route in the heart of Summer when the roads are crowded. Midweek today the traffic was very light so that was a real blessing.
So let's talk about the passes:
Stelvio- 47 hairpin turns on the way up, a good two-thirds are blind, the road is often one lane wide and you share it with bicycles, motorcycles, campers and other cars. I give it 10 for scenery and 2 for driving. Here's a short video my wife took today that illustrates all of these points:
This is really just an alternate way down from Stelvio- Much more open but not as scenic. You could drive this harder, but the hairpins are still full lock so it is very hard to carry much speed through the corners. Here's a shot from the mid point down:
Further down the pass has some nice open sweepers where you can carry a lot of speed, but you have to be careful as you are going downhill quickly and there are still lots of blind corners where the road narrows to less than two lanes.
Ofen Pass- Named for the old iron works ovens that are still nearby, this is a shorter pass and is in the middle of the Swiss National Park. Of all the passes this one had the least restrictive views and the widest roads so even when the corners were blind you could keep a good pace without worries about oncoming traffic. Some pictures:
Santa Maria between Umbrail and Ofen pass- more narrow roads!
Fluela Pass- This is similar to Ofen pass approaching from the west as you go up it is very open and you are above the tree line most of the time so views are good. Coming down though it is more like Stelvio as you drop into the tree line and the curves become blind and the road narrows. Not quite as bad as Stelvio, but to go fast you take a lot of risk being surprised (or worse) by oncoming traffic.
Top of Fluela- picked up this Swiss chick...
So really while fun, the roads for the most part are not those you can take at full tilt. Scenery is spectacular however. The Grossglockner by far is the best of the passes we have been on during this trip. This is the only pass where, with traffic permitting, you can go full tilt up and down. Unfortunately, for safety you can't on any of the four we took today- only when they briefly open up so you can check ahead, can you drive safely at a good pace.
So after six and half hours of scenic, exciting, fun and sometimes stressful driving we made it to our hotel- cute place!
McLaren 720S somewhere near Zurich. He gave me a thumbs up, awesome!
BTW- someone asked on Facebook for the info on break-in that is in the manual you get here when you pick up your car. I wonder if they swap out this manual for the PCNA version before delivery stateside? (I'm going to take mine with me rather than leave it in the car!) Anyways much less severe and certainly more doable, I just finished our break-in on the drive to Switzerland, yeah!
Re run-in - it is very strange but in the manual provided in mine (and of course other EU GT3:s) the running in is defined as 3000km below 4000rpm... @Porsche: which is it?
Great write up and photos. If I was ever to get PTS, then Pastel Orange would definitely be in my top three colours to choose from.
For those of you considering an ED, there is one absolute rule with regards to doing these passes, and that is...you have to do it very early or late in the day. And by early, I mean you have to be hitting the road by 7am or waiting until after 6pm if you want the best conditions. Anything in between is very frustrating.
I remember when we were in Corvara to drive the Sella Rond, we got up at 6:30am and hit the road by 7am before breakfast. We had a fantastic clear road and were back at the hotel by 8:30am. It made for a fun, animated breakfast as we chatted and laughed about the drive. Then very late in the day, we went out and did the drive again... in the opposite direction before dinner. Almost no cars. Needless to say dinner was again fun!
Re run-in - it is very strange but in the manual provided in mine (and of course other EU GT3:s) the running in is defined as 3000km below 4000rpm... @Porsche: which is it?
My Owners Manual in Belgium is the same as Montoya.
My Owners Manual in Belgium is the same as Montoya.
Thanks for info, Chris. I thought it was the same across EU, since I know for a fact that the Swedish ones state the same (<4000rpm for 3000km). Very odd.
Thanks for sharing! We are hoping to to the Gotthard Pass, from Zurich to Como for our ED, but depending on the delivery date (November 2018 or Jan/Feb 2019), that may not be an option!
09-24-2018, 06:07 PM
