#2 Best Road To Drive - Davos, Switerland To The Stelvio Pass, taly
In the summer of 2007, the team from BBC show Top Gear decided to try and find the Worlds Best Driving Road. An admiral task if ever there was one.
They ended up finding three - and I wish they would have asked me first as I knew 2 of them, one from watching the worlk rally championship on television and one from a friends recommendation.
The search started with a map of the world. In typical Clarkson fashion, 99% of the world was dismissed within 30 seconds and what remained was a samll part of Europe lying from Monaco and going North through to Switzerland.
The Top Gear team, Jeremy "annoying git" Clarkson, Richard "Hamster" Hammond and James "old-lady slow" May each picked a high performace supercar but with a little twist. Each car they picked was a specialized, light-weight version of an already incredible supercar. Here is what each driver picked:-
Jeremy Clackson - Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
Brake Horse Power:
530
Top Speed:
195mph
0-60mph:
3.8 seconds
The Superleggera makes it weight reducion by using corbon fibre and titanium. Even the rear engine cover's glass is replaced by plastic to save weight. In addition, power has been increased over the standard Gallrdo by 10bhp. I want one of these!
Richard Hammond - Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Brake Horse Power:
415
Top Speed:
183mph
0-60mph:
4.2 seconds
The 911 GT3 RS is the lighter version of the already super-fast GT3 which is the lighter, faster version of the already super-fast 911. The Porsche engineers have put in a new close(er) ration 6-speed gearbox and changed the engine management system to allow higher revs. Downforce is also increased by use of a larger rear spolier. I just wish it wasn't in bright green!
James May - Aston Martin V8 Vantage N24
Brake Horse Power:
410
Top Speed:
175mph
0-60mph:
4.2 seconds
This is a true racing car. Completely stripped down - including passenger seats, carpets, air conditioning, windows, and even door locks - thi car weighs 250kg less then the "regular" V8 Vantage and has an additional 30bhp. I love this car - even in Yellow!
Leaving Monaco they headed North towards the Italian border, basically only knowing they were going to head North to Italy, Switerland or Austria - they couldn't decide.
But, after several mis-adventures, they found three fantastic roads. And, according to them, each got better until they found the worlds best driving road (I think they have it nearly right).
Section 1 - Col De Turini - Italy Total Miles: 30 Driving Time: 38 Minutes
Running from Sospel in the South and ending in La Bollene in the North, Cole De Turini rises to an altitude of 5272 feet and has some spectacular scenery.
This is one of the most famous roads in the world as it has been used as a stage on World Rally Championship for the last 50 years.
Driven at night it became known as the "Night of the long knives".
It is narrow, twisty and very dangerous - and should be driven with extreme concentration. But this is just the sort of roads that we like.
Anyone can go fast in straight line, but driving fast on roads like this takes skill and dedication.
In fact, the whole region is very, very beutiful and wonderfull to drive. It is also part of the "Routes des Grandes Alpes" or "Grand Alpine Route" of which you can find details in the France section of this website.
The guys loved this road. Except James, who in a car without air conditioning and a seat way too low for him, had to exert way too much effort to drive quickly. Why oh why didn't he get a car with air conditioning in the South of France and Italy in the middle of Summer. Or at the very least, have a car where the windows opened!
The only other part to go wrong for these guys was the Clarkson ran out of fuel. Normally that is not too big a problem as someone just heads into town and gets some. The problem was that the filler cap would not open.
As he said, and I paraphrase, "as you would expect from a car maker owned by Audi, every thing works - but the Germans must have given this one little task (the fuel filler opening mechanism) to the Italians."
Eventually they got it working and headed on down the pass.
The following day, again after mis-adventures, they found another highly rated road, this time in Switzerland.
Section 2 - San Bernardino Pass - Switzerland Total Miles: 57 Driving Time: 1 Hours 16 Minutes
The San Bernardino Pass is a beautiful stretch of road running through a high mountain moore and going past the glorious lake Moesola.
At its higest point of 6775 feet, this is what I call a great driving road.
Smooth road, lots of bends and plenty of places to go fast. All while looking at fantastic scenery.
It is closed in Winter, as you would expect but the whole area has lots of interesting attractions if you are into driving, skiing, hiking or just plain sight-seeing
Part of the road goes through a 4 mile long tunnel and the Top Gear guys certainly enjoyed gunning the cars and listening to the sweet, sweet sound of performance engines.
Even though this was a great road, there was even better things in store - starting in Davos it was going to get very, very good.
Section 3 - Davos (Switzerland) To Stelvio Pass - Italy Total Miles: 57 Driving Time: 2 Hours 6 Minutes
Leaving Davos and heading South East towards Dormio through the Schweizer National Park, the guys soon found exactly what they had been looking for.
Miles and miles of smooth, deserted road that seemed to be built for high performance machines.
Not only that, and what I personaly like, is that the road is not to narrow and there is plenty of visibility infront. This makes for a much more enjoyable drive.
Clarkson even went as far as ask why God had given this road to the Swiss, He should obviously given it to the English!
Things were about to get even better though.
After leaving Dormio, they headed North through the Stelvio National Park towards Stelvio and through the Stelvio Pass.
What a road they found.
With 60 hairpins, 48 on the Northern and 12 on the Southern ramp, this is considered one of the toughest driving roads in the world.
And rightly so from all reports.
As you would expect, the Porsche and Lamborghini perfomed exceptionally well. And then, even the Aston, at which James had done nothing but complain about, started to "make sense".
Perhaps the store purchased seat cushion and the de-odorent had started to gave some effect.
Rising up over 8,000 feet, and as you can see from the photographs, this road is extremly technical, tight, twisty and just downright scary on the North side.
The south side is a little wider, has greater visibility and is a little more forgiving.
It is suggested you drive this roads both ways to appreciate it.
Just be safe, enjoy the drive, watch out for cops (especially in Switzerland), dont get any speeding tickets and make sure you are fully insured!
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