GROSSGLOCKNER, HIGH ALPINE ROAD
AUSTRIAContributed by: MICK K.
STARTING FROM WHERE?
Fusch an der Glocknerstrasse
FINAL DESTINATION
Heiligenblut
WHAT CAR?
Porsche 911 Targa 4S
WHICH OPINARI PRODUCT(S)?
Men's Driving Gloves
VELOCITY COLLECTION ROSSO ACCESO
THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF KM’S?
50 km’s
AMOUNT OF TIME?
Depending on the amount of stops and how often you want to drive the Alpine road, I would say 2 hours.
WHY DID YOU WANT TO DO IT?
Since the road was named so often, and we were on a roadtrip to Venice, this part was very convenient.
BEST FOR? (ROOF-LESS CAR, SPORTSCAR, ADRENALINE JUNKIES, RACE FANATICS ETC.)
Sportscars if you need a adrenaline boost, a vintage car if you want to ride in style and absorb the sights.
THE ROUTE HIGHLIGHTS?
We started our road trip in the Netherlands, heading for Venice. Since I am the main driver, I could also pick the route we supposed to drive and of course added the long waited GrossGlockner route. The Porsche Targa was a new adding to the family and needed to be tested. And with this in mind, the route trip was perfect for it. Germany allowed us to try if we could reach the top speed (unfortunately due to all road constructions it was quite impossible), but we could share with you; nobody was able to overtake us. Luckily we didn’t meet any Porsche 918 ;-). The A31 remains to be a stunner in that respect. After driving for about 5 hours we hit Stuttgart and of course needed to pay a visit to the Porsche Museum. Walking through the history of Porsche let me realise and increased the love for the Porsche brand and my new four wheels. Excited and impressed, we continued our trip towards München(yes, we probably could drive it all at once, but we had a holiday).
I have to say, the more we went to the South of Germany, the more car passion I felt. Approaching the Alp mountains is an impressive sight. Driving into Austria is already an experience since the scenery is changing completely. Please be aware of buying a vignette, the fines aren’t cheap. Making use of the Targa’s open roof including a bit of sun made the morning trip towards the GrossGlockner a very pleasant ride. Within a short notice the highest point of Austria came in sight; the 3798 meter high mountain, thus the most priced start of the GrossGlockner route.
It was July, so the environment was pretty crowded with tourist, but what to expect! You need to pay an entrance fee of about €35,00,- to enter the GrossGlockner, this on top of your vignette. The route is about 50km’s long, contains thirty six 180 degrees corners and offers magnificent sights. It’s not because of no reason that they once hosted the Grossglockner Grand Prix on this beauty of a road. The highest point of the road is located at just above 2.500m. The roads are wide and most of the corners are see through corners, so you can participate quickly and don’t get surprised easily. Another highlight was, even though being a bit touristic, the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe. A beatifull look out point to take a deep breath of fresh Alp air.
But back to our experience, the Porsche was really in its natural habitat, this blue monster was sticking to the road and cornering perfectly. It gave so much confidents and trust. A real piece of German engineering. I have to admit, driving this car on the limits really requires some practise, so I think I will sign up for a race course to get the fullest out of this car. Accompanied by the missing Targa roof, I don’t think there is a better car to drive and experience this road. You can really feel the boxer engine working and since we overhauled the exhaust a bit, it was a pleasure to our ears. This was by the way also confirmed by the thumbs we received from other road users.
CONCLUSION?
This piece of road is surely worth the visit and in my opinion it is just as good, maybe better, compared to the Stelvio pass. I can highly recommend it, but the side note; don’t rush. We had a great experience taking it step by step. After all, it was or is your holiday!
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