Sep 10, 2006 4:32:15 PM
- Porsche-Jeck
- Rennteam Master
-
- Loc: Rheinland , Germany
- Posts: 4856, Gallery
- Registered on: Jun 27, 2005
Great Alpine tour (report & pics)
Hi fellow Rennteamers 
Want to share with you my impressions from an incredible 18 days driver's tour in the Alps. This trip definitely has pushed my love for the Boxster to stellar heights
Those of you living in the Alpine region are previliged - I can't imagine a better place to enjoy the Boxster to the max. - there is nothing like carving through these twisties and enjoying the breathtaking panoramic views with the top down
Basically our holiday was planned to be a continous variation of driving along the beautiful passroads, hiking in the mountains and enjoying some lazy days at the lakes.
We drove 3,344 km (thereof 2,100 km alpine roads and passroads) - no technical problems at all except for the fact that my rear tires are almost gone now..(after 12,700 km total)
Of course we had to focus on a relative small part of the Alps (Central Switzerland, Tessin, Lombardy, Trentino, South Tirol, North Tirol) - it would take centuries to explore all these beautiful mountains and valleys. Just to give you some idea: we drove some 15 passroads, whereas the "Denzel" (very helpfull literature with good explanations of all passroads) lists some 600 passroads in the Alps
For those being interested in our tour plan, here is a short summary:
First leg: Düsseldorf - Lake Luzern
The Alps are not so far away if you drive a Porsche We headed towards the Alps Sunday early morning (advantage: truck ban on German Autobahns and generally empty Autobahn).
Hence it took us 4.5 hours only to get there (600 km Autobahn), despite speedlimit and traffic on the last 200 km). First 300 km have been eaten within 2 hours - thirsty Boxey needed 18 L per 100 km...So we had breakfast at home and lunch in Luzern
Second leg: Lake Luzern - Grindelwald
Nice trip along the banks of Lake Luzern, followed by the first passroad (Sustenpass - 2,224 m elev.), further nice trip along Lake Brienz and then up into the mountains. Grindelwald is located at the bottom of the most impressive Swiss mountains (famous Eiger etc.) and we had some perfect (but ehausting) hiking tours.
Third leg: Grindelwald - Lago Maggiore (Major Lake)
To get from the Northern side of the Alps to the South we did five passroads in a row in just one day (of course that's not the direct way
):
Grimselpass, Furkapass, Gotthardpass, Nufenenpass, Simplonpass (elev. between 2,108 and 2,478 m). Too bad that the top of Nufenenpass has been in clouds, but the other passroads could be driven in the sun with the top down.
We have been lucky to drive 90% of the entire tour with the top down. The ergonomy of the Boxster is just perfect for me: I had some back problems in the morning due to the unfamiliar hiking efforts the day before - after 5 hours on those passes with endless twisties I felt like reborn
Third leg: Lago Maggiore (Switzerland) - Lago di Como (Italy)
Easy drive with beautiful panorama along Lago Maggiore and Lago di Lugano. Nice excursion (away from the busy roads along Lago di Como) into the mountains (Nesso-Asso-Vallassino) and overnight stay at Bellagio.
Fourth leg: Lago di Como - Lago di Garda
Great drive! we went along Lago d'Iséo and crossed the mountains via Passo di Croce Domini. The name (passroad cross of the Lord) is rectified (partially extremely narrow road and no proctetion to prevent your car from falling off the road into the valley
) Further heading to Saló at Lake Garda via Lago d'Idro and Val Sabbia.
Fifth leg: Lago di Garda - Meran (Southern Tirol)
Started by following the West shore of lake Garda up to Riva, then took some minor roads to enjoy the beautiful Trentino region (fruit garden of Italy). SS 421 to Tenno - San Lorenzo in Banale - Lago die Molveno - Fondo - S.Felice followed by Gampenjoch (Passo die Palade) - highly recommendable to everybody who wants to avoid the Autostrada and likes to really enjoy the beautiful panorama.
Sixth leg: Meran - Tannheim valley (Austria / North Tirol)
Time to move North again: after beautiful Val Passiria (Passeier Tal) we climbed up the Timmelsjoch (Passo del Rombo) - fantastic sunny weather with breathtaking views on these giant mountains: at top of the passroad (2,509 m) we still had 16*C, although some couple of days ago it has been snowing at 1,600 m only
After passing Ötztal (Ötz valley) we made it to Haldensee (Halden Lake) via Hahntennjoch (very nice passroad with great twisties) and Lech Valley.
Trip home: Tannheim Valley - Düsseldorf
5 hours (650 km) despite normal weekday traffic and all those annoying trucks....
Boxster observations....
Italians seem to love the Boxster We got lots of nice compliments and more than one time we found people posing with the car taking pics..
The performance of the 987 S on those alpine roads is just incredible (of course at 2,500 m elevation you loose appr. 30% of your hp). Most memorable "race sessions" at Hahntennjoch and Namlos Valley (not only straights followed by hairpins, but nice curves with good insight).
I had the best driving session ever over there (something like the "perfect lap"). Only two bikers with 95 hp BMW bikes (ideal bikes for the mountains) were able to follow me. At the top of the pass we took a break to adjust the adrenaline level to normal. Biker's comments: wow, this baby goes really well --- looked like a 4WD Boxster ---- just like a Go-Kart in the corners ---- and some nice shoulder-slapping: looks like you have attended a Porsche raceschool recently 
I really appreciated their comments, because judging from their obvious knowledge of the region they seemed to be kind of Alpine driver pros (one guy worked for a biker's driving school). They said that they did some 350 km passroads only during the last days and that nobody had been able to keep up with them, but that they really had a hard time to follow my car Since this encounter my wife started to call me Walter
Of course "track-knowledge" is half of the success in the Alps and I really had to push to follow a local guy in an underpowered small Peugeot
He carved through some corners on two tires - incredible driver
Brakes of my car worked perfect, but I always take it relatively easy downhill and prefer to push hard uphill (not only with the car, but also when hiking
)
Only problem: car misses traction in all those very tight hairpin-curves. So either LSD or 4WD might be a solution
And of course the electronic dipstick is totally useless in the Alps
But you can save the money for PSE in the Alps: rev up the engine in 2nd gear up to 7 krpm in a tunnel and you know what I mean..
We saw quite few P-cars only during our trip (only three 987), but there is definitely a P-cluster at Southern Switzerland and Northern Italy around the Lakes. The few 997 models we have seen (maybe 5-7 only) all were equipped with Italian carplates.
I hope I didn't bore you with my lenghty report too much and hope you enjoy some of the attached pics (no brilliant qualitiy, just a simple digicam, but I hope they are able to transport some impressions).
Want to share with you my impressions from an incredible 18 days driver's tour in the Alps. This trip definitely has pushed my love for the Boxster to stellar heights
Those of you living in the Alpine region are previliged - I can't imagine a better place to enjoy the Boxster to the max.
- there is nothing like carving through these twisties and enjoying the breathtaking panoramic views with the top down
Basically our holiday was planned to be a continous variation of driving along the beautiful passroads, hiking in the mountains and enjoying some lazy days at the lakes.
We drove 3,344 km (thereof 2,100 km alpine roads and passroads) - no technical problems at all except for the fact that my rear tires are almost gone now..(after 12,700 km total)
Of course we had to focus on a relative small part of the Alps (Central Switzerland, Tessin, Lombardy, Trentino, South Tirol, North Tirol) - it would take centuries to explore all these beautiful mountains and valleys. Just to give you some idea: we drove some 15 passroads, whereas the "Denzel" (very helpfull literature with good explanations of all passroads) lists some 600 passroads in the Alps
For those being interested in our tour plan, here is a short summary:
First leg: Düsseldorf - Lake Luzern
The Alps are not so far away if you drive a Porsche
We headed towards the Alps Sunday early morning (advantage: truck ban on German Autobahns and generally empty Autobahn).
Hence it took us 4.5 hours only to get there (600 km Autobahn), despite speedlimit and traffic on the last 200 km). First 300 km have been eaten within 2 hours - thirsty Boxey needed 18 L per 100 km...So we had breakfast at home and lunch in Luzern
Second leg: Lake Luzern - Grindelwald
Nice trip along the banks of Lake Luzern, followed by the first passroad (Sustenpass - 2,224 m elev.), further nice trip along Lake Brienz and then up into the mountains. Grindelwald is located at the bottom of the most impressive Swiss mountains (famous Eiger etc.) and we had some perfect (but ehausting) hiking tours.
Third leg: Grindelwald - Lago Maggiore (Major Lake)
To get from the Northern side of the Alps to the South we did five passroads in a row in just one day (of course that's not the direct way
):
Grimselpass, Furkapass, Gotthardpass, Nufenenpass, Simplonpass (elev. between 2,108 and 2,478 m). Too bad that the top of Nufenenpass has been in clouds, but the other passroads could be driven in the sun with the top down.
We have been lucky to drive 90% of the entire tour with the top down. The ergonomy of the Boxster is just perfect for me: I had some back problems in the morning due to the unfamiliar hiking efforts the day before - after 5 hours on those passes with endless twisties I felt like reborn
Third leg: Lago Maggiore (Switzerland) - Lago di Como (Italy)
Easy drive with beautiful panorama along Lago Maggiore and Lago di Lugano. Nice excursion (away from the busy roads along Lago di Como) into the mountains (Nesso-Asso-Vallassino) and overnight stay at Bellagio.
Fourth leg: Lago di Como - Lago di Garda
Great drive! we went along Lago d'Iséo and crossed the mountains via Passo di Croce Domini. The name (passroad cross of the Lord) is rectified (partially extremely narrow road and no proctetion to prevent your car from falling off the road into the valley
) Further heading to Saló at Lake Garda via Lago d'Idro and Val Sabbia.
Fifth leg: Lago di Garda - Meran (Southern Tirol)
Started by following the West shore of lake Garda up to Riva, then took some minor roads to enjoy the beautiful Trentino region (fruit garden of Italy). SS 421 to Tenno - San Lorenzo in Banale - Lago die Molveno - Fondo - S.Felice followed by Gampenjoch (Passo die Palade) - highly recommendable to everybody who wants to avoid the Autostrada and likes to really enjoy the beautiful panorama.
Sixth leg: Meran - Tannheim valley (Austria / North Tirol)
Time to move North again: after beautiful Val Passiria (Passeier Tal) we climbed up the Timmelsjoch (Passo del Rombo) - fantastic sunny weather with breathtaking views on these giant mountains: at top of the passroad (2,509 m) we still had 16*C, although some couple of days ago it has been snowing at 1,600 m only
After passing Ötztal (Ötz valley) we made it to Haldensee (Halden Lake) via Hahntennjoch (very nice passroad with great twisties) and Lech Valley.
Trip home: Tannheim Valley - Düsseldorf
5 hours (650 km) despite normal weekday traffic and all those annoying trucks....
Boxster observations....
Italians seem to love the Boxster
We got lots of nice compliments and more than one time we found people posing with the car taking pics..
The performance of the 987 S on those alpine roads is just incredible (of course at 2,500 m elevation you loose appr. 30% of your hp). Most memorable "race sessions" at Hahntennjoch and Namlos Valley (not only straights followed by hairpins, but nice curves with good insight).
I had the best driving session ever over there (something like the "perfect lap"). Only two bikers with 95 hp BMW bikes (ideal bikes for the mountains) were able to follow me. At the top of the pass we took a break to adjust the adrenaline level to normal. Biker's comments: wow, this baby goes really well --- looked like a 4WD Boxster
---- just like a Go-Kart in the corners ---- and some nice shoulder-slapping: looks like you have attended a Porsche raceschool recently I really appreciated their comments, because judging from their obvious knowledge of the region they seemed to be kind of Alpine driver pros (one guy worked for a biker's driving school). They said that they did some 350 km passroads only during the last days and that nobody had been able to keep up with them, but that they really had a hard time to follow my car Since this encounter my wife started to call me Walter
Of course "track-knowledge" is half of the success in the Alps and I really had to push to follow a local guy in an underpowered small Peugeot
He carved through some corners on two tires - incredible driver
Brakes of my car worked perfect, but I always take it relatively easy downhill and prefer to push hard uphill (not only with the car, but also when hiking
)
Only problem: car misses traction in all those very tight hairpin-curves. So either LSD or 4WD might be a solution
And of course the electronic dipstick is totally useless in the Alps
But you can save the money for PSE in the Alps: rev up the engine in 2nd gear up to 7 krpm in a tunnel and you know what I mean..
We saw quite few P-cars only during our trip (only three 987), but there is definitely a P-cluster at Southern Switzerland and Northern Italy around the Lakes. The few 997 models we have seen (maybe 5-7 only) all were equipped with Italian carplates.
I hope I didn't bore you with my lenghty report too much and hope you enjoy some of the attached pics (no brilliant qualitiy, just a simple digicam, but I hope they are able to transport some impressions).
...Some people say the boxey doesn't need LSD...hmmh. Don't know where they drive, but not on these roads 
