The morning following the celebrations of the Portuguese victory for Smart Times
2014 was dreadful. The steady rain and cold, together with a lack of events for
the day, meant that ST2013 was close to dead. I had previously planned to drive
what the guys from Top Gear called the best driving road in the World, and I
had also been told by locals that the weather changes a lot along Switzerland.
So, it was with lots of expectation that I drove out of Buochs at 10 a.m.
Clarkson, Hammond and May drove from Davos to Stelvio, but as I was heading
back to Germany, I decided to drive to Davos, but instead of driving to
Stelvio, I would leave the road 28 and head to Malles Venosta instead, then San
Valentino Alla Muta, Imst and Füssen. Fingers crossed for blue skies!
The first part of the route was only Motorway, but it was´t that boring
because the Swiss landscapes are always changing, and are always beautiful. I
must also add that the Swiss people were right of course, because some 20km
away from Lucerne, the rain stopped for good.
Road to Heaven
The climb to Davos started already on country roads, more specifically road
28. The first bit was already fun to drive, with plenty of curves, some bends
and beautiful sights. Around this point there was some traffic, especially
going on the opposite direction, but nothing that spoiled the fun, as one of
the advantages the Roadster has in such an environment is that it exaggerates
the sensation of speed.
But the real heaven began after Davos. The place is called Flüelapass, a road through a valley that climbs up to 2383 metres, and that on the very top has a small lake just at the side of the road. It was the last week of August, but there already was fresh snow and a 5.5°C temperature, so the landscape was just a flat, snake-like road in the bottom of a valley surrounded by partly white, stony hills. It leaves you breathless. Clarkson and Co. were right. I have driven on many great roads, but the Flüelapass is on a class of its own.
After driving on this astonishing bit of Planet Earth, the Sun began to
shine, and the landscape turned to abundant green once again. What didn’t
change fortunately, was the quality of the landscape and road. Again with more
gradients – now descendent, still with plenty of corners and some hairpins, the
Roadster kept delighting its guardian. Honestly, I can think of very little
cars which are just at home as the Roadster – of course, an Elise with a
1.6-litre engine or a Super 7 170, with its new 0,7-litre engine, would also
provide perfect company. However, I honestly think a smaller engined car is
better suited for these kinds of roads, because it allows to savour the
experience more time and less dangerously. On such conditions, even with an
82hp car it’s very easy to arrive to a bend far too fast.
What you do need are good seats, comfortable and with proper lateral
support, another area where the Roadster excels, but that I had already found
out when I drove from Portugal to Germany, because at the end of day 1 and 1270
km (794 miles), my back was as new.
At the end of the weekend, my beloved Roadster had
done just shy of 1000km (620 miles) and averaged 4,9 l/100km (58 UK mpg) of
98-ron petrol, simply astonishing given the way it was driven and further proof
of how accomplished the whole package is.
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