BMW 1 Series Coupe Forum / 1 Series Convertible Forum (1M / tii / 135i / 128i / Coupe / Cabrio / Hatchback) (BMW E82 E88 128i 130i 135i)
 





 

Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      07-09-2010, 05:45 AM   #1
Dackelone
European Editor
Dackelone's Avatar
Germany
10505
Rep
22,992
Posts

Drives: N54 e82
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Bayern, Germany

iTrader: (1)

Gross Glockner Pass – Hoch Strasse

Gross Glockner Pass – Hoch Strasse


I finally got to drive this wonderful road! Ever since I had first heard the word: Grossglockner Pass… I have wanted to drive this road in the clouds. Many years ago I read a story (in a British magazine: CAR) on this mountain pass road. Seems the Silver Arrow race cars use to run around these mountain roads. This was my first taste of this famous road. I have always wanted an excuse to go for a drive around those Alpine roads. Well… last weekend I finally made it possible. Just me and my TiAg 135i.

My plan was to go visit the EFA Museum in Amerang, Germany. Then continue to drive past Salzburg and down the Autobahn to Gmund (in Karten – there is another Gmund near Wein!), Austria. I wanted to go to Gmund (in Karten, near Villach) Austria because I am a huge Porsche fan. Gmund is where any P-fan will tell you the first 48 all aluminum Porsche 356 models were hand made. In near by “Zell am See” is where the Porsche family is buried and still owns a house there.

For some perspective Amerang is about an hour away from Munich (Muenchen). Gmund is about two hours further South in Austria. And the Southern entrance to the Glockner Pass is another hour South of Gmund. Just so you may plan your next ED here!

So, first I went to EFA (you saw my pics posted today, elsewhere on the forum)

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=406067


….and then I drove down to Gmund to visit this small private Porsche museum there (maybe 20 cars): Automuseum Helmut Pfeifhofer. I stayed in a small village of Rennweg (Rennweg am Katschberg), at the Alt Post Hotel for the ripe ol’ sum of 35 euros per night! From Gmund I drove another 130kms south to “Heiligenblut” Austria. Heiligenblut is the Southern entrance to the Gross Glockner Pass. That is where all my fun began! What a ROAD!!! All I can say is IF you find yourself in this neck of the woods, I would highly recommend going for a drive up in the clouds: Gross Glockner!

You can find more information here on the Glockner Pass:

http://www.grossglockner.at/en/





The Glockner is considered a toll road open to the public. It costs 28 euros for a ONE day pass. Pretty pricey for a 48 km long road! But… it is still worth it! It is kind of a Nuerburgring in the heavens/clouds. It is really that nice. I did find myself a little scared of the drop offs. Especially since there are little to no guard rails found around the Glockner! There were A LOT of motorcycles roaming around this mountain road. And seemed like ever bike rider was scraping their leg pegs thru the many, many Alpine turns. Every turn was even numbered! lol I did not want to think why one would need to do that! But I did drive under my own limits thru the round a bouts!

I never saw any speed limit signs! Just one sign at the beginning that said please drive SLOW – yea… right! And judging by how fast everyone was screaming and sliding their cars & bikes (and the occasional RV!) around the turns… no one really cared much! I never even saw any cops around!! A very different approach than say in the USA at Skyline Drive (West of Washington DC) where the Park Police sit in wait!!

One cool thing about this road is that a lot of the auto companies use the downhill sections (the Northern entrance, a town called: Pusch) to test their future model brake systems. I saw a new Saab and a current VW Toran being tested. In typical German fashion they even have to label these cars as “test cars” on the back of them! I remember reading somewhere that Brembo and Continental also test here.

What surprised me once I was driving around the Glockner is how much snow they still had up there! I mean it is summer time over here! We have temps in the 90’s F range right now… but up at two thousand plus meters they still had lots of snow laying around! I was also surprised to see there were MANY places to stop and eat lunch at. Or better yet, pack a picnic lunch and find a place to take in the Alpine air. There is even a museum on the Glockner’s historical past. I wish I knew about this before I went there. Ahh… maybe on my next visit there!

At the highest part of the Glockner it was 2.500 meters. (7.500 feet!) And… my poor 135i felt about 60 Hp down on power too! But it still screamed from alpine turn to alpine turn.

Ok, here are my pics:

First a picture of my car in the picture postcard town of “GrossKirchheim” (Big Cherryhome!). I stopped here for lunch before arriving at the Southern entrance of Heiligenblut, Austria.





These next two photos I “borrowed’ from the Glockner website. It really shows(better than my pics) how sweet the Alpine Glockner roads are!





Ok, now my pics…






A very pretty water fall…


A water dam…


One of the many places to stop and get a bite to eat/drink.


Would you LOOK at that road!!! See the covered road half way up that mountain… that is where we are headed!




The cover roadway is coming…






Glockner Haus
















One of the two tunnels on the pass... I wish I had a PPE!!!



Look a this SNOW!






This is how they get rid of the snow!
























A prototype Saab being tested…




The VW van is also a test car…


The toll plaza at the North entrance…



Some notes for driving in Austria (Österreich).

The biggest tip is you MUST PURCHASE an Autobahn decal in order to legally drive on the Austrian Autobahn. A ten day decal costs seven euros. IF the Polizei stop you with out this decal, the fine is 110 euros right there on the spot! No cash… they will drive you to an ATM! Also… when you buy the decal… you MUST apply it to the front windshield. Failure to do so… will result in an even higher fine! I think 500 euros. You will see signs near the German-Austrian border saying “VignettenVerkauf”. Vignetten is German for toll decal. Normally there will be several signs warning you of this. But normally only the very last one is written in English. By then it will be too late. :”)

How do they catch you? Austria has many tolls as you drive South. It is not that uncommon to have to pay anther ten euros to pass thru a bridge heading south bound. The cops will stand and watch for cars with out any Vignette decal.





VignettenVerkauf at the German – Austrian border heading South into Austria.





You can also exit the autobahn and buy a decal at any as station too. Check out the cheap gas prices in Austria! Some 25 euro cents cheaper than in DE!


And this is what the decal looks like…



The speed limit during the day(in Austria) for cars is 130 kph unless otherwise posted. AT night the speed limit is 110 kph. But most of the autobahns are posted at 100 kph. Don’t speed… bc the Austrian Autobahn Polizei are watching. Also… the Autobahn Polizei cars do not really look like typical Polizei cars. The Austrian tend to like to use small vans with yellow and blue lights. These are in fact real cops! Also do not tail gate… there are some places where the autobahn is specially marked to catch you tail gating! Also… the cop who gives you a speeding ticket doesn’t have to be the one who zaps you with a radar or laser gun. I have seen on German tv where they sit way on the side of the autobahn, on a bridge, or even in the woods, and zap the cars as they go past.


Gmund Porsche Museum, Austria…

The old saw mill factory where Porsche built it’s first 51 cars…








Gmund castle in background… you just keep driving out of town to get to the old saw mill factory…


The private Porsche Museum…













The Austrian autobahn just outside of Gmund…


There are still many saw mill factories in this area of Austria…





IF you would like to see more pics of the Gmund Porsche Museum, you can see my pics here:

http://s764.photobucket.com/albums/x...sche%20Museum/

I feel kind of funny posting car pics of other automobile maker’s other than a BMW’s on a BMW car fan site! Thanks for indulging me.
Appreciate 0
      07-09-2010, 06:18 AM   #2
Erik219
Statistical Consultancy (Medical / Pharma)
Belgium
9
Rep
150
Posts

Drives: BMW 6 GT
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Brussels

iTrader: (0)

AMAAAAAAZING pics man !!! Thanks for sharing ....
Seems to me like the perfect roads to cruise with our 1-er !!!
Appreciate 1
Dackelone10504.50
      07-09-2010, 07:49 AM   #3
fwmcb
Major
fwmcb's Avatar
Canada
31
Rep
1,107
Posts

Drives: 2015 F30 328i X-drive
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: NB

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
2010 128i  [0.00]
Nice car, and awesome roads! I should have done European delivery!
Appreciate 0
      07-09-2010, 10:26 AM   #4
ianc
Ex '87 Carrera
ianc's Avatar
United_States
246
Rep
1,259
Posts

Drives: '10 TiAg 6MT 135i
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Redwood Shores, California

iTrader: (0)

David, you rule!

You hereby get my nomination as official and honorary 1Addicts tour guide!

Thanks so much for taking the trouble to post these gems,

ianc
__________________
"I will tell you there is a big difference between driving money and driving blood, sweat and tears." - PorscheGuy79

"I got 328 loaner and was impressed with performance. It feels much faster than my 135i." - MOCKBA
Appreciate 1
Dackelone10504.50
      07-09-2010, 12:13 PM   #5
sb335is
Captain
86
Rep
736
Posts

Drives: fast
Join Date: May 2010
Location: CA

iTrader: (0)

thanks for the tour
__________________
Appreciate 0
      07-09-2010, 12:59 PM   #6
escobar929
Brigadier General
escobar929's Avatar
154
Rep
4,528
Posts

Drives: M2 CS
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Hollywood, FL

iTrader: (14)

Garage List
2020 M2 CS  [10.00]
2020 M240i  [0.00]
wow, what an amazing road! sux about all the rules, but guess its a small price to pay

thanks for all the pics!
Appreciate 0
      07-09-2010, 03:44 PM   #7
Dackelone
European Editor
Dackelone's Avatar
Germany
10505
Rep
22,992
Posts

Drives: N54 e82
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Bayern, Germany

iTrader: (1)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Erik219 View Post
AMAAAAAAZING pics man !!! Thanks for sharing ....
Seems to me like the perfect roads to cruise with our 1-er !!!
Yea... the Glockner had some great thrills! Some people did get a little bit carried away though. I think you gotta respect this road much like Nuerburgring.

I did see some(four or five?) BMW's "tearing it up" on the Glockner Pass. I was kind of wondering IF maybe it was someone here? I saw an e36 coupe, and bronze e46 M3, an Z4 (first gen body) and a white 130i hatch. All these guys were going nuts slidng thier cars thru the turns! lol I will admidt I wasn't so brave as they were! lol
Appreciate 0
      07-09-2010, 05:57 PM   #8
SiN55
Second Lieutenant
10
Rep
262
Posts

Drives: 135i N55
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Croatia

iTrader: (0)

Summer 2009.



















Appreciate 0
      07-09-2010, 05:58 PM   #9
SiN55
Second Lieutenant
10
Rep
262
Posts

Drives: 135i N55
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Croatia

iTrader: (0)




















Appreciate 0
      07-09-2010, 06:02 PM   #10
SiN55
Second Lieutenant
10
Rep
262
Posts

Drives: 135i N55
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Croatia

iTrader: (0)

June 2010.









Appreciate 0
      07-09-2010, 07:46 PM   #11
Dackelone
European Editor
Dackelone's Avatar
Germany
10505
Rep
22,992
Posts

Drives: N54 e82
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Bayern, Germany

iTrader: (1)

Great photos SiN55!!! Man were there a ton of people/cars in your photos! The place was nearly empty this past Monday when I was there. I did see some guys ridding bicycles too. Your photos really show it better how steep and windy the Glockner is in real life! Thanks for adding onto this thread.
Appreciate 0
      07-09-2010, 08:17 PM   #12
Dackelone
European Editor
Dackelone's Avatar
Germany
10505
Rep
22,992
Posts

Drives: N54 e82
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Bayern, Germany

iTrader: (1)

Quote:
Originally Posted by maxnix View Post
Love the Porsche bucks! They are works of art in themselves.

Thanks all for posting a beautiful trip at different times.
The Pfeifhofer Museum also had this buck of the 550 spyder.



Appreciate 0
      07-09-2010, 09:54 PM   #13
Johan@WSTO
Colonel
United_States
200
Rep
2,117
Posts

Drives: BMW E89 Z4
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Chicago

iTrader: (2)

Oh wow.. looks like an awesome trip! Thanks for sharing!!
__________________
Appreciate 0
      07-10-2010, 08:49 AM   #14
shawshank772
Major
shawshank772's Avatar
United_States
119
Rep
1,159
Posts

Drives: 08 135i and 16 M3
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Chicago

iTrader: (1)

Wow...just wow....Illinois is BORING!!
Appreciate 0
      07-10-2010, 03:47 PM   #15
ptack
Brigadier General
ptack's Avatar
United_States
266
Rep
4,469
Posts

Drives: 135i
Join Date: May 2008
Location: NJ

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
2008 135i  [6.50]
Awesome pics. Maybe I'll give everyone a photo tour of the NJ Turnpike. No Porsche museum though.
__________________
135i, SGM, Coral, Sport Package, Auto, Premium Hifi, USB/ipod, Apex EC-7s, PPK Stage II
Appreciate 0
      07-10-2010, 04:40 PM   #16
SiN55
Second Lieutenant
10
Rep
262
Posts

Drives: 135i N55
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Croatia

iTrader: (0)

Another great Alpine road, Passo Stelvio in Italy.


Appreciate 0
      09-28-2010, 12:22 PM   #17
Makkasteez
1nt3n5ity
Makkasteez's Avatar
United_States
39
Rep
390
Posts

Drives: 08' 135i
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: San Francisco, CA

iTrader: (1)

looks awesome
Appreciate 0
      09-28-2010, 03:05 PM   #18
UsualSuspect
Lieutenant General ***
UsualSuspect's Avatar
United_States
58
Rep
751
Posts

Drives: this way and that way...
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Boston

iTrader: (4)

Thanks! I feel like I took the trip too.
__________________
Everyone has a photographic memory, some just don't have film.
Appreciate 0
      09-28-2010, 03:42 PM   #19
Garduna
Brigadier General
Garduna's Avatar
Canada
160
Rep
4,013
Posts

Drives: Sedona 1er|Yellow S3|NardoTTRS
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Toronto

iTrader: (5)

O_O simply amazing!!!
Appreciate 0
      09-28-2010, 04:26 PM   #20
Dackelone
European Editor
Dackelone's Avatar
Germany
10505
Rep
22,992
Posts

Drives: N54 e82
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Bayern, Germany

iTrader: (1)

I think I gotta go checkout the Stelvio Pass while I over here! Those three pics in SiN55's post - the road just looks awsome!!! I think soon winter will come and these roads will be closed for the winter. I don't feel like charging up there with chains on my tires! lol
Appreciate 0
      09-29-2010, 12:11 AM   #21
miiipilot
Lieutenant Colonel
miiipilot's Avatar
United_States
519
Rep
1,501
Posts

Drives: 2024 M2 Brooklyn Grey 6mt
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Cleveland, OH

iTrader: (0)

Absolutely sick pics.

Unbelievable

miiipilot
__________________
miiipilot
'24 M2 Brooklyn Grey, 6mt, Bi-Color, Black M-Color seats,
'16 MG M2, DCT, Exec. Took Delivery 4/30/16 (Sold)
Appreciate 0
      09-29-2010, 12:04 PM   #22
gdspshing2
Private
2
Rep
62
Posts

Drives: 335i
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: USA

iTrader: (0)

nice
Appreciate 0
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:26 AM.




1addicts
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST