Highest road you've been on?
Discussion
Pica-Pica said:
Not sure about U.K., but in Europe; GrossGlockner (vehicle testing), bloody hot; and Jungfrau (leisure), bloody cold. Both in midsummer (different years).
I've always had a bit of a fascination with driving to high up altitudes. I enjoy going up steep hills and feeling the car lose power as the air gets thinner lol. There's a few in the peak district which are like that but not many. Of course I also enjoy it for the views once you reach the top.Across the Tioga Pass in Yosemite/Sierra Nevada range, California. The road rises to c. 3000m / 10000ft at it's peak.
We set off from Furnace Creek in Death Valley that morning, which is -58m below sea level, and was 35 degrees, so we were wearing light weight clothing and flip flops......It was May and the Tioga pass had only just opened a couple of days prior, which meant when we stepped out at the parking area at the head of the pass, we were greeted with snow piles much taller than us and temps well below freezing. Clothing choice by that point wasn't ideal, but as the climate control had held us at a steady 22/23 degrees, we hadn't really thought it through.
It is fair to say that at the steepest section of the climb I was glad that we had booked a 300C with the Hemi V8 under the hood......and even that didn't exactly fly up. Many of the camper vans and picks up were genuinely crawling up.
Simply incredible driving, views from which will live in my memory forever.
We set off from Furnace Creek in Death Valley that morning, which is -58m below sea level, and was 35 degrees, so we were wearing light weight clothing and flip flops......It was May and the Tioga pass had only just opened a couple of days prior, which meant when we stepped out at the parking area at the head of the pass, we were greeted with snow piles much taller than us and temps well below freezing. Clothing choice by that point wasn't ideal, but as the climate control had held us at a steady 22/23 degrees, we hadn't really thought it through.
It is fair to say that at the steepest section of the climb I was glad that we had booked a 300C with the Hemi V8 under the hood......and even that didn't exactly fly up. Many of the camper vans and picks up were genuinely crawling up.
Simply incredible driving, views from which will live in my memory forever.
Highest motorway I've driven in the UK: 372 metres (M62)... That could well be the highest road I've driven in the UK as whilst I've been up many of the peaks on foot, I left the car at the bottom.
Highest motorway I've driven ever: 1,121m above sea level... The summit of the A75 "Le Meridien" autoroute at Col des Issartets. Beautiful road. Oddly, I've never driven it in a naturally-aspirated car so have never had issues with significant power less, but have noticed other N/A cars struggling a little. Most amazing thing was when I saw a 1920s classic filling up at one of the service stations really quite high up indeed... My memory is foggy but it was either a Cadillac or a Packard.
Highest bridge I've driven on: 270m, Millau Viaduct (The road deck is 270m above the river below)
Highest road I've ever driven... 1,952m, Cyprus. The only car available to me was an underpowered little 3-cylinder thing, and it really struggled at that altitude. If I had a bottle of water on the go when I set out I had an odd obsession with not opening it until I got to the top or bottom (depending on which way I was going) and seeing how much it got crushed or ballooned out.
Update: I didn't realise that Mount Teide in Tenerife was higher. 2,356m to the car park (cable car was closed due to wind). Still positively East Anglian compared to some of the experiences above!
Highest motorway I've driven ever: 1,121m above sea level... The summit of the A75 "Le Meridien" autoroute at Col des Issartets. Beautiful road. Oddly, I've never driven it in a naturally-aspirated car so have never had issues with significant power less, but have noticed other N/A cars struggling a little. Most amazing thing was when I saw a 1920s classic filling up at one of the service stations really quite high up indeed... My memory is foggy but it was either a Cadillac or a Packard.
Highest bridge I've driven on: 270m, Millau Viaduct (The road deck is 270m above the river below)
Highest road I've ever driven... 1,952m, Cyprus. The only car available to me was an underpowered little 3-cylinder thing, and it really struggled at that altitude. If I had a bottle of water on the go when I set out I had an odd obsession with not opening it until I got to the top or bottom (depending on which way I was going) and seeing how much it got crushed or ballooned out.
Update: I didn't realise that Mount Teide in Tenerife was higher. 2,356m to the car park (cable car was closed due to wind). Still positively East Anglian compared to some of the experiences above!
Edited by donkmeister on Thursday 3rd June 17:59
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