Splügen Pass

I still could not believe what I was seeing even after I had been staring at the spaghetti road draped on an Alps before me for a long time. I was awed by this Photoshoped-like view. I thought the view like this existed only in the land of Harry Potters and Lord of the Ring. I was not hallucinating due to the thin air of the 2,113 meter elevation. I had to make sure that my digital camera was working because I needed a proof that I was here.

Earlier in the morning, my co-driver and I started climbing the access road from Splügen village just off A13 in southeastern Switzerland before the famous San Bernardino tunnel. This road was originally a trail established by the Roman. In the medieval time, it was used as a merchant line connecting Italy to the important commercial centers in the upper-Rhine and Danube territories.

This time, we were equipped with the new 2009 Audi A4 2.0 TDI for this mission. The whopping 258 lbs. ft torque of the diesel engine, available at below 2500 rpm, provided us with such a great ease and fun when we serpentined through hundreds of very tight hairpins of this spaghetti road. The car had the 6-speed manual transmission which made the trip much more fun. I shifted from three to two and trail braked to reduce the momentum of the car as I entered the hairpins. I rarely needed to shift to one to accelerate out the hairpin and climb up the Alps without any hesitation. This legendary Le Mans Audi R10 inspired engine was mysteriously quiet too when it accelerated.

The images of the famous Michèle Mouton, World Rally Championship (WRC) winner, in the Ur Quattro came to my mind. I imagined she would perform heel-to-toe technique and swiftly shift the gear to ensure the most optimum power delivery as her car devoured the tight right turn hairpin. Just as quickly she would enter and exit this right hand turn hairpin, she would start the same syncopation to devour the next opposite turn hairpin. The car would have barely had a chance to go in a straight before it would start drifting in the other direction.

This new A4 is the descendant of the winning Ur Quattro. The new reinforced steel technology and the Audi Space Frame construction enabled the car to handle the hairpin with uneven elevation change on each side as if it were turning on an airport runway. I crossed my arms back and forth to maintain the nine and three o’clock position on the steering wheel as I was going in and out of hairpins with an ear-to-ear smile on my face.

The nine and three o’clock steering technique taught at the Audi Driving Experience program was very instrumental in my enjoyment of driving through this fun-generating spaghetti road. This technique provides continuous feedback to the driver as to where the front wheels are pointing to, even when the car is drifting. This information is very crucial to the driver so he can make minute adjustments to maintain the car in a controlled drift.

One hairpin after another, mile after mile dreamy perfection; this road is built to test brake, steering, power, handling, and driving skill. The A4 transferred the road feel into pleasurable tingling sensation up my arms and my spine. Thousands of hours of Grand Turismo experience could not replace the heavenly feeling of driving through this road. If there was a road to eternal bliss, could this be it?

When we reached the top, we hiked for a little. We sat for a long time at the high ground that had the best vantage point of the vast valley, the spaghetti road, and the magnificent mountains surrounding this region. We didn’t want to leave this place. The sun was getting lower and I knew we had to leave soon. We still had a few more mountain passes to visit in this region.

Splügen Pass

I still could not believe what I was seeing even after I had been staring at the spaghetti road draped on an Alps before me for a long time. I was awed by this Photoshoped-like view. I thought the view like this existed only in the land of Harry Potters and Lord of the Ring. I was not hallucinating due to the thin air of the 2,113 meter elevation. I had to make sure that my digital camera was working because I needed a proof that I was here.

Earlier in the morning, my co-driver and I started climbing the access road from Splügen village just off A13 in southeastern Switzerland before the famous San Bernardino tunnel. This road was originally a trail established by the Roman. In the medieval time, it was used as a merchant line connecting Italy to the important commercial centers in the upper-Rhine and Danube territories.

This time, we were equipped with the new 2009 Audi A4 2.0 TDI for this mission. The whopping 258 lbs. ft torque of the diesel engine, available at below 2500 rpm, provided us with such a great ease and fun when we serpentined through hundreds of very tight hairpins of this spaghetti road. The car had the 6-speed manual transmission which made the trip much more fun. I shifted from three to two and trail braked to reduce the momentum of the car as I entered the hairpins. I rarely needed to shift to one to accelerate out the hairpin and climb up the Alps without any hesitation. This legendary Le Mans Audi R10 inspired engine was mysteriously quiet too when it accelerated.

The images of the famous Michèle Mouton, World Rally Championship (WRC) winner, in the Ur Quattro came to my mind. I imagined she would perform heel-to-toe technique and swiftly shift the gear to ensure the most optimum power delivery as her car devoured the tight right turn hairpin. Just as quickly she would enter and exit this right hand turn hairpin, she would start the same syncopation to devour the next opposite turn hairpin. The car would have barely had a chance to go in a straight before it would start drifting in the other direction.

This new A4 is the descendant of the winning Ur Quattro. The new reinforced steel technology and the Audi Space Frame construction enabled the car to handle the hairpin with uneven elevation change on each side as if it were turning on an airport runway. I crossed my arms back and forth to maintain the nine and three o’clock position on the steering wheel as I was going in and out of hairpins with an ear-to-ear smile on my face.

The nine and three o’clock steering technique taught at the Audi Driving Experience program was very instrumental in my enjoyment of driving through this fun-generating spaghetti road. This technique provides continuous feedback to the driver as to where the front wheels are pointing to, even when the car is drifting. This information is very crucial to the driver so he can make minute adjustments to maintain the car in a controlled drift.

One hairpin after another, mile after mile dreamy perfection; this road is built to test brake, steering, power, handling, and driving skill. The A4 transferred the road feel into pleasurable tingling sensation up my arms and my spine. Thousands of hours of Grand Turismo experience could not replace the heavenly feeling of driving through this road. If there was a road to eternal bliss, could this be it?

When we reached the top, we hiked for a little. We sat for a long time at the high ground that had the best vantage point of the vast valley, the spaghetti road, and the magnificent mountains surrounding this region. We didn’t want to leave this place. The sun was getting lower and I knew we had to leave soon. We still had a few more mountain passes to visit in this region.