Day 11: Around Tirol (Austria)

Today should be a good one: we’re back exploring the mountains – this time on the Grossglockner – the highest paved road in Austria.

This is our fourth visit here, having previously been in our Volvo S40 diesel in 2007 and then in our Taycan 4S and Taycan Turbo S in 2021 and 2023 respectively. Now it is our 911 Targa‘s turn – arguably the best car yet to do this in.

There is no fuel stations on the Grossglockner and we do not want to be worrying about fuel consumption on the mountains so we stop at a service station outside the town we’re stating in for a top off.

Unexpectedly, this service station is selling 100 octane fuel at €2.18/litre – by far the best quality/price mix we’ve seen yet. Our tank is not full, with a mix of 98 octane fuel from yesterday and 100 octane from this top-off.

There even seems to be a sticker on the 100 octane fuel advertising its recent improvement from 98 octane.

We head off in the direction of the Grossglockner under a deep blue sky. It is a little cooler than it has been but still beautiful and of course our Targa roof is down – as it has been since we arrived into Konstanz in Germany last week.

We arrive at the entrance and pay the €46.50 toll and start the climb up the mountain.

We joined a small convoy with an Aston Martin and a Ferrari for a brief run toward the glacier. Roadworks caused vehicles to cluster at the halts, producing a curious trio – all with steering wheels on the “wrong” side.

The engine noises being amplified in the tunnels – while we enjoy the unique sound and burble of our flat-six – are no match for the raw V8 noises of the other two cars.

We are recording all our data from today using the Porsche Track Experience app, which despite its name works perfectly well off-track. It records 100s of data points about our car: engine parameters, steering wheel angle, throttle position, etc., and also connects into our Porsche Dashcam to overlay the data onto the video of the drive.

It is a lot of data – too much to handle on the road – we look forward to sharing some of our experiences on the Grossglockner with this blog when we return to Ireland.

The Aston Martin and Ferrari peel off, and we park up at the quiet multi-storey car park and walk out to view the glacier.

Despite the blue skies – we are at 2500 metres – so it is a cold 4c degrees out and windy. We’re glad we brought warm fleeces with us – even though we generally don’t need to wear them even with the roof down in our car when on the move.

The glacier seems to be getting smaller each year we visit; and not lost on us that driving here in a petrol car is not helping.

Visiting in late September was a good idea – the area is quieter than we’re used to.

We’re going to be exploring this area for the day so decide to drop down some altitude to our favourite restaurant for some lunch.

The rubber on the ground makes it look like we skidded into our parking spot – we certainly didn’t!

There are wonderful views from the veranda of the restaurant as we eat lunch.

Compared to the previous times we’ve been here, the EV charging infrastructure has been greatly improved.

As the evening approaches the amount of vehicles greatly reduces and we effectively have the Grossglockner to ourselves.

We are able to negotiate the tight cobblestone roads without the risk of approaching cars on the narrow turns.

We send up our drone to capture perspectives that would not be possible from the ground.

The same scene from the ground perspective.

It is interesting to see the complex shadows cast by the mountains on the road. You really do notice this when driving it – sunglasses go from being mandatory to needing to be removed between the bends.

We pull in to use one of the many public toilets available. Every restroom we’ve used in Austria has always been in spotless condition.

We pass the Porsche orientated Mankei restaurant which is just closing as we arrive outside.

In September 2023, we randomly passed here in our Taycan Turbo S on its opening day without realising what it was or what was happening. It was obvious something Porsche related given what was parked outside but it wasn’t until later that evening that we were able to piece it together,

The story behind the F.A.T. Mankei restaurant

Up the Grossglockner High Alpine Road is a special venue that’s set to become a meeting point for Porsche fans and car lovers of all persuasions

It is a cool 5.4c degrees up here at this time of the evening.

Yet the roof remains down on our car – unless it rains, the top stays open.

As darkness starts to fall, we decide to head back to our hotel.

Charging up our cameras for another day tomorrow.

Stats

Today we did 236 km over 6:29 hours, with an average speed of 37 km/h, consuming 15.3 litres/100 km.