Stelvio Pass

The Stelvio is the second-highest paved pass in the Alps and the one everybody has seen in a photograph: 48 numbered hairpins stacked up the north-east wall above Trafoi, climbing to 2,757 m. It is not the fastest road in Europe, and on an August afternoon it is not even a pleasant one. Early on a weekday morning it is unforgettable.

The drive

Most people climb from Prato allo Stelvio on the South Tyrol side, where the hairpins are numbered in descending order on stone markers. The road is narrow, the turns are tight enough that long cars need two bites, and the gradient is relentless. A 911 gets round each one in a single sweep, though only just on the tightest.

The Bormio side is the better drive. It is wider, faster and more varied, with a run of short tunnels, a waterfall section and open sweepers across the upper valley. From the summit you can also drop over the Umbrail Pass into Switzerland and loop back through the Val Müstair, which makes a full day of it.

In your Porsche

The Stelvio is tight for a modern 911. A 992 is about 1.85 m wide before the mirrors, and on the Trafoi side you will use all of your lane on every hairpin. What the car gives back is traction: with the engine over the driven wheels, a 911 puts its power down out of a first- or second-gear hairpin better than almost anything else. A Cayman or Boxster is narrower and easier to place, and a Macan or Cayenne will get round but takes patience. The descent is long and hard on brakes, so change the fluid before the trip whether the discs are iron or ceramic.