I have an urge to rent a sports car and drive up a famous mountain road…

BoxheadTim said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

All I need to do to find the nearest hairpins is to drive down into the valley from here .

Based on the sample of cars spotted today, the locals are likely to drive anything from a base model Fiat 500 to a Ferrari 458. My budget is probably more at the Fiat end . Small hatchback definitely works better around here, although trying to convince someone at a car rental counter that I can drive a manual despite having a US license has been fruitless so far.

Of course, Switzerland. I was living in Haute Savoie so it was all Renault 4s and the like. And I think it was 6 hairpins to get to the valley floor from our house, or about 5 to get up to the main road.

A driving vacation through those Swiss passes is on my bucket list, I'm jealous you get to drive them regularly OP!

I think that after the first 6-8 hairpin turns, it would get kind of old.

Left turn, right turn, left turn, right turn...

Being able to say you had done it and the view would be pretty cool though. 

Keith Tanner said:

If you rent something with massive capability, you'll never be able to play with it. Something like an M4 would just be frustrating. At that point, just get a convertible with a nice exhaust note so you can enjoy the sounds and the scenery as you cruise. That's why I recommended the same thing the locals drive - a little hatchback. Preferably French.

When I lived in the Alps in 1990, I would just look on maps for roads with lots of hairpins. No need for guides or tours.

This, a Miata or Fiat 500 would be great choices, maybe an old Peugeot hot hatch if you can get something odd from Turo etc. Even a Citroen 2CV will provide a "unique experience"

bigmack101 said:

A driving vacation through those Swiss passes is on my bucket list, I'm jealous you get to drive them regularly OP!

When we first started going to the Alps for summer vacays (hiking and driving), I found this list to be useful.  Note that there are more than 10 listed despite the title.  Did almost all of these plus as Keith said, lots more found just by looking for twisty roads on the map.

https://www.ultimatedrives.net/top-10-roads/

In reply to Andy Hollis :

Thanks for sharing the link.  I remember a guy on Miatanet years ago talking about one of those listed:  San Bernardino Pass.  He regarded it highly, along with Stelvio.

Someday, someday ....

Having flown to Italy in November, rented a "car" (Daihatsu Sirion), and tried to drive the Stelvio pass, I can tell you that it's closed in the winter.  But there are lots of great roads in the area that are open, and the lack of summer tourists can be helpful.

Catching up on this now that I'm back in the US.

That area is ski country so it was very busy between Christmas and 1/6. Plus, passes being open or not is a crapshoot at that time of year anyway.

From what I could tell, there's no Turo in Switzerland so that won't work as a source of cars but as mentioned earlier in this thread, Sixt tends to have a few interesting cars available. I'm not sure I can swing more than a drive-by vacation in summer for my mom's "official" birthday celebration if I want to take off any other time like a vacation to recover from the "vacation" I just had with my uncle's unexpected passing, funeral and all that.

Then again, I might take the really long way back for my drive back to Zurich and might be able to fit the Stelvio in that way.

The most fun I've had in twisty European mountain passes was behind the wheel of a rented Peugeot hatch, Nissan Micra, and Fiat 500. All were 4-bangers with 5-speed manuals.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

I've rented an Audi A1 from Sixt before.  Manual transmission, cheap enough to be affordable but not actually cheap.  Small/light/fun enough to actually enjoy some twisty roads.  Something along those lines would probably work great.

GameboyRMH said:

Keith Tanner said:

If you rent something with massive capability, you'll never be able to play with it. Something like an M4 would just be frustrating. At that point, just get a convertible with a nice exhaust note so you can enjoy the sounds and the scenery as you cruise. That's why I recommended the same thing the locals drive - a little hatchback. Preferably French.

When I lived in the Alps in 1990, I would just look on maps for roads with lots of hairpins. No need for guides or tours.

This, a Miata or Fiat 500 would be great choices, maybe an old Peugeot hot hatch if you can get something odd from Turo etc. Even a Citroen 2CV will provide a "unique experience"

I cannot recommend a Fiat 500 for this mission, based on my... friend's experience:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/fiat-500-long-grade-70mph-cel/154725/page1/

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

Old saying in the UK, the fastest cars are company or rented, so send it. Plus, I'm not trying to get four people into the car .