Section 3 of 4
The limit is the radius
Passes, hairpins and the turning circle. On the passes the question is not power or gradient. It is whether the vehicle can complete a fixed curve without stopping, and whether there is room behind it if it cannot.
Four guides in this section
- The limit is the radiusOn the high passes the constraint is not gradient or power but whether a long vehicle can get round a hairpin without shunting.
- Forty-eight turns, and none of them widenThe Stelvio's north side is the set piece, and the numbered bends are a useful way to describe what a long wheelbase meets.
- Weight limits, and the signed routeBridges and tunnels carry limits that quietly rule out a heavy motorhome, and the diversion can be a hundred kilometres.
- When the pass is shutHigh passes close for much of the year, and the closure dates shape any route drawn outside high summer.