Detour #173: Is the N222 in Portugal really the world's best road?
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What do a Formula 1 circuit designer, a quantum physicist and a roller coaster designer all have in common?
No, this isn’t the start of a bad joke. All three were brought together by car rental company Avis to determine what the world’s best road is using a unique scientific formula.
And that road turns out to be the N222 in Portugal – a slender run of straights and winding tarmac that skirts the edge of the Rio Douro between Peso da Regua and Pinhao.
According to Avis and its crack team of experts, the N222 provides the optimum drive of bends, acceleration, cruising and braking. It hits the sweet spot on the Avis Driving Ratio (ADR) scale of 10:1 – 10 seconds on a straight compared to one second on a bend – scoring 11.3:1, the closest to match the algorithm out of all the roads it lists (and there are some truly magnificent ones).
But it’s not only science that makes a great drive. As F1 track designer Herman Tilke, one of the trio of consultants, says, “Creating emotion is what really counts the most in my opinion, and a road that creates this will be remembered by drivers long after they've reached their destination."
The N222 actually traverses almost the entire country from Vila Nova de Gaia near Porto in the east to Almendra in the west near the Spanish border. However, it’s the 27 kilometres and 93 bends that wind through the heart of Portugal’s port wine region that was bestowed the honour of World’s Best Driving Road.
The start of the route is just the other side of the river of the busy, industrial town of Peso da Regua. It’s a two-lane road that starts with a short descent under an old bridge followed quickly by a pass under a monumentally high skyscraper of a bridge and a smattering of buildings either side. Once you’ve passed by these, there’s just a knee-high stone wall on the left keeping you from falling into the river while on your right are majestic, steep terraced vineyards with threats of rock falls.
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On a map the road looks rather sedate and not full of mountain-like switchbacks you may expect from the world’s best, but drivers be warned, you ignore the 70km/h speed limit at your peril. The road rises and dips and varies in width, with its narrowest points seemingly on its blind bends, and vehicles back out of hidden driveways quite suddenly.
If anything, though, it’s the beauty of your surroundings that are the most hazardous. On a sunny day – and let’s face it, this is Portugal so there are plenty of them – the vine-covered hillsides either side of the sparkling water are a heady distraction.
In my opinion, a great drive is very personal depending on multiple factors such as mood, weather, road conditions and even the car you drive. The N222 lacks the thrills of a mountain pass such as the Stelvio or the nausea-inducing, pivoting bends of the Tail of the Dragon. But for 30 minutes it’s a gloriously fun sprint in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It’s also fantastically traffic-free for the most part, and I happily drove it up and down several times, testing my car’s and my own capabilities as a driver, while in between pottering around the towns that bookend the route.
I’m no scientist and I didn’t try and calculate the ADR myself while on the N222, but what Tilke says is true. The N222 was a wonderful experience and certainly provided a drive that stayed with me, which really is all that matters.
Words Anna Muggeridge