The Autobahn is fun

[Alexb2000]

I just drove the A5 and A7 from Frankfurt to Hamburg. I was getting blown off the road at 180. Of course there was a lot of slow downs due to construction and traffic. I haven't had a chance to really drive it for a long time. Good times (even though the wife was freaking out the whole time).

 

[Sac Arrow]

Your speedometer is in klicks, is it not?

 

[Bill]

I just drove the A5 and A7 from Frankfurt to Hamburg. I was getting blown off the road at 180. Of course there was a lot of slow downs due to construction and traffic. I haven't had a chance to really drive it for a long time. Good times (even though the wife was freaking out the whole time).

So, 180k is good for about 86mph. My local interstates sometimes run that fast.

I can see why your wife is freaked out, though, with that Joie Chitwood driving on two wheels stuff.

 

[cowman]

Have always wanted to do this.

 

[Alexb2000]

Your speedometer is in klicks, is it not?

Yup. I didn't get much above 110 MPH, damn C class diesel didn't have it. Nice big motor Audi would have been a different story, they were all going over 200KPH.

 

[Alexb2000]

So, 180k is good for about 86mph. My local interstates sometimes run that fast.

I can see why your wife is freaked out, though, with that Joie Chitwood driving on two wheels stuff.

I think it's 110mph.:wink2:

A lot of this was in construction lanes that are super narrow. Passing trucks going 60mph a foot away at 110 is actually exciting, at least it was for me.

 

[Bill]

I think it's 110mph.:wink2:.

Oop, yup, conversion error! Sounds like fun, I bet that diesel was humming.

 

[Ted]

It's been 8 years or so since I drove the Autobahn. I was in an Alfa 156, hit about 230 km/h. The engine sang! And I got passed by a Porsche Cayenne Turbo (the SUV) like I was standing still.

Sounds like fun!

 

[Henning]

Have always wanted to do this.

Avis will rent you an Enzo Ferrari for €5500 a day. I did a run up to Holland a few weeks ago in an A3 Audi 1.7TDi, it drove fine but ran out of juice at 200kph, the SLK I rented a while back would spool up to 250kph, but is was spooky floating at that speed, and you can barely get there before you have to stand into the brakes. Night time gets you some better runs at speed, but the truckers doing the Elephant race can really cause one to have "a bad experience".

 

[Alexb2000]

It's been 8 years or so since I drove the Autobahn. I was in an Alfa 156, hit about 230 km/h. The engine sang! And I got passed by a Porsche Cayenne Turbo (the SUV) like I was standing still.

Sounds like fun!

The Autobahn sure lets you see what a powerful road car will do. Strangely the highways in the South of France were better built and faster. Plenty of 300kph traffic, banked turns, wide lanes, perfect surface, just like a race track.

Speaking of that, I would judge European driving more thrilling than the times I drove a NASCAR.

 

[bluee]

I think it's 110mph.:wink2:

A lot of this was in construction lanes that are super narrow. Passing trucks going 60mph a foot away at 110 is actually exciting, at least it was for me.

Those construction lanes usually have a speed limit and cameras, so check those next time. Otherwise it's likely you will come home and weeks later get a letter in the mail from your car rental company about the camera that caught you. Germans also put cameras in surprising places, like little country roads.

 

[Alexb2000]

Those construction lanes usually have a speed limit and cameras, so check those next time. Otherwise it's likely you will come home and weeks later get a letter in the mail from your car rental company about the camera that caught you. Germans also put cameras in surprising places, like little country roads.

I was getting passed by a lot of people. I remember thinking a delivery van can't possibly go that fast. Anyway, if it happens it happens, nothing I can do about it now. I'll consider it a tax for finally getting to drive without somebody eating a burrito and watching a movie, with the cruise control set on 55 in the fast lane.

 

[flyingriki]

Was parked under an overpass in northern Italy one hot summer, having some cold cuts and win, and hear this lovely whine coming down the road. It's a 4 seat Maserati doing a good 120+ mph. As they fly by I see the driver, with a glass of wine in his hand, chatting with the couple in the back seat.

Also remember screaming around a corner in the German countryside in my Porsche and seeing a couple cops in their Beemer at the side of the road, they didn't even look up...

Fun stuff!

 

[JHW]

during my brief stint at bmw I got in early on fridays to get an M5 calibration car for the weekends. Most of it was a waste though, that was not long after re-unification and the autobahn was so clogged with east truck traffic you couldn't use it.

 

[Ghery]

Driving the Autobahn in June was a piece of cake. Just minimize your time in the left lane. I had to be there to pass people, but I didn't stay there as the local rocket ships were flying by me. Frankfurt up to Essen. Came down the Rhine River returning to Frankfurt as my co-worker hadn't been there before and we were in no hurry.

 

[weilke]

One of the guilty pleasures in my life is catching a 9am departure back to the states out of Frankfurt on a sunday morning. No trucks between 10pm sat and 10pm sun and very little traffic if I hit the road at 5:30am.
200-240kph most of the way for the 220km trip

 

[thehulk06]

My vette goes 130 like normal cars driving 65mph. I've cruised a short stretch of Texas roads at 150mph, the float starts to happen around 160 :s

I imagine a good spoiler would make it go away. I would love the autobahn! Jealous

 

[Alexb2000]

One of the guilty pleasures in my life is catching a 9am departure back to the states out of Frankfurt on a sunday morning. No trucks between 10pm sat and 10pm sun and very little traffic if I hit the road at 5:30am.
200-240kph most of the way for the 220km trip

That's exactly my return flight. I won't cut it that close, but I imagine that was awesome driving with the sun just coming up.

My vette goes 130 like normal cars driving 65mph. I've cruised a short stretch of Texas roads at 150mph, the float starts to happen around 160 :s

I imagine a good spoiler would make it go away. I would love the autobahn! Jealous

My buddy just bought the new vette. He already got a ticket for 130. Last night I told him he needed to bring it over just to show how much giddy up an American car has.

 

[Henning]

My vette goes 130 like normal cars driving 65mph. I've cruised a short stretch of Texas roads at 150mph, the float starts to happen around 160 :s

I imagine a good spoiler would make it go away. I would love the autobahn! Jealous

Couple of good spoilers would do it, you need front and rear, and better anti sway bars are really nice as well.

 

[JHW]

My buddy just bought the new vette. He already got a ticket for 130. Last night I told him he needed to bring it over just to show how much giddy up an American car has.

meh. Just another oversize overweight American land yacht. I'm as red white & blue as anyone and can't wait to get back home, but one thing we suck at is making fast cars.

We used to go play at the Nurburgring on sundays and there was always some yahoo there with a corvette. You would think they would be humbled by being passed by am M3 or M5 with kid seats and trappings in the back seat, but generally they weren't.

 

[Henning]

meh. Just another oversize overweight American land yacht. I'm as red white & blue as anyone and can't wait to get back home, but one thing we suck at is making fast cars.

We used to go play at the Nurburgring on sundays and there was always some yahoo there with a corvette. You would think they would be humbled by being passed by am M3 or M5 with kid seats and trappings in the back seat, but generally they weren't.

One thing to have a Vette, another thing to know how to drive it. I imagine now with all the electronic suspension and traction control systems it's a lot easier to drive well. If you know how to drive and put in an aluminum engine, you can drive a Vette along side most anything. It wouldn't be my first choice on Nürnburgring, but it wouldn't be my last either. I can say for sure that the kid in the M3 won't be passing me in one I would bother to bring.

 

[JHW]

One thing to have a Vette, another thing to know how to drive it. I imagine now with all the electronic suspension and traction control systems it's a lot easier to drive well. If you know how to drive and put in an aluminum engine, you can drive a Vette along side most anything. It wouldn't be my first choice on Nürnburgring, but it wouldn't be my last either. I can say for sure that the kid in the M3 won't be passing me in one I would bother to bring.

what kind of car is it if it has to modified with this and that to keep up with a grocery getter ? modifying cars has got to be the biggest waste of time there is. That's what airplanes are for.

 

[Henning]

what kind of car is it if it has to modified with this and that to keep up with a grocery getter ? modifying cars has got to be the biggest waste of time there is. That's what airplanes are for.

Neither the M3 nor M5 are what I would classify as 'grocery getters', the 1L Turbo Festiva I drive is a grocery getter, and there are turns on the Autostrada that I have to back off the 130kph it will make no more than unless heading downhill. You put $150k into a Vette and it will easily compete against a $150k Porsche, Ferrari, or Mercedes. Want to go with the $700k version? Same applies.

You also have to remember that the majority of Vettes are outfitted as 'grocery getters' too. Besides, Nürenburgring and the road have two very different requirements for cars. What makes a car fast on the track makes it a pain in daily driving for qualities that serve no purpose.

 

[SCCutler]

meh. Just another oversize overweight American land yacht. I'm as red white & blue as anyone and can't wait to get back home, but one thing we suck at is making fast cars.

We used to go play at the Nurburgring on sundays and there was always some yahoo there with a corvette. You would think they would be humbled by being passed by am M3 or M5 with kid seats and trappings in the back seat, but generally they weren't.

The succeeding generations of 'Vettes have improved, but the latest is a sea change. As far as performance, chassis dynamics, ride, drive, there really are no compromises. It is simply stunning.

 

[onwards]

Sounds fun!

Fastest I'd gone on the autobahn was 135mph or so in an unrestricted stretch. The car (another C-series, bigger engine probably) topped out at that point. I was still blown out by other cars going faster, sometimes much faster.

In truth, you can, ah, do that in the US too many years ago and right after I got here, I drove a 7-series at up to 150mph in Oregon for a couple of hours straight (coming down from Boise, ID headed back to SF, I think on the 95?). I have pics taken by the right seat occupant of that speedometer as well (in physical form, that was before smartphones when we still used film cameras). It was part of a Boise to SF run that I tried to make as fast as possible (did it in <9 hours, including a couple of rest/food stops). I, um, guess it was a sort of mini-cannonball. Oh, youth.

These days I get excited by taking a photo of the 430 in the 182 at S&L showing 160kn GS, like I did a couple weeks back, and if I had any clue how to attach a pic to these posts, I would. Love me a nice tailwind!

 

[LDJones]

The succeeding generations of 'Vettes have improved, but the latest is a sea change. As far as performance, chassis dynamics, ride, drive, there really are no compromises. It is simply stunning.

I've heard good things about them. My wife's employer just ordered a pair of them.