If you want to go really fast - hey, you did say you’ve got racetrack experience, right? - remember that virtually all German car manufacturers electronically limit their cars to 250km/h, which is about 155mph. Certainly Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz do; I’m not sure about Porsche. If you own the car you can get the limiter removed or reprogrammed, but I doubt that’s likely to happen in a hire fleet.
Actually, it’s the left-turn light. The right-turn light means “I’m going to change the lane”.
And do you have a cite for that 240 km/h speed limit? I’ve been driving in Germany for years and I’ve never heard of that. But I never had a car that could go that fast, so maybe I just missed it.
The PHB, Porsche doesn’t have an electronical limit. They would piss off all their customers.
Yeah, left-turn…
No cite, I’m not sure it’s true. It’s something I either heard or read in a turist brochure. On second thougt I think it was 250 km/h, and the reason car manufactors limited the speed of their fasted cars.
- Rune
I don’t think the top end thing is true or enforced. I took a class to get my driver’s license in Germany in 1998, and they certainly didn’t mention it there. The 130 kph recommended top end is correct. You should also learn the German road signs, which are fairly standard for Europe but not much like US road signs. Especially learn how to read speed limit signs. (Hint: Red circle around a number is the speed limit; grey circle with a slash means the speed limit has been removed and you can now drive the normal higher speed limit).
Aeschines, you were definitely speeding (breaking the law) by driving that fast on a secondary road. IIRC the speed limit on those, unless otherwise posted, is 100 kph.
Sixt and Eurocar are both good places to check for rentals. Google might turn up a place in Berlin where you can find really fast cars for hire that will really set you back. In Geneva there was a small place that rented out Ferraris and the like, but I think they were around $1000+/day. And please don’t drive like a jerk.
One last thing: most, if not all, of the rental car companies will put winter tires on their cars in February and will tell you not to drive more than 180-190 kph. The tires are not rated to go faster than that and you really won’t enjoy it anyway; it gets very bumpy with those tires at high speeds.
This whole autobahn thing is a myth…most of the “autobahns” are two-lane roads, and many of them were built/designed long before WWII.Hence, most of them are NOT high-speed roads…and in fact, many of them run through the center of towns (unlike the USA interstate highways). I did drive from Aachen to Hamburg once, and on stretches of the highway, it was possible to hit 100 MPH-but be aware, the roads are well patrolled, and German speeding fines can be enormous!
blinking left means ‘I want to pass’, true.
using high-beams is pissing off everyone, also true.
Where it becomes illegal is when you get too close to cars in front of you. The rule is ‘distance 1/2 speedometer’, i.e. if you go 160 km/h you should be at least 80m behind the other guy. The small posts on the right side of the road are 50m appart to give you an idea.
If they catch you with that kind of speed glued to the next cars rear end, the fine will be tremendous. And right so! We just got a mother and her two-year old daughter killed that way. So, keep you distance and only pass on the left.
You probably wont find an official cite on the 240kmh speed limitation. It isnt a German regulation.
Between BMW, Audi and Mercedes it is more of a gentlemen’s agreement. Porsche doesn’t play along.
It is basically a non-issue in anything less than their top of the line sports models (M, S (or RS), and AMG respectively). You may also hear talk, I know I have, of certain cars having terribly loose limiters. People often fail to remember that the speedometer error is absolutely huge at those speeds. BMWs read notoriously high, not that any car ever reads LOW, but BMW is pretty generous with what is “in spec” in this regard.
My interpretation of the OP was that he meant the “A” highways, which as far as my experience/knowledge, are always at least two lanes each direction, never have lights or run direct through town centers, etc. Similarly lots of US highways have traffic lights, the the “I” series interstates never do, as far as I know. When I drove to work from Wiesbaden to Gross Gerau, I regularly was able to top 100 mph. Hardly thrilling, it’s just a straight highway with a lot of people driving fast. FTR, most of my driving was on the A3, A66 and A5. A66 was usually too busy to be very fast, but the A5 going south you can usually top out.
I adore the Autobahn. Public toilets every 10 kilometers.
Germany is probably the cheapest place in Europe to rent a car, and its often cheaper than the US. You can get some amazing cars, and if you only see automatics, you’re looking in the wrong place. It is cheaper to book your car rental in the US through a broker. Don’t bok through a specialty rental agency, unless you really want something exotic like a Ferrari. I have used autoeurope www.autoeurope.com a few times, but kemwel www.kemwel.com are also supposed to be good. Call them up and bargain with them. A BMW 3 or 5 series should be around $400 to $800 per week, and you can also pick up a Porsche Boxster for a similar amount. I don’t know daily rates, but based on how pricing is done in the US, I’d guess it is about 20% of the weekly rate.
As for insanity and speed, I think the US wins the insanity contest.
In the US, rural interstates typically have 65mph speed limits, and you don’t want to go more than about 70 or you’ll get a ticket. Urban interstates have 55 or 60mph limits, but the average speed appears to go up, as driver’s assume they are less likely to be pulled over. Lane discipline is practically non-existant. The net effect is that the places that are most dangerous (congested urban freeways) have the highest actual speed and lots of yahoos jumping lanes all over the place. Nuts!
In Germany, rural autobahns typically have no speed limit, urban autobahns have 130km/h, 100km/h, or 80km/h (i.e. 50 mph) limits (lower speeds as you get more traffic congestion), and these limits are strictly enforced. Lane discipline is very high.
Don’t be surprised if you get pulled over, especially if you are near a border region. There are no border controls between Germany and most of its neighbors, but police near (say, within 10 miles) of the border will “randomly” pull over people and check their paperwork. I put randomly in quotes, because rental cars are identifiable by their license tags, and seem to get pulled over more often. Police I have talked to in Germany are very professional.
And the toilets are clean. In fact, the bigger stops I’ve been in usually have a full-time cleaning lady, who goes back and forth between the mens and ladies rooms every fifteen minutes or so. And no, they don’t close for cleaning. It’s a little, um, interesting when you’re unzipping at the urinal, then look around and see a cleaning lady walk past you…
If your trip to Germany includes a sunday (or a national holiday) you might want to choose that for your Autobahn tour.
Over here trucks are banned from the Autobahn on sundays 0:00 am - 10:00 pm (with few exceptions).
If you want to speed the trucks themselves won’t be an issue but often hardly faster cars overtake them.
Without trucks the slower traffic in the 100-150 kph range will mostly stay in the right lane and chances for continuous high speed are much higher.
And, no there is no 240 or 250 kph speed limit, only a suggested speed of 130. If go a lot faster than that an get into an accident you might have to convince people that it was not caused by your speeding.
I’ve been on the Autobahn and I saw the sweetest thing ever!
Going down the onramp I look behind me and there is this yellow Lambo Murcíelago! [drools] and then [drool some more] it went around us and …voom voooooomm vooooooooooomm! It took off like a rocket and went really fast! If you get lucky you may see some really awesome cars going at some really awesome speeds
I have a nice autobahn story. I once drove with a bunch of buddies to Amsterdam for a 4-day vacation (which was amazing!). We had a '97 Audi A4, which managed to top out at about 180 km/h, with 4 adults and our baggage.
On the way back, soon after we sped the border into Germany, we passed a police checkpost. Believe it or not, not more than 5 kms further, a green VW Sharan eased past us, signalling us to pull over!! I’m pretty sure there was no police Sharan between the checkpost and that point, so they must have started after we passed them. I can’t imagine how fast the police van was doing to catch up with us that soon!!
Turns out, a car full of guys driving in from Holland is a good case for finding ‘souvenirs’ from the dutch coffee shops!
Wow! Must’ve been a long drive. From Poona, India to Amsterdam…
Let me add a word of caution. Beware of ‘um-leitung’. Germany is a fairly small country, with a huge population and the autobahn is being worn down. So there are always, always repairs going on. Coming out of a curve at 200 km/h and seeing stand still traffic as three lanes are merging into one, is frightening. It’s also boring when you then have to drive at 30 km/h for 50 km while passing a construction site.
For truly amazing expressways, albeit with a (rarely enforced) speed limit, go to the French toll roads. Perfect condition, no congestion, superbly laid out. When I drive across Europe, I find that I can drive across the same amount of miles in France a lot faster than in Germany. Even while speeding slightly (aorund 160 km/h), that’ll be the average speed, whereas in Germany it goes from rocketing away at 200 km/h to crawling for long stretches.
I’ve met so many Americans that drool at the thought of driving on a road with no speed limits, but reality is more often that you’ll spend more time in bumper-to-bumper, stop’n’go’ traffic, than you do actually going anywhere near that magic 100 mph. And you’ll find that there are pretty few chances of driving seriously fast.
Re: the turning signals, flashing high beams. Unless you really know what you’re doing, stay off that high beam. I’ve been going at 170 km/h and been passed by little Peugeot 205’s and Opel Corsas. Don’t ever think that it’s only muscle cars or extreme sports cars that’ll go at speeds over 180-200 km/h.
Also, all those European cars with nice gas milage can make a big hole in your wallet. While fuel economy is good around ‘normal’ speeds, they start guzzling gas at high speeds. And with gas being around $4 per gallon, when you’re getting 12-15 mpg, you’re gonna end up pulling up at gas stations a lot.
Yeah, I’ll second that Gas. Constant repair in Germany. Toll roads in France. Very good, little traffic. On my trip to southern Spain through Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, France and Spain I’d say the (toll) roads in Spain were the best when you take into consideration road condition and traffic. Good to see my EU tax is going to something worthwhile besides fattening up EU bureaucrats in Bruxelle (Brussels?). Of course the constant toll booths are a real bugger. Also there’s the little matter of laws and a speed limit of around 130 I think. In Spain I was doing 150 on an empty road. Well I though it was empty until I was overtaken by a police car out of nowhere. They just waved happily at us and drove on. Ack! I love Spaniards and their traffic culture. Rules you make up as you go along. Use the horn always. Put on the disaster lights and park anywhere. That’s a crucifiable offence in Denmark.
- Rune
I don’t know if this is true or not but I have heard that on the toll roads in France you can be timed through a toll section. If you arrive “too early” at the next toll booth you are deemed to have broken the speed limit and will be fined.
When I moved to Germany I shared your dream of driving on the autobahn - and it can be fun - but I’ll just add/repeat some tips.
You’ll want to drive outside of normal hours as congestion can be a nightmare. I’ve nudged 240 km/h (and burned by a 360 Modena!) but at 6am on a weekend and rarely go near that fast - conditions and traffic usually limit you to around 180.
Go for it when you have good light - I find road lighting to be atrocious compared with the UK, and at night, in wet weather, even 130 can be too fast.
I don’t subscribe to the idea of driving up close and flashing other cars at high speed, even with a car with excellent brakes. I usually find that cars in the left hand lane are aware of fast traffic behind them and pull over as you approach or as soon as they can. I prefer to go for it on a clear road and be patient with other traffic about.
(ps if you can find a rental and have the budget, I recommend a Boxster S… but then I’m biased!)
True. It happened to F1 star Montoya last year.