Could you, as a driver, handle the Autobahn?

08/15/2014 | WesternCulture

[WesternCulture]

I used to consider myself a very competent driver.

One day back in 2010, I accelerated my precious 200 hp Volvo V70 out of a boring ferry departing from a Danish harbor and felt I was ready for the legendary Autobahn.

Rather immediately though, I got stopped by a bunch of German highway police officers.

"Most welcome to Germany, but take it easy", I got told (off).

I soon forgot all about these words.

10 minutes later I nearly caused an accident because I failed to understand there was a que developing just one kilometer ahead of me. However, several German drivers cooperated in correcting my behavior in a very impressive manner.

Somewhere along that road I came to understand:

1. You are not your car. Don't overestimate yourself. Just because you master plenty of hp's doesn't mean you're an excellent driver. 2. Highway patrol officers probably know what they're on about. Respect them. 3. Try and understand the differences in "driving culture". As you're not a London taxi driver nor a test driver for Koenigsegg, Lamborghini or McLaren, don't make a fool of yourself. Fitting in is not always a bad option.

Anyhow, could you, as a driver, handle the Autobahn/European highways like these guys? (Check out clips below)

[jospehm20]

I lived there for 17 years and loved driving on the autobahn, except for the staus.

[jospehm20]

That is a pretty cool clip.

[SgtHooper]

No more than 5 years ago, me and the wifey were enjoying the scenery at 135 mph. Got to be on your toes—things happen very quickly.

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

Considering that I drove in Saudia for 5 years where anything under 100 mph was unsafe (although driving n Saudia itself is unsafe) I think tha I have at least a chance...

[Henry Hnyellar]

Only 140? No wonder you got passed. I got zapped by Benz on about 50 km south of Munich. I was doing 160. The Benz was out of sight in less than 20 seconds.

Sadly, there far fewer unlimited sections on the bahn than there was in the 80s.

[Alas Babylon!]

I did two years in Italy (San Vito AS) followed by 4 in Germany (Ramstein AS). Had my 1989 Ford Ranger 4 cylinder. Top end was 85 MPH. Used to love riding the autostradas and autobahns!

I could go faster than 85 MPH—downhill. I never did know HOW fast I was going then...

[Cowboy Bob]

HA! When I first drove through Germany, I saw those signs. After passing about 6 of them, I remember thinking “Damn, Ausfahrt must be a pretty big city because of all these exits!”

[Jack Hydrazine]

“Ausfart”...LOL!!!!

[BansheeBill]

Used the autobahn this past year, seems like things are slowing down, 100km signs here and there. I had a 6 speed Opal and rarely exceeded 120km even when the road was clear. We drove all over and still haven’t found the town of “Ausfart” even though the signs at the exit ramps pointed the way.

My sister travelled to Germany about a decade ago. She landed at night and had to drive through a few towns to get to her destination. She kept seeing street signs in almost every town that said EIN BEIN STRASSE. She said she thought that whoever Ein Bein was, he must have been like Washington was in America, to have a town in pretty much every town named after him.

[Jack Hydrazine]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stau

Stau may refer to one of the following:

In particle physics, stau is a slepton which is the hypothetical superpartner of a tau lepton
An obsolete letter Stigma in the Greek alphabet
In German, stau is a word meaning ‘traffic jam’
One common abbreviation of St. Augustine High School (disambiguation)
In the fictional Vulcan language, stau is the verb ‘to kill’

[Jack Hydrazine]

Joe Isuzu in Germany
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0HX1k9OgVk

[jimtorr]

The only time I was stopped by the police in my two years in the UK was at a roadblock on a B road. After seeing my military ID card, They only checked the tire tread depth on the 1-year old Ford Fiesta (1100cc engine) that my company leased for me. I was there to support a DOD facilities contract.

That car had a top speed of 70mph, literally downhill with a following breeze. I was nervous on the UK motor ways. I would have never dreamed of driving it on the autobahn.

[Jack Hydrazine]

I like this comment on the second video.

“der fährt aber echt nah auf.”

[Jack Hydrazine]

Fahrvergnügen!

Why is it those freaking slow drivers are in the fast lane? And I thought it was just a problem here in the US.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Whatever you do don’t drive in Saudi Arabia!

Saudi sandal surfing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qukUmDfoDpc

Saudi drifting (graphic crashes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgnxQ8VvdC0

[Jack Hydrazine]

I can ausfahrt any one any day!

LOL!

[ccmay]

I thought I was pretty special until one afternoon I was blowing up the Brenner Pass out of Italy towards Austria doing about 140MPH indicated when a Bimmer flashed its light for me to get over and a Teutonic-looking blond couple, of obviously heroic and noble appearance, with a couple of look-alike young teens in the backseat, blew past me. With a couple of windsurfer boards on a roof rack.

I had pretty much the same experience, minus the blond hair and surfboards. I picked up a new BMW 335 convertible at the factory in Munich some years ago. I asked the customer service guy if it was necessary to limit top speed or RPM's while the car was getting broken in, and he openly scoffed at the notion. Apparently they take pride that their fine pieces of German engineering are ready to be pushed to their limits right off the assembly line.

I managed to get the vehicle up to 135 mph (well over 200 kph) on a long straight stretch west of Munich, but I was shocked to be passed by a large Benz going 20 or 30 mph faster.

The Germans have the same relation to unlimited autobahns that we Americans have to our guns.

[Kenny Bunk]

I don't think you are giving our belovèd pals the Saudis all the driving credit they deserve.

Try this: put on the checkered table-cloth camel-tether head dress, none-too-clean Ray-Bans. Load two sheep and a goat into the cab of your white Toyota PU, place family (three women, 9 children) in the bed of the PU. Set off around popular Riyadh attraction, The Circle of Death at about 70. Speed assumes great importance when one has '0' peripheral vision. The best way to watch out for other drivers is to weave from one side of the 10-lane boulevard to the other. Uh-Oh, brakes not working too well? Stop by welfare office to pick-up another pickup and two sacks of rice. ( perks available to Saudi Nationals only) Stop by camel market to pick up a nice live one for lunch. Place rice in bed of PU with wives and kids. Place camel in cab with goat and sheep. Head out to desert for a picnic. Hold it! Prayer time!

Muezzin calls, "Come to the mosque that Allah the All-Merciful will give you the strength to slaughter the Infidels in our midst." Not to worry too much about that, Infidels, Allah the All-Wise really probably wants you to finish your project.

[EVO X]

and had to burn rubber on I-15 when the prevailing speed dropped from over 80 mph to under 20 with no apparent cause for the back up in the middle of proverbial nowhere between Las Vegas and Barstow.

Probably some sort of wildlife crossing the road..

[hattend]

Yeah, I was tooling down the Autobahn at 120mph plus when I came over a rise and there was a stau (traffic jam) just ahead. I had to drive onto the shoulder to avoid getting killed.

Go about 1/2 mile down the road at a crawl and then back up to 120... saw no reason for the traffic stoppage.

That was when I figured just because I cn go as fast as I want, I didn’t have to. Scared the crap out of me.