Finally drove on the Autobahn!

[hattaresguy]

Ahh the Fatherland, they are much better drivers than we are.

I'd love to copy some of their laws here. For starters a drivers license should be much harder to get and require a lot more education!

 

[eljefino]

^ yeah the bottom 20% should fail the test on any given day. This would motivate folks to not fall in that 20%.

I would include:

-- backing a windowless u-haul to a loading dock
-- handbrake turns
-- having the instructor kill the ignition, making the driver arm-strong the car through a curve of traffic cones
-- making the driver identify six parts under their hood
-- backing a trailer up
-- identifying what every idiot light on the dash means
-- parallel parking to within 4 inches of the curb
-- threshold braking in an old test car w/o ABS
-- nighttime highway driving in the rain during rush hour including a series of merges over to the left lane and back again.

Man, I could go on and on.

 

[MCompact]

I had an adult student at one of our BMW CCA safety schools that required four attempts at hard braking before she used enough effort to engage the ABS. And she wasn't a stupid person- she just had no idea what proper driving involved.
I gave her credit for wanting to learn how to be a better driver- and she acquired some valuable skills over the course of the day.

 

[Cujet]

I drove a 4 cylinder, 1.2L, base model, Fiat Punto car on the Autobahn. I did try my best to get going with the flow of traffic. But, I was passed by nearly everybody. Including an older Mercedes Diesel Wagon!

My Autobahn experience was not fulfilling!

I believe the speedo would occasionally reach 150KPH on level ground and 160KPH downhill. But it would sag to 100KPH uphill.

 

[OVERKILL]

So jealous!

I would love to drive my car on the Autobahn, I've seen so many videos and heard so many accounts of how incredible it is, the most recent from my dad when he was there.

 

[hattaresguy]

C&D just took an Audi to 190.

Nothing moves at speed like a German car.

0-60 is not really diving into the performance available in a fast German car, US roads can't do it. Like my buddies S600. Lots of fast cars can pull on it from a stop to 60, but its a 5k+ pound limo and not designed for that. Only a handful of the fastest production cars can walk from it when you stomp on it at 100...That's what a proper German car can do, effortless speed!

My uncle was telling me a story that back in the early 80's when he was working in Germany one of his friends who had a few bucks imported a Camaro. Because American cars were rare in Germany and it was kind of special. Well they had it up on the Autobahn one day and thought they were screaming at about 130, you know hot US sports car cranking...well and old guy smoking a cigar passed them in the left lane in his Mercedes...

 

[glock19]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
C&D just took an Audi to 190.

Nothing moves at speed like a German car.

0-60 is not really diving into the performance available in a fast German car, US roads can't do it. Like my buddies S600. Lots of fast cars can pull on it from a stop to 60, but its a 5k+ pound limo and not designed for that. Only a handful of the fastest production cars can walk from it when you stomp on it at 100...That's what a proper German car can do, effortless speed!

My uncle was telling me a story that back in the early 80's when he was working in Germany one of his friends who had a few bucks imported a Camaro. Because American cars were rare in Germany and it was kind of special. Well they had it up on the Autobahn one day and thought they were screaming at about 130, you know hot US sports car cranking...well and old guy smoking a cigar passed them in the left lane in his Mercedes...


I wasn't really blown away by the power of the 5 series, I've been in a CTS-V that feels faster. What I was blown away with is how stable the car felt at speed. I've been if a few cars at 100+ and they all start to feel a little floaty and just not quite comfortable. I had the cruise set on the BMW at 120mph and it felt like we were going 55mph.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: glock19
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
C&D just took an Audi to 190.

Nothing moves at speed like a German car.

0-60 is not really diving into the performance available in a fast German car, US roads can't do it. Like my buddies S600. Lots of fast cars can pull on it from a stop to 60, but its a 5k+ pound limo and not designed for that. Only a handful of the fastest production cars can walk from it when you stomp on it at 100...That's what a proper German car can do, effortless speed!

My uncle was telling me a story that back in the early 80's when he was working in Germany one of his friends who had a few bucks imported a Camaro. Because American cars were rare in Germany and it was kind of special. Well they had it up on the Autobahn one day and thought they were screaming at about 130, you know hot US sports car cranking...well and old guy smoking a cigar passed them in the left lane in his Mercedes...


I wasn't really blown away by the power of the 5 series, I've been in a CTS-V that feels faster. What I was blown away with is how stable the car felt at speed. I've been if a few cars at 100+ and they all start to feel a little floaty and just not quite comfortable. I had the cruise set on the BMW at 120mph and it felt like we were going 55mph.


I'd hope a CTS-V would feel faster than a 530i, LOL! You'd have to compare the V to an M5.

With regards to the feeling at speed, yes, that's because all of those cars are designed to cruise at speeds north of 100Mph so the chassis dynamics and design are all geared toward that.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: glock19
What I was blown away with is how stable the car felt at speed. I've been if a few cars at 100+ and they all start to feel a little floaty and just not quite comfortable. I had the cruise set on the BMW at 120mph and it felt like we were going 55mph.


I had a 2008 Alpina B7 for a couple of weeks; I would run it up to north of 130(top speed was 196 mph, BTW) and ask passengers to guess the speed. They invariably guessed 70-80 mph- unless they were familiar with autobahn cruisers...

 

[SteveSRT8]

We have a long stretch of toll road we use to cross 3 counties regularly. Since it dead ends in the middle of nowhere it is lightly traveled.

We routinely run it at 100 mph. One day my lovely wife was being bothered by a pesky Merc E55 who wouldn't go away. We pushed it to 140. Then to 150. After about 3 miles and 3 bursts of higher speeds he fell off rapidly and appeared to pull over.

The car is rock solid and VERY quiet even at 160, and is alleged to pull a full 180 if you have enough road. I have never had it out of fourth gear which is a tick over 160...

 

[glock19]

Originally Posted By: MCompact
I had a 2008 Alpina B7 for a couple of weeks.


Now THAT would be the car to have on the autobahn.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: glock19


Now THAT would be the car to have on the autobahn.


I usually prefer cars less than 180 inches long with a curb weight of under 3,500 pounds, but the B7 won me over. Alpina has a virtually unequaled ability to tune a suspension for both comfort and performance. I took it to the track, spirited romps on rural country roads, and extended interstate excursions. As a matter of fact, I drove it from Fort Worth to Louisville in one shot- stopping only for fuel and a couple of meals.

That said, I fervently wish I could get an Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo in the US; 0-60 in less than 4.2 seconds, a top speed of 190, and average fuel economy of over 30 mpg. It's so good I'll even forgive its lack of a clutch pedal...

 

[SteveSRT8]

Geez o pete the awd version weighs 5000 pounds!

OMG, makes me feel like a lightweight sports car!

 

[javacontour]

If I had it to do over again, I would have purchases a Corvette to take with me when stationed in Germany. Sold it to a German and purchased a BMW to take home.

Of course, I know nothing about the practicality of such a series of transactions. I know I can buy a US spec BMW with Euro delivery. I don't know if I could sell the Corvette to a German.

I took a Beretta GTZ over there in the 1990s. The Quad4 was enough engine to cruise at 200+ KPH. The brakes on that car were not up to the task. It didn't stop me (pardon the pun) from testing things out. But I was 20 something with no kids at the time.

I probably wouldn't do the same in a comparable car today.

Originally Posted By: A_Harman
My dream vacation:
Ship the Camaro to Germany.
Drive the Autobahn.
Run the Nurburgring.

 

[MCompact]

I misspoke; "my" B7 was a 2007(based on an E65 7er)- it was the very same car that Car and Driver tested in July 2007. According to C/D it weighed 4684 pounds. In their hands it ran 0-60 in 4.4 seconds, 0-100 in 10.1 seconds, and the quarter mile in 12.8 seconds @ 114 mph. It pulled .91g on the skidpad and stopped from 70 mph in 62 feet. Here it is at Motorsport Ranch outside Fort Worth:

 

[CBR.worm]

There is a guy at my daughters school that drives a B7. I gained a lot of respect for him when I realized it was an Alpina B7 and not just another 7 series.

I have had mixed results on the autobahn. First time I was in a Volkswagen Polo (I believe) it was not so awesome. Next time was a renault Clio - also not so awesome. Both cases I just held the pedal to the floor. Then I had a BMW diesel 5 series, it cruised comfortably at just over 200kph. Next time I ended up with a big Chrysler which was actually decent at about 220. I think it was a version of the 300, but I don't remember for sure.

What I enjoyed, even in the small cars was hearing the big cars pass me at high RPM. Here you rarely hear a big V8 in an M5 go past you at 5k rpm in top gear.