Originally Posted By: turboseize
Driving 20km/h over the limit is a 35€ fine in Germany. 10km over is 15€ (in the open country; speeding within settlements is a bit more expensive). (21km/h over the limit means you get "points", and at 8 points, you loose your license. You can also loose your license with a single offense, that is repetedly speeding more than 25km/h over the limit, or running red lights, for example) You have 3% measurement error (but minimum 3km/h) on your side, which means everybody under the age of 85 goes 13km/h over the limit, and the more daring ones precisely 23km/h.
So, compared to other countries, speeding is cheap in Germany. And then, we still have some unrestricted patches in the Autobahn network. But even on the restricted ones, whether people keep to the limit or view it as a friendly suggestion depends heavily on the economic strength of the region. Speed traps in economically healthy Bavaria are extremely rare; in communist Brandenburg, they put a speed camera behind every tree. And even worse, they post absolutely ridiculous speed limits everywhere. Like 70km/h on country roads without any curves. Or 120km/h on a completely straight Autobahn. Apparently straight and level roads are dangerous. Or lucrative.
So, whether driving is fun or enjoyable depends a lot on where you drive. But, when I stat at the right time of day and avoid traffic, I can still get from Berlin to Munich in 4h10min. Legally. Ah well, almost legally. That is
roughly obeyeing speed limits, speeding in a very controlled manner that does not endanger the driving license or incurs to many costly fees. Four hours 10 minutes for 580km is an average speed of ~140km/h. Door to door, and including one to two refueling stops.
Speed in constructions zones vary from 60 (commies!) to 80 (standard) and 100km/h (on very few stretches in Bavaria with good conditions). And there are a whole lot of speed limits and construction/road work zones on this route... so to get an average speed of 140km/h or greater, you have to be at or above 200km/h practically everywhere where there is no speed limit.
Last weekend, I was not driving myself, but riding shotgun with another guy, who also commutes on this route. 18 year old Opel Omega, 2.2 liter I4 with 465.000km on the clock, and full throttle all the way. Whenever
the most beautiful traffic sign in the world occured, the rev counter needle jumped above 5000rpm and stayed there. Yes, that works fine, and no, that does not seem to hurt the engine.
No, you should NOT try that with an ILSAC oil.
But edyvw is wrong. This is not paradise. We have way to many idiots on the road. When you want to go fast safely, you have to go when nobody elese is on the road.
Do not quote me literally. I spent a lot of time on European roads, especially Germany. Every country has idiots, but there are substantial differences between the U.S. where people drive 65mph in left lane where speed limit is 75mph, creating traffic to be safe, while driving on 4 completely worn out tires.
EU is much more regulated when it comes to driving in general, and to obtain DL requires much more education then in the U.S.
