hinch951

Does the Valentine One pick up this sort of radar in Germany, off the subject but just wondering? I think I read somewhere mayb it did.

sweanders

It probably does but if Germany is anything like Sweden it is illegal to have radar or laser detectors.

hinch951

Ohh, yes I read where if there is a crack starting to develope, that they will shut down that part of the road and fix it instantly, and that it is also like ice does not freeze as easily on the roads as theydo in the US...Plus, the roads over in Germany Autobahn are alot thicker.....Unlike the US, who monitors the traffic for months, deciding whether or not to re do the road or not.

Rich Sandor

Austria also has very smooth roads which are almost identical to Germany's roads, it's really easy to forget that you are no longer in Germany and there are lots of "Tempokontrollen" banners put up as reminders. It feel totally safe to do over 200kph and people often do it... even though that posted limits are in the 160kph range..

Another thing about safety in speeding: It's not just the road surface. It's also traffic. If the middle and far right lanes are backed up, most driver's feel unsafe going 250kph because some idiot could pull out of the middle lane into the passing lane and get rear ended by a bmw doing 250kph in the passing lane. so of course no one wants to go too fast in the passing lane if there is a lot of traffic in the other lanes.

hinch951

Yes, very good point.

sweanders

Well, it is pretty much up to the drivers to decide how to drive. But there is always improvement work going on and on the busy stretches the work is often done at night to not disturb the traffic flow. But that's not really much different to the rest fo Europe.

hinch951

You have been really helpful, thanks very much

Rich Sandor

add this to your report.

in general, german drivers are much better trained to drive safely than most of the tourists that visist from other countries, HOWEVER, in germany just as in other countries, there are a few knuckleheads who drive totally irresponsibly and ruin it for everyone else.

in comparison though, if you ever drive through Italy, you'll find the opposite. More people seem to have a death wish, thinking that a small plastic crucifix tied to the front of the car will protect them against harm when passing at 120kph in a blind corner. It seemed to me there are more idiots than safe drivers in Italy's back roads!

They are just generalisations, and it's important to remember that.. but it's somethign you would notice if you were to drive through those areas.

sweanders

Uhm.. Italy is kinda wierd.. I have at one time been forced to drive over 100 km/h in order to keep up with the flow of traffic while passing through construction zones limited to 30 km/h and being passed by drivers in a hurry.. Insane.. Then there is greece which can be just as bad but in other ways on the mountain roads..

Azaka

On Modern Marvels on the History channel they did an entire show on the Autobahn. It was a good show and had a few Porsches in it. You should look for that somewhere and watch it. It had a lot of good info.

SimonK

Watch for trucks pulling out. One minute you are doing 160mph in the fast lane the next minute the truck pulls out...

Thom

The section of Autobahn between Basel and Karlsruhe is mostly derestricted, and at the right period of the week it is possible to maintain 200kph+ speeds for several minutes.
However I find the concrete-surfaced Autobahns a bit dangerous compared to pool-smooth tar-surfaced motorways. I never dared "maxing" the S2 in Germany because of that, at least because the relatively high noise levels do not make it feel perfectly safe (but there are much worse motorways anyway. As Anders said, Danish motorways are not good )

SimonK

My record = 173mph on the speedo. 4AM between Aachen and Koln. Won't do that again. I remember seeing in my mind the picture of the engine at 6400rpm, the valves, the pistons, rods etc., at the time and thought to myself Jesus if something lets go now...

toddk911

hinch951: There was a VERY indepth documentary on the discovery channel or one of those channels all about the Autobahn. How Hitler was the original force behind it, that they had some land speed records on it until one driver died due to a cross wind at about 260+mph, how even with no speed limits in many areas they have a far less accident/death rate then the US, etc.

Waterguy

In the 1930's, Mercedes and Autounion were in a big competition to break the 200 mph barrier. Autounion finally accomplished it in 1936 with a 6 litre Formula 1 car, iirc. Rather than using a test track, they just closed a section of the Autobahn and set the record on a public highway. Probably ties in with what toddk posted about setting land speed records.