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picked up my rental car today for the drive from Eindhoven to Frankfurt. opted for a european market car with a 6speed manual transmission. can't wait to storm the autobahn in a sweet, Citroen C4 Grand Picasso!!!
this thing has the vaguest clutch i've ever encountered. can't tell when it actually engages, but haven't stalled it at all. no tach either, so just shifting when the engine sounds sufficiently wound out. gonna see what top speed is in this puppy and maybe stop by the Nurburgring on my way down.
I had an Escort wagon during a trip a couple years back, 5 speed of course. Driving that thing on the Ring was an experience, and I think I got it up to 160 kpm in the rain on the autobahn.
My first trip to germany several years ago had a hertz rental - bmw 318 4dr manual. I think I had it up to about 200 kph on the autobahn between munich and garmisch.
I will not forget passing a truck and having a 911 turbo blasting up me moving over and him blowing by what must have been 250kph +
Pro-tip, if you rent from sixt, you can request a specific model that they have that is within your category but better than the basic version. For example, I paid for a basic 3 series (usually 320d) but requested a 335 and they had one for me! No upgrade cost. It had sport suspension and was a wagon. 158mph, gps verified
Couldn't pay me to drive a Picasso. French for "piece of sh*t". I just did the blast from Cologne to Frankfurt tonight. Love the autobahn but freaks me out at night. Hard to judge closing rate of cars behind you and headlights don't illuminate where your eyes need to be. Still cool to cruise at 160kph in a Benz B-class
Fastest I've done on the Autobahn was 259km/h in a Panamera GTS close to Rothenburg. Wound this puppy up to 229km/h (that was as fast as the 320d would go) last year on the way to the 'Ring...
right now the northwest quadrant of germany is highway repair central, so definitely need to watch the speed in certain areas. that said, somehow, i think the Citroen will help make sure my chances of speeding are kept low!
last time i got to drive here was when my friend did European delivery of her 2015 Cayman S. got that up to about 150mph and did 2 laps on Nurburgring in it. i'm hoping that the Citroen can hit 100mph.
had a nice drive through Germany last week on the way to Frankfurt airport. The Citroen Grand Picasso, vague clutch and all, was able to storm down the autobahn pushing pesky Fiats, Renaults and Smart cars out of the way.