a) depends on the time (Sunday morning...) and b) depends on the location - some stretches of the Autobahn see very little traffic, one example I know quite well is if you head straight East from Nuremberg towards the Czech Republic. You can actually see that it is not one of the busy stretches, because these usually have three lanes or more
The pop mythos of the Autobahn really needs to go away, but like the Second Amendment it's something a country seems inadvertently stuck with. Although it's interesting to see at roughly what cost a society can get by without being protective of its citizens. And similarly the car lobby obviously is loudest, to protect the rights to endanger others and guzzle gas.
Most fast cars are actually capped at 250 km/h, it takes a special kind of "enthusiast" to circumvent that. The kind that doesn't understand the notion of the relativity of motion: The Earth goes around the sun at 30 km per second! Suck on that Autobahn.
Wait, never mind the physics behind fast driving, you don't agree that a hollow-point Audi going mach 0.2, seems threatening in one's rear view mirror? - Well, it does and it's a common enough occurrence.
That's the fabulous Autobahn driving experience, watch your six and GTFO of left lane when you see yet another idiot barreling down.
When I was growing up in Iowa, I went out with a guy who bragged that he could make his pick-up go to "H" - meaning that he could peg the needle on the "H" in "MPH." Yee-hawwww!!
I am afraid he also passes multiple signs limiting velocity, although I can´t really make that out at that speed. Driving for long stretches of the Autobahn as that without passing one is almost impossible.
Oh, for that to be my commute everyday! I use a very busy Autobahn, A1, 2 hours everyday, and even BMWs can't get up to 300 because of traffic. On good days I go 160 for short distances but usually have to do 120. I drive a Prius, and my top speed is 183, what must mean my particular car has not been speed limited (?). I do have tires rated for this speed. I am curious about the lack of traffic accidents. In 5 years I've seen one Autobahn fatality on my commute. It must be attributed to the strict passing rules that we follow, compared to America. Or it could be those enforcer cameras that send you a bill with your photo if you're not extremely careful with speed limited zones. Still, at these speeds, I'd expect way more accidents. (My mpg is 46 in Summer, my gas price is 1,71Euro per liter.)
On the practical side, you can't help but notice how dirty the windscreen becomes at such high speeds after just a couple of minutes. Insects? You can imagine what the visibility would be like after half an hour. But would the windscreen wiper/cleaning system cope if you tried to use it at this speed. Aeroplanes have a way of avoiding this problem; just get above the insects.
What I find amazing is the distance between the white center lines compared to the ones we’re used to :)
ReplyDeleteWhere are the other cars? Shouldn't the driver be passing them? Are they all going 180 mph too?
ReplyDeleteYeah, my question is where are all the other cars/trucks? Something strange was going on there.
ReplyDeleteMust have been very early in the morning or something, normally the autobahn is totally crowded.
ReplyDeleteI presume he just sat in his car in the on-ramp on a Sunday morning until 5 minutes had passed with no cars going by, then entered the highway.
ReplyDeletea) depends on the time (Sunday morning...) and
ReplyDeleteb) depends on the location - some stretches of the Autobahn see very little traffic, one example I know quite well is if you head straight East from Nuremberg towards the Czech Republic. You can actually see that it is not one of the busy stretches, because these usually have three lanes or more
The pop mythos of the Autobahn really needs to go away, but like the Second Amendment it's something a country seems inadvertently stuck with. Although it's interesting to see at roughly what cost a society can get by without being protective of its citizens. And similarly the car lobby obviously is loudest, to protect the rights to endanger others and guzzle gas.
ReplyDeleteMost fast cars are actually capped at 250 km/h, it takes a special kind of "enthusiast" to circumvent that. The kind that doesn't understand the notion of the relativity of motion:
The Earth goes around the sun at 30 km per second! Suck on that Autobahn.
endanger? The Autobahn (per km driven) has about one third the death toll of the US interstate system
DeleteWait, never mind the physics behind fast driving, you don't agree that a hollow-point Audi going mach 0.2, seems threatening in one's rear view mirror? - Well, it does and it's a common enough occurrence.
DeleteThat's the fabulous Autobahn driving experience, watch your six and GTFO of left lane when you see yet another idiot barreling down.
The video is especially interesting if you use the google bar control to set it to play at 2x. One could not handle that kind of speed!
ReplyDeletefew people really drive that fast in Germany. Most people cruise at a comfy 100-120 mph. It is cool though.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up in Iowa, I went out with a guy who bragged that he could make his pick-up go to "H" - meaning that he could peg the needle on the "H" in "MPH." Yee-hawwww!!
ReplyDeleteI think I only went out with him once.
I am afraid he also passes multiple signs limiting velocity, although I can´t really make that out at that speed. Driving for long stretches of the Autobahn as that without passing one is almost impossible.
ReplyDeleteI noticed the driver wasn't texting!
ReplyDeleteOh, for that to be my commute everyday! I use a very busy Autobahn, A1, 2 hours everyday, and even BMWs can't get up to 300 because of traffic. On good days I go 160 for short distances but usually have to do 120. I drive a Prius, and my top speed is 183, what must mean my particular car has not been speed limited (?). I do have tires rated for this speed. I am curious about the lack of traffic accidents. In 5 years I've seen one Autobahn fatality on my commute. It must be attributed to the strict passing rules that we follow, compared to America. Or it could be those enforcer cameras that send you a bill with your photo if you're not extremely careful with speed limited zones. Still, at these speeds, I'd expect way more accidents. (My mpg is 46 in Summer, my gas price is 1,71Euro per liter.)
ReplyDeleteOn the practical side, you can't help but notice how dirty the windscreen becomes at such high speeds after just a couple of minutes. Insects? You can imagine what the visibility would be like after half an hour. But would the windscreen wiper/cleaning system cope if you tried to use it at this speed. Aeroplanes have a way of avoiding this problem; just get above the insects.
ReplyDelete