EPTGermany (VIII): The Autobahn - Page 2
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Proseat
Germany5113 Posts
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GTR
51706 Posts
those jackets are perfect too | ||
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Xiron
Germany1233 Posts
On July 15 2012 03:32 Proseat wrote: It should also be mentioned that in Germany you must be at least 18 years old to be able to hold a full drivers' license. There are some attempts to lower this to 17 under specific conditions. I did when I was 16 and finished 1month after I got 17. Had to drive with my father all the time. Good blog zatic! | ||
zatic
Zurich15366 Posts
On July 15 2012 03:05 Gecko[Xp] wrote: I'm not too sure about the prizes you mention. I paid around 1,000€ in total and I was in a rather expensive "school" - if that's what you'd call it. I was also not aware that you needed to drive in rush hour - not really possible in this rural area here. When I did my license I paid 2000 DM too, but that was a while ago. 1000 Euro seems incredibly cheap for today's standards, but yeah 2000 Euro is more on the upper end according to this: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrausbildung_und_Fahrerlaubnisprüfung#Preise | ||
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Lorizean
Germany1330 Posts
On July 15 2012 03:01 Flicky wrote: I love your germany blogs zatic, never stop. It's funny you should mention how rare undertaking is (that's the english word for it which I like to think is an intentional play on words), whenver I've been on the Autobahn I see undertaking quite a lot, although perhaps I'm looking out for it. That was mostly in the south so I don't know if there's a difference there. Well, it all depends on how slow the guy on the left or middle lane is. Some people just stay on the middle lane forever (and I mean that literally) and when people see a far away truck, they usually don't change lanes either to let you through despite driving 120 km/h in an unlimited zone - some people undertake then. But I agree, I think undertaking is actually more common than in the UK for example, but that is probably directly related to the speed limit - you won't undertake a 65 mph car just to do 70 but you might reconsider when you'd undertake a 80 km/h car to do 250. Nice blog overall  About the license, I think I paid ~1500 EUR. The Autobahn late at night / early in he morning, when nobody is around, is pretty amazing - until you hit a 22-6 100 km/h zone  | ||
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Newbistic
China2912 Posts
The way you wrote it lends itself to a British narrator in some kind of documentary, so I read it in a British accent. | ||
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Malinor
Germany4758 Posts
For what it is worth, I consider passing on the right lane to be the most dangerous thing I encounter on the Autobahn. I literally never expect this because it happens so rarely and I would never do it myself. So it is easy to get sloppy to control for the right side, and even if you control it, then I am often surprised by the speed of the car, because you expect them to be slow. Camping left on a 2-lane road you are literally asking for it though, but on a 3-lane road that should never happen, even if you are hugging the middle lane tu surpass trucks. | ||
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SnipedSoul
Canada2158 Posts
Good read. | ||
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drooL
United Kingdom2108 Posts
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Froadac
United States6733 Posts
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drooL
United Kingdom2108 Posts
On July 15 2012 06:07 Froadac wrote: Fun read. How many people drive like 120 km/hr or slower on the autobahn. It doesn't seem like going that fast is always practical or useful. The majority of people drives between 100 and 130 I would say. In most cars the fuel consumption spikes up a lot when you go >140 and a lot of smaller and/or older cars can't handle the high speeds anyways. My mom's KIA van, for example, goes nuts when you push it past 130. | ||
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Froadac
United States6733 Posts
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Lorizean
Germany1330 Posts
On July 15 2012 06:11 drooL wrote: The majority of people drives between 100 and 130 I would say. In most cars the fuel consumption spikes up a lot when you go >140 and a lot of smaller and/or older cars can't handle the high speeds anyways. My mom's KIA van, for example, goes nuts when you push it past 130. That for one. Most of the time you cannot drive as fast as you would want anyways because there are just too many ppl on the autobahn. On the other hand my fathers car somehow manages to be below 3.5k rpm at 250 km/h. The fuel consuming thing isn't necessarily driving that fast but getting up to the speed - and if there is even one car in front of you overtaking a truck, you will have to break and re-accelerate. For that reason driving really fast doesn't save you a lot of time over a longer journey, since your average speed doesn't go up by much. It really makes a difference at night though, when nobody is around. Recently I got into the habit of slowing down quite a bit for corners where I cannot see whats beyond them - I once took a corner with 230 km/h and there was a traffic jam right at the end of the corner. I was breaking as hard as possible as soon as I saw it and I stopped like 1m behind the last car, that was quite scary. Other scary thing is people not properly checking the left lane before overtaking or not realizing your speed as you come up. Had to break quite hard a few times. | ||
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KING CHARLIE :D
United States447 Posts
Owning and maintaining a nice car remains the number one status symbol in Germany. In fact no worldly possession is regarded more universally as a sign of wealth and status among Germans. Where in other societies home ownership, physical appearance, ability and will to travel and others are equal or better characteristics for being well off, nothing will top the car in the homeland of the motor vehicle. I can never imagine a single material possession being so important to me. In my country, people take credit lines out to buy cars that they can't afford to artificially inflate their economic status in the eyes of people around them. It doesn't bother them that the envy they generate in the idiots that surround them is as artificial as the self-worth they gain. | ||
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drooL
United Kingdom2108 Posts
On July 15 2012 06:21 Lorizean wrote: That for one. Most of the time you cannot drive as fast as you would want anyways because there are just too many ppl on the autobahn. On the other hand my fathers car somehow manages to be below 3.5k rpm at 250 km/h. The fuel consuming thing isn't necessarily driving that fast but getting up to the speed - and if there is even one car in front of you overtaking a truck, you will have to break and re-accelerate. For that reason driving really fast doesn't save you a lot of time over a longer journey, since your average speed doesn't go up by much. It really makes a difference at night though, when nobody is around. Recently I got into the habit of slowing down quite a bit for corners where I cannot see whats beyond them - I once took a corner with 230 km/h and there was a traffic jam right at the end of the corner. I was breaking as hard as possible as soon as I saw it and I stopped like 1m behind the last car, that was quite scary. Other scary thing is people not properly checking the left lane before overtaking or not realizing your speed as you come up. Had to break quite hard a few times. I know that feel... Sometimes when you see the tail of a traffic jam you completely underestimate your high speed and the distance you need to slow down. I don't drive that often so that messed me up a bit the last time I was driving on the Autobahn for a few hrs. | ||
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BurningSera
Ireland19621 Posts
And one of my dream is to drive my dream car and drive on that motorway..... So much motivation :D thanks for this zatic!!! | ||
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aqui
Germany1023 Posts
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Count9
China10928 Posts
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Slomo
Germany7198 Posts
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DragoonTT
3398 Posts
Also, very fast drivers tend to be unpopular with others - especially if the Autobahn curves a lot, they can be incredibly dangerous for someone trying to overtake, only to be scared by someone approaching at 200 ++ with seemingly no intention to use the brakes, instead flashing the headlights to make you leave the lane, even if you go above 160. Incidentally, my acquintances usually joke about Audi drivers having to make up their lack of a Mercedes or BMW by driving extra aggressively. | ||
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