How refreshing it is to drive on the Autobahns...
 

...where you can drive as fast as you feel is safe, left lane campers don't exist, and other drivers are courteous.

And you can cover >100 miles in 1 hour, and not a single cop in 150 miles...

I can tell you driving a POS Fiat Panda which tops out at 170 kph on the 'bahns beats driving a 5-series BMW in CA where you're afraid to go >80 mph due to the speed Nazis ...

How ironic that the USA feels like much more of a police state than Germany does, even in the towns.

Fuck CA police. May they all die in a fire

lol wat

http://www.49lovesongs.com/images/ch...wilcox__5_.jpg

On my drive home yesterday I spotted no less than 4 fucking motorcycle cops hiding in the fucking bushes on the side of the road (same road a couple blocks apart) all standing there with a radar gun and pointing it at every single car they saw. I also saw like 2 cars pulled over for ridiculous shit like 6-9mph over.

I flipped the middle finger to every single tub of shit one of them so they can see it nice and clear through the binocular looking bullshit in their radar guns.

I hope they slowly dissinegrate in a humongous tub of feces and piss


Yeah. I mad

too bad you got rid of the Miata

I sent my 540i a postcard saying "wish you were here".

The Panda is such a POS. It's a city car with no low-end, no top-end. Weird, it has no torque below like 1800 RPM, and yet it runs out of breath at like 4500 RPM. Only did an indicated 190 kph downhill with a tailwind.

You do realize that your car had 54, 69 or 75hp at the crank, depending on whether it was the 1.1l, 1.2l or 1.3l, right? What exactly did you expect?

I miss Europe. If I remember right the big panda is a 1 liter. My mom had a 4x4 panda in England that was seriously fun. Thing only weights about 1800lbs. I miss Europeans cause if ya come up on them at 130mph they move over and then some dude in a porche blows your doors off and the cops in the shoulder just laughter. Also got rolled by thecops doing 150 on the bikes just to find out what we rode. Then they shook our hands and left.

I think Jason drove the new Panda, which is worlds apart from the old one. Feels more like a VW than a Fiat.

That was pretty much my exact impression when I was there last year- both in the little hick towns (eg: Papenburg) and in the bigger cities (Düsseldorf) one genuinely got the impression that the function of the police was to protect and serve the public.

Interestingly, of all the places where I have lived (southeast, midwest, SoCal) I found the police in SoCal to be, by far, the least predatory and aggressive. You hardly ever see speed traps on the local roads, and I can't recall ever seeing a cruiser camped out on the freeway running radar. Maybe it's worse up in the redwoods, but down here, it's actually very close to not being a police state.

You know, in washington they use planes and helicopters to catch speeders :(

Yeah and it's all in the name of safety....just think of how much it costs them to fly and maintain those aircraft.

In BC too... and if you go 40kph (25MPH) over the limit your car is impounded, you loose your license for 7 days and have a BIG fine.

Ya it's not a bad city car, but it lacks low end for said city duties.

On one drive we were averaging about 100 mph with Audis, BMW's and Mazda 6's blowing by us, then as the 'bahn entered the city limits, the speed limits appeared and everyone slowed down to 75 mph then 60 mph. The feeling was a bit surreal, everything suddenly went slow, quiet, and calm. The Germans respect the speed limits because they are *worthy* of respect.

The drivers here just seem so ... competent. Even in the city streets, they're capable of hustling along very narrow streets.

I wonder how the 'bahns came to have unrestricted speeds, and I wonder why the neighbors haven't followed suit. I've noticed that French and Italians seem to be competent drivers too.

Europe is a controlled chaos. America seems to be inconsiderate of others on the road. And if I remember right I think German road fines are based on income so it hurts equally regardless how rich you are

IIRC, getting a driver's license in Germany is a monumental event - a large majority of people need multiple attempts to pass the test. They force you to demonstrate that you are actually responsible and capable of controlling the car in the real world.

I had to drive around the block, then parallel park to get my CT license.

I remember a quote from somewhere-
"In Germany, it is a privilege to drive. Once earned, it is your right to drive fast."

a drivers license is a VERY tedious/hard and expensive ordeal in germany, as such its regarded with respect unlike here where 90% of the drivers are lobotimized.

^ This.

When I was over there last year, I had a Passat CC, so keeping up with traffic was not a problem. It took a while for me to actually settle in with the idea that driving 180 kph on what in the US would be considered a county highway was entirely acceptable so long as conditions permitted.

And then, as you said- on those sections where there was a speed limit, people simply accepted it and complied with it. Because it made sense. I think that would probably work here. Granted, tearing through LA at 100 mph probably wouldn't be a good idea, but when you're out on I-10 halfway between somewhere and nowhere, I don't see the need.


Actually, here in SD we seem to have a pretty reasonable balance. We have speed limited to keep the Fed happy, but they're not enforced with particular enthusiasm. Six years and I've only been pulled over once. I was doing about 105 up a hill in a 50 MPH zone (which I admit was slightly excessive) and I got a written warning. (knocks on wood.)