#Germanproblems

"Mark - Sixpots None The Richer" (marklinde) 09/11/2014 at 15:55 • Filed to: Autobahn

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Four adult males, a company car, 260 kilometers of German Autobahn to conquer and all expenses are covered by the company. Who wants to drive?

Person A: - "Meh!"

Person B: - "No!"

Person C: - "Hmmm, not really"

Person D: - "Well, shit. Someone has to do it, I guess..."

I do acknowlegde that the car is partly to blame for this lack of motivation. It's a current base model Opel Corsa. Still, you can push it to over 180kph (over 110mph).

They seem to be very successful by the way because Corsas are everywhere.

Yet, we had to travel all week and will do it again tomorrow. A better car would have to be really interesting (speak: fast and/or cool) to find volunteers after everyone had a test drive in it.

So Oppo, here is the horrible truth: Actually using the Autobahn isn't that interesting in real life.

duurtlang > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer 09/11/2014 at 16:00

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Agreed, and I'm not even German. I'd argue (flame suit on) that our Dutch highways are better, despite the speed limits. Mostly because the quality of the asphalt is generally better and they aren't working on the road EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME like they are in Germany. I'm still shivering from the horrible, horrible Hamburg traffic jam I was in last Sunday .

My citroen won't start > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer 09/11/2014 at 16:02

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That's because you are doing it wrong! Every single interesting activity when performed with the wrong tool gets boring.

Mark - Sixpots None The Richer > duurtlang 09/11/2014 at 16:06

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Reality is a bitch.

And while I pushed the car to 180, you have to know that I was also crawling through 14km of road works and almost every stretch of the A7 between Göttingen and Hannover is restricted to 130kph. And yes, the condition of the road surface is partly to blame for this.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer 09/11/2014 at 16:06

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It can't be a base model unless the range is different there. The base 1 litre tops out at 93mph and takes 17 seconds to 60.

Mark - Sixpots None The Richer > My citroen won't start 09/11/2014 at 16:08

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Yes, definitely!

But this is the reality, not a fantasy like a spirited drive in a press car under ideal circumstances.

My citroen won't start > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer 09/11/2014 at 16:12

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I had fun in the Autobahn with a diesel minivan once. But I imagine that fun isn't an easy task in a base Corsa.

Mark - Sixpots None The Richer > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 09/11/2014 at 16:16

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Yeah, but the 1 litre was only build until 2009. After that the mighty 1,2l took over.

And don't underestimate the power of gradients working in our favor and the inaccuracy of the indicated speed.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer 09/11/2014 at 16:19

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Hmm either parkers is wrong or the range differs in different countries. I'm pretty sure I've seen 1 litres on 2014 plates trundling around.

Mark - Sixpots None The Richer > My citroen won't start 09/11/2014 at 16:20

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The clue here is: "Once!"

The sensation gets old quickly. :-)

Like I admitted already: A nicer car or different cars at least would help to motivate me/us again.

My citroen won't start > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer 09/11/2014 at 16:22

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I must imagine so, it must be what I get when I tell some people that I live in Brazil. "Oh the sun, and tropical things, must be great" it just isn't.

Mark - Sixpots None The Richer > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 09/11/2014 at 16:24

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Maybe the base models are differing. The German Wikipedia has this to offer:

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer 09/11/2014 at 16:31

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Must just be different countries. They probably realised it was terrifying trying to get up to speed on the autobahn with an over 17 second 0-60 time and stopped selling them there.

deekster_caddy > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer 09/11/2014 at 17:01

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I was there about 16 years ago, got a rental Mercedes C230 I think. C130 maybe? I called it "The Ford Taurus of Germany" - there were a ton of them around. Anyhoo, got to drive on the Autobahn for a while. At one point I was doing about 160 + or - (kph of course) and along a decent stretch of road, had my foot to the floor for about 15 minutes. Maybe got up to 180 on a stretch? So I go left to pass someone, see blinky lights behind me, hustle back to the right and a big BMW sedan flies by me with a WHOOSH and my car rocks a little... it disappears over the next rise or two and is gone. I'm just drooling... trying to put my foot further through the floorboards, and not going any faster...

So it's kinda boring to drive, but it has it's moments!

Mark - Sixpots None The Richer > deekster_caddy 09/11/2014 at 23:32

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My article is deliberately short to start a discussion.

I wasn't telling you exactly why we had to drive this far everyday and again in a few minutes...

To get to work and back of course!

Not only is it kind of boring but also tiring and a bit stressful to drive fast in the traffic conditions you mentioned before and after work. I also got the high beams treatment yesterday. It's something else if you were in the position to go for a drive just for fun and if you were prepared (speak: rested) accordingly.

Svend > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer 09/12/2014 at 12:42

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German Autobahns are seen as the holy grail of motoring. I'd rather drive the M6 in the south of my county. Get the right time and it can be open with little in the way of other users, people gently cruising along at anything from 56mph up to 130+mph. Beautiful scenery a slight weave to the road and so many shades of green, brown and blue making you feel like your driving through virgin unexplored terrain (bar the road that is).