When we drove over we found it a lot less "scary" by just slowing down and going with the flow more rather trying to race past the flow! lol

It's enjoyable... just not as a passenger! hehe

When I was in Frankfurt last year, we got a very slow minibus into the city one night, which took 45 minutes. We left to go back to the hotel in a taxi, and it took 20! I think the driver wanted to get back to the rank, so he was doing 200kph most of the way. I've had great respect for E-series diesels since then. We used to get a lift into the office with our account manager, who had a 530D. Most of the journey was conducted at 220kph, trying to get away from the French contingent in a Peugot 605. The thing with these speeds is that they all look where they're going and watch their mirrors most carefully!

Phil

Are you sure about the full spare fuel can?

I've never noticed one in SWMBO's car.

I suppose the ferries don't mind but the channel tunnel always look for extra fuel.

I'd never heard of the 5L of fuel in the car.

What I do know is that it is illegal to run out of fuel on the autobahns and it will land you in a lot of trouble if you do. At the same time there are fuel stations everywhere so as long as you fill up when you get to a quarter tank I can't see you having any problems.

it is not compulsory to have 5L fuel in the car in germany

dont forget your environmental badge

Umweltplakette/Feinstaubplakette - Informationen und Bestellmöglichkeit

my colleagues tell me its good for the lifetime of the car.. or until the windscreen

is changed then you have to get new one

You dont have to carry spare gasoline, but running out of will give you a ticket (see cheezmonkhais post). As you are supposed to keep your car in good driving condition.

Umweltplakette is necessary if you want to drive into certain cities (Cologne for example). But I dont know how strict they check these :confused:

Driving fast in Germany isnt what it used to be. Autobahns are, depending on where you drive, very full. And Germans are born teachers, they like to teach everyone else a lesson...... :thumbdwn:

There are a lot of autobahnusers that will condemn you to being a RASER, as soon as you are driving a bit faster than they do (mostly somewhere around 100-120 ). They will show you by blocking your way and slowing down in front of you.

Just dont get upset, so that they will be the ones with the higher bloodpressure

But if an autobahn is free, banzaiiii!

But always keep an eye in the mirror, no matter how fast you are driving. (especially nowadays a lot more cars are on the road, able to do more than 300km/h)

....and another tip:

BEWARE OF DUTCH DRIVERS IN GERMANY!!!!

As i'm living in Holland and i ride very often on german autobahns, while a good part of Germans actually look carefully in the mirror before changing lane, often the Dutch give only a quick look and they don't realize that the veichle approaching from behind may ride over 120 MPH, so they can litterally jump in front on you because they expect you're driving 70-75 mph like in Holland....

[OT]

Just back from a trip in the UK: driving Dover-Chesterfield-Dover on the left side with a left hand drive car (and the speedometer in KMH) is really a pain... now i understand your difficulty on continental trips!

and next month watch our for caravans with NL plates -heading south

Dutch drivers are dangerous everywhere, not only on the autobahn, in general there considerd the worst drivers in the EU.

On-topic: I drive in Germany a lot and when the Germans ignore the speed limits, its safe to do so without tickets. Thrust me, they ignore it more then they obay it

In december I went to Nurnberg and hardly went slower then 160km/u (about 100mph), only on the roadworks with the small lanes, I went slower.

I you use gps, you can use the speedcams from SCDB for 1 or 2 cameras you will come across (useually they are placed in the signposts above the road and you can see them from 5 miles away, unless its dark)

For Western Europe the statement is true (some people have probably never been driving in Italy), as Dutchmen I can inform you that slow driving on the left lane is not only a matter of poor driving skills, in many cases it is actually done just for the purpose of anoying the other drivers. Usually the drivers pretend not to see you even when you flash your lights, but I learned that when I was pretending to fall a sleep by a fake yawning the other drivers immediately moved out of my way. Driving in the Netherlands is never a pleasure, it takes all your concentration giving the irrational behaviour of many other drivers and you meet a lot of road rage. Maybe it is only 5% or 10% of the Dutch drivers, but on a full road you meet too many of these ******.

On the autobahn Dutch drivers are the most notorious, but please be careful since the behaviour to suddenly move left (usually without giving directions and taking a sharp turn) and drive 110 km/u on the left lane is not limited to the Dutch. If you drive 160 km/u or more, the other car appears not to be moving and you have to break hard.

And not to forget, many Dutch people think you can safely travel on Summer tires to the wintersport resorts.

And if you use the Autobahn to go skiing: please book a resort without Dutch people (dont take the cheapest all-inclusive and you are safe), since too many Dutch people are giving our country a bad name being rude, drunk and noisy (UK people are usually only drunk without being annoying ).

Please note that the other 90% of the Dutch citizens hate the bad behaviour of our country men too.

All this talk of Dutchmen makes me think it's time for a ............................

Crazy Dutch ********

Sorry for the OT :rofl:

Love these discussions

Born dutch, living in Germany (chinese blood) :eek:

Love these discussions

Born dutch, living in Germany (chinese blood) :eek:

must have been your farjah!!!!

no problems with dutch..only the bl@$5dy caravans

drive safely:thumbup:

Remember to keep on driving on the left lane with 110 km/u

About the caravans, these are homesick Dutch, so they take their second house on vacation. Since most Dutch dont want to invest in powerful cars, the car is usually underpowered to get the caravan up the mountain.

I like the Italian way to drive.

I went on vacation to Italy the last couple off years, brilliant driving there.

No one cares about speedlimits or other regulations, traffic has to move, wonderfull :P

Did you manage to drive in and out of Naples without getting any dents in your car

Dont get me started about Italy, I've been there far too many times than I would have liked to, and it just sucks.

Try counting how many undented cars you see around you, just for laughs.

it is not compulsory to have 5L fuel in the car in germany

dont forget your environmental badge

Umweltplakette/Feinstaubplakette - Informationen und Bestellmöglichkeit

my colleagues tell me its good for the lifetime of the car.. or until the windscreen

is changed then you have to get new one

What a flamin CON they are charging 30 - 40 yoyos for a disc when ordering from the official TUV site is only 12.5 yoyos posted 02 TÜV NORD MOBILITÄT - Order Form

Did you manage to drive in and out of Naples without getting any dents in your car

Valencia in Spain is the worst place I have ever driven. Fortuneatly it was in a hire car

What a flamin CON they are charging 30 - 40 yoyos for a disc when ordering from the official TUV site is only 12.5 yoyos posted 02 TÜV NORD MOBILITÄT - Order Form

I got mine from one of the local Skoda dealers in EF, €8 IIRC,

obviously helps if the dealer is outside an Umwelt zone

Also try and go to the Autostadt at the mother ships HQ:

Autostadt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

www.autostadt.de - Startseite

Got to disagree I'm afraid, I've driven there twice, back when I had my slow Mk 3 Golf GTi. It is good for VW owners but Skodas section is so small and under-utilised as to be pointless.

I was planning a trip to the Skoda museum and factory in the Czech Republic originally, but it's that bit too far.

Well, I'm back from my trip to the Rhineland. Topped out at 140mph between Cologne and Bonn (2 of us and a full boot). Still accelerating with no sign of letting up, but with traffic in the distance I decided to slow down and play it safe. The 5mpg indicated at that speed was interesting !

With the exchange rate we now have cheaper petrol than in the Euro zone - €1.25 generally for premium, but did pay €1.50 for some Shell 102 RON petrol in Germany.

Longest stage of the journey was from Mainz to Dunkirk non-stop, just over 5 hours and 330 miles. 1,300 miles total over 5 days of travelling and no back ache. Nice !

Petrol is more expensive in DE due to the road tax being included in it's cost, as opposed to having to pay for a vignette or at a toll booth.

Wish they did that here.

Be so much easier

On the subject of German Autobahns ....

I got flashed by a fixed camera on a weak bridge yesterday,

limit was 80kmh & I was doing about 100kmh

(honestly I never saw the 80 sign as I was passing a queue of lorries).

Done a quick look on the net, it looks like there's now much more co-operation between EU member countries,

to share driver & vehicle details. It looks like 99kmh would be a €30 fine and 100 kmh would be €70.

Some sites suggest that it's too expensive to chase anything less than a €70 fine.

I've also read they have between 3 - 6 months to track down the offender.

So I guess I'll just be watching the post for some time to come.

The two things that puzzle me are;

that if the bridge is so weak as to need an 80 limit for cars,

why are lorries also allowed to do the same speed?

Plus if it's so vital for everyones safety,

why don't they put a few reminder signs?

Or am I just being bitter and cynical?

On the positive side, it was nice to follow a police car out of a service station,

and then legally and safely pass him at over 160kmh.

At one stage of the journey a massive downpour brought everyone down to 50kmh,

sod's law that this was on a newly relaid unrestricted section!

Petrol is more expensive in DE due to the road tax being included in it's cost, as opposed to having to pay for a vignette or at a toll booth.

I'm afraid you've been misinformed here.

The German equivalent of "Road Fund Licence" is "Kfz-Steuer" (Vehicle Tax).

It is worked out as follows:

Petrol vehicles are charged €2 per 100cc, so 1.4TSi = €28 & 1.8TSi = €36

Diesel vehicles are charged €9.50 per 100cc, so 1.6TDi = €152 & 2.0TDi = €190

On top of this there is a CO2 charge. Until 2011, the first 120g are free, anything above this is €2 per gramme of CO2:

1.4TSi = 148g-120g=28g = €56

1.8TSi = 158g-120g=38g = €78

1.6TDi = 119g<120g=0g = €0

2.0TDi = 150g-120g=30g = €60

These added together make your Kfz-Steuer:

1.4TSi = 148g-120g=28g = €28+€56=€84

1.8TSi = 158g-120g=38g = €36+€78=€114

1.6TDi = 119g<120g=0g = €152+€0=€152

2.0TDi = 150g-120g=30g = €190+€60=€250

On top of all that, Trucks are also charged a toll for using the German autobahns and there is a discussion going on whether motorists should also start paying tolls as well, however this would be a long way off.

The idea that the British are the highest taxed motorists in Europe would be hotly disputed by the Germans I believe.

The idea that the British are the highest taxed motorists in Europe would be hotly disputed by the Germans I believe.

Actually the Dutch are disputing both claims. Road and fuel taxes are horrible in the Netherlands and new cars (and cars up to the age of 4 years) have a special luxery tax between 20-40% on top of the 21% VAT.