Fun Fun Fun on the Autobahn

Autobahn..... that seemingly mythical German Highway where every driver is a rocketship commander. Every kid in the US dreams of driving the Autobahn ... probably at least 100 such dreams between their 14th and 21st birthday. It seems so unfair to have to test out the family wagon in secret on a back-road in the country, knowing full well that every German kid is legally breaking the sound barrier on the way to school each day.

In truth, the autobahn is just another crowded highway with traffic jams and speed limits in the high-traffic areas. Near the major cities, the traffic jams can stretch for 10 miles as a daily routine. If you are stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic then it matters little that there is no speed limit.

But on some glorious days when the traffic is light and the roads are dry......when the conditions are perfect for launch....one can drive the autobahn as in the dreams of youth.

For the record, the intro photo shows a speedometer reading of 195 kilometer per hour, which at 0.621371192 miles per kilometer works out to be roughly 121 miles per hour.

This is about as fast as our little Renault Laguna can go. You can see that tachometer on the left teasing with the red zone. We are driving the Renault because the Volkswagon Passat is in for service. The VW can go a little bit faster. But nothing compared to the big Mercedes and BMW road cars that whiz by at well over 200 kph. Those cars are built for hyperdrive with better brakes and better tires and a sixth gear. Renault and VW drivers just flirt with high speeds for a few seconds.....and then slow down before the car vibrates to pieces.

The other bad thing about driving fast is that you get lousy gas mileage. And with gas at 1.20 euros a liter, it becomes pretty expensive entertainment to play Nascar driver.