rroberts

Am picking up my C63s in a few days and plan to travel from Stuttgart to Prague, to Berlin, to Gdansk, (ferry) to Stockholm, to Copenhagen, and to Hamburg before car drop off in Bremerhaven. This should put 2,500 to 3,000 kilometers on the car by the time I cross from Denmark into Germany and I would like "experience" the autobahn once I am past the suggested limited speed, RPM, etc. period. Can anybody suggest autobahn stretches into Hamburg that are likely to have unlimited speeds on a Monday during daylight hours?

mdsbuc

I posed your question to a friend of mine in Germany. This was his reply to me:

If he like use an unlimited stretch of the Autobahn he can use the A1 (coming from the Fehmarn island, is reached from Denmark by a ferry). The first part of 55 miles to the city of Lübeck is nearly unlimited and also a part from Lübeck to Hamburg as well, that are also 30 miles.

The other option is the longer way via „land“ without using the ferry, the he comes down the A7 via the city of Flensburg. Also there is a good portion unlimited.But he should keep in mind that he is traveling on a workday = lot‘s of traffic and trucks on the road. He may not reach the top speed of the C63s. But he can definitely drive much more than 70mph.

Also on the way from Hamburg to Bremerhaven there is a huge part of the A1 and A27 unlimited. But of course also here will be traffic.

And pay attention to the speed limits, there are speeding traps on the Autobahn sometimes. Not more than 15 km/h over the speed limits, is my recommendation.

Jaap

And most importantly: try to drive like the Germans.
If they go 180km/h, just follow them with enough distance and if the road clears up enough (probably won't on a monday during the day/evening) then floor it.
Many foreigners are fixated on reaching top speed which is most annoying, for themselves! You constantly have to brake very hard for another car / bus / semi blocking your left lane.
Try to relax and you will go fast effortlessly.

Oh also: play with all the toys BEFORE you get on the autobahn. It's very tempting to try all the buttons and functions and menu's while driving if you haven't tried them before.

mdsbuc

Some things, most will already know, but here are a few things to remember when driving the Autobahn in Germany:
1) Keep right except when passing.
2) Pass only on the left, never on the right.
3) Keep an eye on your rear view mirror before you pass and when you are passing. You may think you are going pretty fast at 125-150 mph, but a car coming up behind you might be doing 175, or 200, or more. That little dot you first see gets BIG really fast.

Others may want to add to this list. That would be great.

One more thing, when off the Autobahn, on regular roads and even in parking lots, when you are on the "main road," or in a primary lane in the grocery store parking lot, cars coming from the right side streets and from the lesser right lanes in the parking lot, have the right of way, unless you pass a sign confirming that you have it (the right of way.) I didn't learn about this law until my second visit.

rroberts

Thanks to all. I have driven outside the U.S. in rentals, but never before in an AMG class car. This will be my 3rd AMG and I am pretty comfortable at 150+ MPH speeds, albeit on tracks or places in this country where you only see another vehicle every 20 minutes. [Once that other vehicle was a highway patrol jeep with instant on radar -- and he politely said 140 was a bit too much and wrote me up for 80 in a 70 zone.]

Jaap

Another one: roadworks.
The max speed will decrease every mile or so. The germans will follow this quite strictly... for good reason:
The left lane will get VERY narrow. Most german S-Class drivers will stay on the right lane.
There may be S-curves when entering the roadworks that are be much tighter than you expect. - I once took one of those on 2 wheels (well... you know what i mean) because i misjudged the curvature.
If you see this:

Then they mean the width of the car with mirrors.
For example: C-Klasse Limosine (W205): 1.81m / 2.02m without/with mirrors

BillyD

A couple of facts about European Cars and the German Autobahn:
1) 90+ % of European Cars are electronically limited to a top speed of 250 kph (about 155 mph). You are very unlikely to encounter many vehicles at speeds above this level.
2) Trucks (over a weight of 3.5 tons) are limited to a speed of 80 kph (50 mph). Buses are limited to a speed of 100 kph (62 mph).
3) The average speed of cars on most unlimited autobahn segments is around 130-150 kph (80-94 mph).
4) If you are in the process of overtaking / passing (on the left, of course) and a faster car is coming up behind you, that driver has the legal obligation to slow down to match your speed and keep a safe distance behind you until you vacate the lane. Naturally, you should vacate the
lane once you have finished passing.

IMHO, any competent experienced driver will not find driving on German autobahns difficult.

Hope this helps.

mdsbuc

I agree, probably unlikely, but one should be aware. In one memory I have I was in an open stretch of autobahn, at the limiter of my 530i at about 153 mph, and was passed by a 7 series that was going considerably faster.

Average speed; probably true. But often there are groups of cars, or solo ones, moving at much higher speeds. I often found myself cruising at about 120-130 mph, just moving with the flow of the faster vehicles. These speeds begin to feel like driving at 75-80 on U.S. interstate highways.

Absolutely true. One must be aware though that on average, I think the German driver is far better than the American (average) driver. They are not all perfect, though. On my last trip over there a German friend of mine "blazed the path" in the fast lane to help me reach the limiter in my 335 MSport. At about 150 mph a car pulled out right in front of him from the right lane. He slammed on his brakes and barely avoided an accident.

Billy, I think this is also true. Thanks for your very helpful input.

rroberts

Thanks to all. The autobahns were different than I expected, but how is hard to explain.

In Germany there were only a few stretches were one could do 200-215 Kph for even a few seconds. The Czech Republic has a national speed limit, and I respected it and did not exceed the new car first 1000 miles driving restrictions. Poland has really nice toll roads, on which local drivers apparently feel the national 140 kph speed limit is simply not applicable.

From the Danish border to Hamburg there was little chance to drive fast, due to heavy traffic. Nonetheless, just when I thought I would never see high speeds in Germany, I took the A1 autobahn to Bremen and there were stretches where groups of us were doing 218 Kph for minuets at a time. Alas, Bremen to Bremerhaven would have been much the same but an ambulance doing 180 squat in the inside lane most of the way and only finally pulled over when some drivers did start passing him on the right.