Well it was unusually hot today in South Central Germany. 91deg F on the A60 just leaving Mainz to the north. While still in a 100 kph (62 mph) zone I notice in the mirror a Viper Spyder coming up on me and not to far behind the Viper is a Panamera of unknown designation. The Viper goes by and I note the German plates show it to be U.S. Military.

We all three finally get to the open section of the A60 around Ingleheim, but too much traffic so far. Now I'm not too optimistic at this point as 91 deg F is not helping my cause, but hey let's see what happens. Traffic is now starting to thin out and the 3 car train is bunched-up running about 90 mph. A Fiat 500 passing a truck is all that's in front of the Viper. The Fiat pulls back into the right lane and we're off! I was already in 3rd with the A/C and ESP off and my IAT was initially at 102 F and by cracky, I'm closing on the Viper. The Panamera is a distant memory. But, alas, more traffic. So, this routine goes on until we're now in the neighborhood of Bad Kreuznack and now on the A61. I finally pull up next to the Viper and we both have big grins on our faces.

We exit the A61 together and find a place to park. So what do you think the first words of of the Viper driver's mouth are? "THAT THING IS A BEAST!"

The gentleman's name is Jose and he is career military and has been in all the bad places. The Viper had a tune and a larger TB, but I was still able to run it down, especially at the higher speeds. I suspect the BEAST is much more slippery than an open Viper. IAT never went above 160.

Jose and his German wife live quite nearby to us and they will be joining us for dinner in the near future.

Oh, and the Panamera . . . . no idea.

 

We need videos of these encounters...and, I'd think it's more prudent to leave the ESP "on" at these speeds.

 

Nicely done AG.

Get us some kills in your 6.3!

 

Never put anything on video that you would not want to see on the front page of the New York Times or in a court of law.

With over 20,000 of mostly commercial flight hours, and a number rounds at some of the better known road courses, I submit that qualifies me as being prudent.

 

This is quite possibly the most intelligent post I've read on these forums.

 

Great story and great that you made a friend as well.

 

Earlier this year in Florida I was with the Audi folks at PBIR and we were doing some demos with the W109 (6.3) which is actually 6.5. The W109 is a total restoration plus improvements. The K4 transmission was designed for this torque monster, but apparently not for the torque that's being made today.

This was the result, fortunately I had a spare.

 

Wow, that is some awesome twist!

Good call on having a spare for that Beast. Love those cars.

 

The "stories" on all of the automotive forums are funny....Almost every forum would have one believe that the main OEM on that site is the best / fastest car on the planet. While the e55 is fast and can be made faster relatively easily, I am surprised you have not been spanked numerous times in Germany by better / faster cars. I know in Orange County, there are plenty of cars faster than the e55....

 

Good point on the video. And I'm sure your prudence reminds you that nothing kills a pilot quicker than a cocky attitude.

 

There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots. I'm into my 8th decade.

Or, when in doubt - - - don't.