I absolutely hate driving on the Autobahn in Germany. The pure stress and the amount of assholes you encounter is absolutely astonishing.
I have driven cars before in other countries, including the “chaotic” Italy and the US, and it was always a more pleasant experience.
As someone who spends too much time going slower than the rest of traffic in grossly overloaded light trucks I think I have some authority when I say that being a road obstruction to the point where people pull dick moves to pass you is a great way to turn everyone else into an asshole make driving stressful. As long as you're not trying to go a ton slower than everyone else in your lane (forcing them to rapidly merge left or slow down, wait for a gap and move left cutting someone off) driving in your lane shouldn't be too stressful.
It's changed, and I'm sure if OP was less polite he'd mention the influx of beat-to-shit vehicles from the east that can now drive through western Europe and don't follow the rules as well.
And the trucks from Poland. So, so many trucks from Poland.
The density of dick drivers is generally pretty high on the Autobahn. BMW and Audi drivers tend to be the worst. Actual proper sports cars (except Lamborghinis and other Mafia-appeal cars) are the fast cars with the nicest drivers.
I drive Autobahn both in Germany and Netherlands and I can tell you that driving in Germany is a 100 times more stressfull compared to NL! As soon as you cross the border to Germany everyone channels their inner race car driver and it becomes stressful. Driving in NL is much more relaxed and laid back.
You can have the same experience on a German Autobahn by staying in the right lane. You'll go at the same low speed as the trucks, nice and cozy, straight, without much worries or concentration needed.
Now, if you want to go faster, you do have the option (unlike in other countries), but then you'll have to be a bit more careful and dynamic, because it is quite possible that a car approaches you from behind faster than you approach a stationary target (if the car goes 250 km/h while you go 120 km/h, say). Of course that requires keeping an eye on not only the traffic in front, but also the traffic behind, and getting out of the way when required, so you have to change lanes quite frequently.
It is somewhat more stressful (if you choose to leave the slow lane), but that's the price you pay.
Furthermore, after a while, all this becomes second nature, and rather stress free, as long as everyone follows the rule. (What remains stressful are drivers not following the rules, eg not signalling before changing lanes, or changing into your lane when you're about to overtake them, etc.)
This hits the nail on the head. I know people who complain intensely about Autobahn driving and when I ride with them all of them have very poor viewing technique ("Blicktechnik") and are the kind of driver that's rather oblivious to anything that happens on the road that isn't squarely in front of them. Of course, with these predispositions, just things like merging or changing lanes become stressful each time. You have to be able to do both on the Autobahn, so Autobahn = very stressful for them.
For my money, best driving experience for a country is Spain. First class roads and drivers. Not too intense.
Like a modified limousine Audi, or?
I can't picture what you are describing as I don't think the A8 qualifies as snake-like, does it?
Piqued my curiosity for sure :)
But yeah, I can imagine that a car that big is hard to maneuver pretty much anywhere.
That way we can pass the trucks (right lane) and the racers on the left lane can do whatever they are up to. Sure, when there are no trucks around, I switch to the right lane too.
In my experience, this doesn't make you a whole lot slower (comparing end-to-end travel time), but the stress and gas consumption is quite a bit lower (compared to driving mostly on the highspeed left lane).
When I drive in Germany on the left lane, and there are 2 lanes blocked by trucks, and another car wants to pass them on the left lane, they will see me and wait (or even break). They know I can't break that fast and will create an accident.
In Belgium, you can drive on the left lane, and somebody merges into the left lane 10 m before you and keep going 90kmh on the left lane creating a traffic jam and unnecessary breaking.
This is what I like about german drivers, they see their environment and know their (and other drivers) location in the traffic.
Also, move to the right rule, it looks like 90% of the people follow it perfectly, in Belgium everybody drives on the second lane.
Spain is the second best country I've driven in. Croatia is also fine.
While most German drivers are very disciplined, not all of them are and there are plenty of irresponsible people treating the autobahn as their personal racing circuit. Also, not all drivers are actually German or necessarily that experienced driving very fast. The combination of idiots and fast cars is kind of predictably bad. Accidents at high speeds tend to be fatal.
Despite this, it's not as dangerous as you might think: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-r.... Germany is doing better than e.g. the US or my home country (Netherlands). The reason is very simply that people on the autobahn tend to pay attention to what's happening. Situational awareness is not optional and paying attention becomes second nature quickly. If you've ever been overtaken by someone in a Porsche flooring the pedal, you'll think twice before moving in the left lane or outstaying your welcome there.
Even though I'm Dutch, most of my driving experience is in France, Spain and Portugal. I've never actually owned a car and typically only drive on vacation (rentals). For me, Spain is by far the most relaxed country to drive around in Europe. Roads are good, people seem to mostly behave these days (they've gotten more strict over the past 20 years), and there are lots of interesting places to drive to and beautiful scenery to enjoy. I've driven tens out thousands of km in that country over the years.
By comparison, the German autobahns are not in great shape. Like in the US federal funding for maintenance is not great. They're in a state of perpetual maintenance and you can't drive very far without encountering extensive road works. Being overtaken by traffic going twice your speed when you are basically flooring the pedal on your cheap rental is like crossing a highway on foot: very stressful. If you are renting a car in Germany, get an upgrade to something half decent. I once drove a rental Fiat panda that struggled to do 120 km/h on the autobahn and I don't recommend that. It's possible but you are basically going to be hugging the right lane and getting stuck behind slow trucks waiting for gaps in much faster traffic allowing you to overtake them. Merging left without the ability to accelerate quickly is stressful.
Road rage is a thing everywhere, it has nothing to do with the Autobahn. It's arguably more dangerous in cities where people stop their cars and get out to display physical violence. All over the world there are people who don't honor speed limits and want you to bugger off from the left lane, at least on the German Autobahn it's usually a crystal clear situation since the slower driver doesn't have the excuse that it's illegal to go faster anyway.
(As an aside, if you're ever in the area, go visit Auto & Technik Museum Sinsheim, and prepare to spend a whole day there gawking at awesome old machinery and airplanes)
At first, I found driving there a little bit intimidating. I'm used to Danish roads, where we drive 80km/h rather than 100km/h on most roads, and the speed limits are rather strictly enforced at 110/130km/h on motorways. I'm also used to Danish drivers, who generally accelerate and brake more gently, and generally drive slower cars (due to higher prices/taxes).
In comparison, Germans are more forceful drivers. I wouldn't say "aggressive", because they're much better at stopping for pedestrians at crossings, and yielding the right of way. But they accelerate and brake harder, drive faster in corners and have much more faith in the quality of their roads, and the skills of other drivers.
Once I got used to that difference in behavior, I found it much easier to grok German traffic and fit in.
That said, a BMW X5M passing you at 250+km/h while you're chilling at 160km/h in a rental Opel Corsa is always a little unnerving.
However, Germany is not Germany, it depends very much on the region. For instance, on the large 4-lane sections around Frankfurt, people drive aggressive and fast like mad. On the 3-lane sections in NRW, people have to drive annoyingly slowly because the Autobahn is a single roadworks. Then there are so many 2-lane Autobahnen in more rural areas which are also annoying because the average speed is low but there are aggressive people who think the left lane could bring them an advantage.
No, absolutely no. I've been all over Europe for my job and vacation throughout my life and there is no country with more order than Germany.
I have no idea how you get the idea about Italy. Besides France it is the worst driving experience in western Europe. People there are even proud of it. Eastern Europe is a topic for itself.
Seriously, there are assholes on the road everywhere but there is an overall flow of order in Germany you won't find anywhere.
I was surprised by the poor behavior I saw on the Autobahn outside of Frankfurt a few months ago. The Polish trucks were especially bad.
I have driven cars before in other countries, including the “chaotic” Italy and the US, and it was always a more pleasant experience.
And then I got back home and realized just how undisciplined and generally awful Bay Area drivers are.
The bigger the nearby city, the more traffic, the bigger pain is my global finding.
For example, I find Chicago to be much more pleasant to drive in than Milwaukee. Chicago's driving culture is relatively aggressive, yes, but there are conventions that people follow, so traffic is generally predictable. Once you get to know the rules, it's fairly easy to navigate given the traffic density. Whereas, in Milwaukee, the only convention I could discern during the several years I lived there is that the person who's trying to merge onto the highway going 20mph below the speed limit is also the person who'll fly past you at 20mph above the speed limit a minute or two later.
Only one rule matters in Chicago: potholes have the right of way.
I have done Amsterdam to Bern (Holland > Germany > Switzerland) and back once every weekend for 5 years: the difference in driving culture is extreme. When the Germans will:
1: Check left mirror for coming traffic
2: Stay on their lane for 5 seconds
3: Check left mirror AGAIN to see if that far away car suddenly is dangerously close
The Swiss and Dutch will check once, if the car in the mirror looks "tiny" just yank over the the next lane.
Not strange, since both these nations allow for a maximum speed of 120kmh. Everyone is going the same slow.
I dreaded the 1 hour in these two countries more then the 5 hours spend in the Autobahn.