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Comment by axiom92 | Hacker News Reader

Ah the no speed limit sign!

I rented a 5-series and drove from Frankfurt to Schwangau via Munich last December. I've been driving in the US for 4 years now, and can tell that the Autobahn is only as stressful as you want it to be. There are multiple lanes, and if you're in the leftmost lane, you'll be tailgated by those with better cars even while doing 230 kmph. If you're not into that kind of stuff, just stay in one of the right lanes and enjoy the view (otherwise you better stay extremely focused on the road!).

Driving on the Autobahn also made me realize that buying a car for its speed is extremely pointless in the Bay Area (or any place that imposes speed limits), because one would never be able to experience the thrill that comes out of pushing the gas pedal for 30 seconds straight.

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I live in Germany and get to drive on the no-speed-limit Autobahn regularly. It's fun! But what many newcomers or tourists fail to understand is that you can't just go and drive 230 km/h just because there's no speed limit. Whether or not you can safely drive 230 km/h hugely depends on circumstances, mainly on how dense the traffic is. If the left lane is almost permanently completely empty: go for it! If the left lane is regularly used for passing people in the middle lane, then driving 230 km/h makes you a dangerous amateur who's actively endangering other people's lives.

Unfortunately, people who've never driven the Autobahn before don't usually get this and some seem to get in a blind haze and just push push push until their car is at their speed limit. That can be so stupid and dangerous. Use your common sense, please.

Plenty of Germans who are neither tourists nor newcomers also don't get this. But compared to Poland, Romania, Greece, Lithuania and Latvia driving in Germany is pretty safe.

Interesting. My favourite is the A5 near Frankfurt with 4 Lanes on Sunday evening. Usually the whole traffic is on the left lanes. When I hit the end of this "traffic jam" I'm using the rightest (!) lane to slow down from 200 km/h down to around 120 km/h to match the left lanes because nearly nobody is driving there.

If I'm not driving "gemütlich" (like not in hurry), I stick to 120-130 km/h. For faster travels my personal enduring maximum is 180 km/h. Everything above is very exausting (and fuel consuming).

Regarding "safe" driving: There is probably a lot more than traffic. A45 has some unlimited sections with three lanes, but the curves are strong. With 200+ km/h (if you dare), you'll feel strong G-forces. Thrilling but also dangerous!

My personal advices would be: Observe how traffic works, see some idiots pulling left without using blinkers. It's often possible to tell if someone is going to change the lane in the next seconds.

Monitor the traffic with your mirrors. Don't underestimate speed and keep track of the cars near to you. Especially on the left lane you have to manage looking forward and into the mirror.

And last: Drive only as fast as you can. Cars tend to get noisy or tend to steer left or right. Be honest to yourself, if you feel that the car is flying, very sensitive to any steering or you simply clutch the steering wheel, you are on/above your limit.

However: The memes are true: On a lot days, it's not even possible to maintain speed around 130 km/h (probably depending on your route)

You're right, one should obviously drive per the road (traffic + weather) conditions. I personally wouldn't dare doing 200kmph+ unless both the left lanes are almost empty; passing someone at that speed makes me nervous.

> Driving on the Autobahn also made me realize that buying a car for its speed is extremely pointless in the Bay Area

There is plenty of fun to be had of route 1, in 1st or 2nd gear, with a few horsepower underneath of you. Don't drive beyond your limit and route 1 is incredible.

I've driven on route 1 from Mendocino to LA and I agree with you on that it's incredible.

>buying a car for its speed

I was talking about speed however.

> buying a car for its speed is extremely pointless in the Bay Area

The engine sizes on base models on US cars drives me bonkers.

Why yes, if a 1.4 or 1.6L engine works in the alps and 130 speed limits, WTF wouldn’t it’s it not an option in 55mph flat country?

The Lamborghinis make you feel like you are crawling, even at 250kph

One time I was casually driving near Frankfurt with 150kmh (there's enough room on the A5) while a Lamborghini slowly caught up with me on the left lane. After a couple of seconds, the driver thought it was too boring and decided to accelerate. In the blink of an eye, he was so far away, you could barely even see it. The pebble it threw into my newly changed windscreen is a story for another thread...

> There are multiple lanes, and if you're in the leftmost lane, you'll be tailgated by those with better cars even while doing 230 kmph.

The leftmost lane is not just for fast cars. It's for every car intending to drive faster than the car in front of it.

I was similarly impressed by the autostrada in Italy. They do have speed limits, but the cops don't seem to enforce them unless you're driving a truck.

They do enforce the limits and they will even seize your car if you are going far over the speed limit.

Ouch. Guess I got lucky.

Regardless of how much "stress" you want, you should always stay in the left-most lane that you can be in unless you are overtaking somebody. I used to go 220km/h or 130mp/h in a modified Golf 2 back in the day and even at that speed you should always move over if you can. If someone is tailgating you, you are in the wrong lane.

That should be the right-most lane.

And the mere fact that somebody is tailgating you doesn't necessarily mean you're doing it wrong, e.g. consider what might happen on a two lane autobahn while you're passing a truck.

Depends on which country you are in

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