> I did other reckless shit with my own car. [...] Drove it 120 miles per hour just to see what it felt like.
Admittedly this gave me a chuckle. Most people don't go that fast, but with the right kind of car this no big deal on the Autobahn.
Admittedly this gave me a chuckle. Most people don't go that fast, but with the right kind of car this no big deal on the Autobahn.
On AutoBahn stretches old M3s and Mercedes E190 are capable of 150 mph and they do absolutely floor it. The only risk it's mechanical failure or tyre blowing up.
I still mantain that for those looking for kinetic adrenaline the big Cigarette powerboats are better, even though they are slower than cars you are essentially always surrounded by nothing and the feeling is more intense (even though they are slower than cars) because you are in the wind yourself and the jumping on the waves makes it seems even more kinetic.
German here, it's not fast for the Autobahn, per se. The issue is though talking about the speed on its own is nearly meaningless, the most important factor becomes the road and what speed it is designed for. There are plenty of stretches on the Autobahn where there is no speed limit AND you can "safely" go 250+kph. Although I personally get uneasy at speeds beyond that because it starts to feel like you're entering an event horizon where unforeseen things on the road ahead are now beyond your ability to meaningfully react to them.
That being said, there are lots of stretches on the Autobahn where the speed limit is 80-100kph, often with good reason.
I recently floored it for hours in a Dacia Jogger, going its absolute Vmax of 175 km/h, and that was uncomfortable. The same in an Audi or BMW is hardly noticeable.
But seriously: I've had the old lady thing happen to me more than once.
That had me laughing.
Funny story: I once, long ago in the corridor stopped to help a bunch of people in a Trabant, the engine had seized and it really wasn't going to go anywhere so I offered to tow them behind my 230E, which could easily do that. They agreed happily and we hooked them up, and one of their party switched to my car to show me where to go (illegal to go off the corridor, but screw it, this had massive consequences later on but at the time I was still totally oblivious). So we're back on the highway and doing 50 or so and the guy asks 'can't you go any faster?'. I say sure, but what about the tow? 'They will have to follow ;)'. Ok, so doing a 110 or so (where you could legally go maybe 90 at the time) for an hour took us to Frankfurt a/d Oder where they lived, I dropped them off at home and the guy that drove the Trabbi came to me and said that they'd never gone that fast with it before...
Good times. Obviously, for East Germans before the wende there was a lot of misery (same in Poland, my destination) but there was also a strong camaraderie, 'us against the system'.
> there was also a strong camaraderie, 'us against the system'
I think this is what gets lost in prosperity, and what causes some of the current spiritual misery. You simply don't need other people anymore if you have enough money, which in turn destroys community. Maybe the land of plenty is a dystopia, and we're not meant to live like this for extended periods of time.