Autoban to have speed limits?

JoeBleed

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way to go cnn for making 2 windows pop up to see a simple video... :(

but on the story. I thought they already had speed limits on the autoban in some places due to trafic conjestion. Granted they are talking about a speed limit on the whole road and i don't think they shoudl do it really. Least some people get to enjoy it.

I will have to watch it again when i get home but that didn't sound like a diesel. wonder what kind of milage they would get with a diesel.

EU is getting more pushy by the day.
 

TDIMeister

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There are more stretches of Autobahn now with speed limits than not. They range from 100-130 km/h (62-81 MPH) and can vary even on a same given stretch of road on different days depending on congestion, weather, accidents or construction ahead. In construction zones speed limits can go down to 60 km/h, and you don't just coast though them, you get on the brakes or there are doubled fines for speeding through construction zones and there are photo radar traps everywhere.
 

dieseldorf

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'meister, are the road surfaces as perfect as they appear in the video :eek:
 

Acidhead

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dieseldorf said:
'meister, are the road surfaces as perfect as they appear in the video :eek:
The last time that I was on it it was. On a road with no speed limit and I'm driving my grandfathers beatle. Had a front view seat to the left hand lane. Because anything Porsche, MB or some italian cars, OWNED the left hand lane. Didn't dare try to go there. Stayed with the trucks.
 

Fourdiesel

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Autobahn Speed limit

Interesting that in the news feeds I saw they stated that the ostensible reasin for considering the new speed limit restrictions was to help Germany meet the new CO2 "requirements". Haven't they been listening to Al Gore?: All they have to do is buy "carbon equivalents" and they can say they have done their part. They might even buy them from Mr Gore!:p
Sarcasm intended.
 
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TDIMeister

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`Dorf, by most North American standards the road conditions here on the Autobahn are generally pretty good, but parts of the former Eastern part of Germany are still less developed. There's a lot of construction going on, which is partly responsible for the slow-downs, and you might have read about some of the worst traffic jams that have spanned 70 km long!

No matter where you are on the Autobahn, You can expect emergency phone booths placed every kilometer or so, and rest-stops and service centers placed quite frequently.

Municipal roads are not so ideal as the Autobahns, but probably still better than most cities in North America.

I long lost the novelty of driving on the Autobahn. If I'm not in a particular rush to get anywhere in a car and want to see a bit of the scenery, I have instead come to be enamoured with the secondary "B" highways. There is some of the most stunning landscape and scenery to be discovered, and is simply a blast to drive along twisty hill-passes complete with hairpins. :)
 

dieseldorf

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...but the roads appear to be paved with glass in those videos.
 

JoeBleed

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I can't say for sure, but from what i have seen on discovery channel shows about the autoban states that they not only use a thicker layer of asphault for heavy trafic roads than we do but a different, and seemingly, better mixture. They alos stated that when a crack starts for form, instead of covering it wtih tare patchs like they do here they tear up and repave a whole section.

This was a couple of years ago when i saw this and i don't know how old it was then. But i saw the electronic speed limit signs and figured they used them to alter the speed limit based on traffic, weather, and road construction.
 

MrMopar

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Maybe to appease the Euro union, Germany can just have speed limits in name only. Like post signs on the unlimited parts, but have zero enforcement.
 

TDIMeister

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http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2007-03-16T145242Z_01_L16619655_RTRUKOC_0_US-GERMANY-SPEEDLIMIT-1.xml

Most Germans want speed limit on autobahn?
Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:23am ET


BERLIN (Reuters) - Nearly two in three Germans believe a speed limit should be introduced on the car-loving nation's notoriously fast autobahns, according to a new poll.


The European Union's environment commissioner Stavros Dimas and environmental activists in Germany have said speeding on the autobahn wastes energy and called for a speed limit. German Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee has rejected the idea.


The poll for ZDF television published on Friday showed 54 percent of Germans favor a speed limit of 130 kph (80 mph) while another 10 percent would like a limit below that level. Some 35 percent said they did not want any speed limit.


At least a third of German motorways have a speed limit while the rest carry only a recommended top speed of 130 kph where legally drivers can, and often do, travel as fast as they like.


German car firms like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, which pride themselves on producing powerful vehicles, fear speed limits on the autobahn would remove some of the allure of their vehicles and harm sales.


The survey also showed that 56 percent of Germans believe flights should be taxed at a higher rate because of the environmental damage they cause.
 

Keiller

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Fourdiesel said:
Interesting that in the news feeds I saw they stated that the ostensible reasin for considering the new speed limit restrictions was to help Germany meet the new CO2 "requirements". Haven't they been listening to Al Gore?: All they have to do is buy "carbon equivalents" and they can say they have done their part. They might even buy them from Mr Gore!:p
Sarcasm intended.
If anyone is interested, here is an excerpt and link explaining Fourdiesel's point:

There's an elephant in global warming's living room that few in the mainstream media want to talk about : the creators of the carbon credit scheme are the ones cashing in on it.

The two cherub like choirboys singing loudest in the Holier Than Thou Global Warming Cathedral are Maurice Strong and Al Gore.

This duo has done more than anyone else to advance the alarmism of man-made global warming.

With little media monitoring, both Strong and Gore are cashing in on the lucrative cottage industry known as man-made global warming.

More from here:

http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/cover031307.htm
 

tditom

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TDIMeister said:
`Dorf, by most North American standards the road conditions here on the Autobahn are generally pretty good, but parts of the former Eastern part of Germany are still less developed. ...Municipal roads are not so ideal as the Autobahns, but probably still better than most cities in North America.
When I was stationed in Berlin in the 80's we had to use an East German autobahn to drive to the west, of course. I was always struck by how well maintained that stretch of autobahn was maintained, and can't really comment on the rest of the East, since I wasn't really allowed elsewhere. It would be especially striking when I would fly home for leave and arrive at the Metro Detroit airport, then drive home across some of the worst kept highways I'd ever seen. Who'da thunk that the "Motor City" in the middle of our capitalist world would have roads that were so much worse than a Communist satellite of the USSR? LOL!
 

mwalters

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Just a comment: The word "Autobahn" simply means expressway in German. I can't tell you how many people I've come accross that think "The Autobahn" is a single, magical road in Germany with no speed limit.

When I lived there, I had to commute for a time between Munich and Ingolstadt. I loved to hang out in the left lane and never lift my right foot from the floor of my BMW for 30 minutes straight!:D Exits can get pretty exiciting, once you become numb to that kind of speed....:eek:
 

euromade

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I think a diesel engine would have even worst mileage drop (percentage wise) compared to a gas motor. Once outside the optimal torque/RPM range it is not as economical anymore.

In any case, this looked like a 6 Cyl BMW that was using a lot more gas than my Tahoe! (I will have to save this link for all Truck/SUV/H2 bashers) just to prove that Europeans waste a lot more gas then Al Gore would like to admit.

There is no doubt that a Germany-wide all inclusive speed limit would impact the quest for more power (nonsense). Drop in sale on these high-end models would negatively impact their respective R&D budgets. I'm sure it would not impact companies such as Porch or Lamborghini but 6 liter motors by Audi, BMW, MB would not get too much R&D $$$



JoeBleed said:
way to go cnn for making 2 windows pop up to see a simple video... :(

but on the story. I thought they already had speed limits on the autoban in some places due to trafic conjestion. Granted they are talking about a speed limit on the whole road and i don't think they shoudl do it really. Least some people get to enjoy it.

I will have to watch it again when i get home but that didn't sound like a diesel. wonder what kind of milage they would get with a diesel.

EU is getting more pushy by the day.
 

JoeBleed

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I have watched my instant fuel mialge drop in my old caddy at high speeds here (yes i was breaking the law at around 115mph) it would read around 9 mpg. How ever when i let off and drove the 65 to 70 highway speeds it woudl go up to about 25mpg. it had the 4.1L motor from 1987.

Yea it was an 8 cyclender, would be nice to compare some 4 and 6 cylender diesels and gas motors in the same conditions. I don't have the instant read out on my jetta, nor do i drive those speeds like i use to anymore. I do however drive around 75 to 80 mph on the highways and i can still get a tank average of 43 or so mpg combined with some citty driving. The more highway driving i do the better my tank average gets. I have seen high 40s with mostly highway miles and speeds. That is with a 5 speed. I would love to see what i could get from a 6speed. That is why i wonder how it would do in a compairison.

Maybe some locals can try it out? :D
 

TDIMeister

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I've driven an indicated 225 km/h in an Audi A3 TDI PD130 back in 2002 driving south somewhere between Kassel and Würzburg.

The instantaneous fuel consumption showed 12.5L/100 km or about 19 MPG US........
 

rotarykid

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I drove a steady 150km/hr out of Darwin to Alice Springs for several hours in a 93 1.6 L twin cam 5 spd Corolla and average around 23 mpgs US for that tank . @ 110 to 120 km/hr around back to Sydney 30 mpg US was the norm .

I also cruised in my girlfriends 96 4 cyl 5 spd Ranger pickup @ 90 mph ( 150 km/hr ) through & back across Montana in 1998 on my way to Edmonton to get an engine . I returned around 20 mpgs @ those speeds . 27 mpgs were more the norm when I drove 70 to 75 mph . Now that was fun trip . 4,300 miles in 5 days .

I'd love to be able to cruise @ 160 km/hr ( 100 mph ) on one of my trips across the US just see what my Passat TDI would return :D
 
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Fourdiesel

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Carbon credits/autobahn speed limit

Keiller said:
This duo has done more than anyone else to advance the alarmism of man-made global warming.

With little media monitoring, both Strong and Gore are cashing in on the lucrative cottage industry known as man-made global warming.
I hadn't heard that Gore is cashing in on the carbon credit thing but I'm not suprised - After all polititions NEVER lie! and Gore IS a politition (he is certainly NOT a scientist):rolleyes:
 
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