A desi on the Autobahn

For a motor enthusiast driving on autobahn is  “the ultimate”, if it is a German made motor car it is like icing on the cake, I cannot find a better expression but “viola“. My first encounter with Autobhan happened back in 2009 & from then on every time I get a chance to drive there my admiration towards this German perfection grows.

Autobahns are divided highways mostly with three lanes going in each direction. The slow lane is to the far right. Trucks and cars with trailers use the right lane. The centre lane is for faster traffic, and the far left lane is for the fastest traffic. They have no mandated speed limit for some types of vehicles. However, limits are posted in areas that are urbanized or accident-prone.

On the autobahn, road signs come into focus for a heartbeat, and then disappear. Vision narrows as you look only at what’s directly ahead, watching all the moving pieces. What’s far is already close or behind.

On speed-unrestricted stretches, an advisory speed limit of 130 kilometres per hour applies. While going faster is not illegal as such in the absence of a speed limit, it can cause an increased liability in the case of an accident; personally my best is 201 km/hr driving on a Merc C-180, 1595cc, 154bhp powered engine.

If one has to get the most out of Autobahn try it on early hrs of Sunday, there would be less traffic and more opportunities to speed. Even one can try it at night, but you should be really familiar with the motorway you're on, I would prefer the day.

Don’t be surprised if you encounter cars with indicators switched on asking for way even when you are on 200+ Km/hr. German drivers are very much disciplined when it comes to staying to the right. They move left only to pass. For Desi drivers like me this is something hard to digest.

Longing for my next drive there, I hope to have access to a better powered car then.