Unlimited speed zones are awesome. Especially in an Audi, Mercedes or BMW. Which represent 80% of the cars here.
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May 22, 2011 4:53 a.m. pinchvalve SuperDork
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May 22, 2011 4:54 a.m. pinchvalve SuperDork
The VW Sirocco is awesome. Please, please bring it to the states.
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May 22, 2011 4:55 a.m. pinchvalve SuperDork
Why is the Ford Kuga not sold in the us?
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May 22, 2011 4:58 a.m. Jay SuperDork
Whereabouts are you? My standing offer of Beer for GRMers who show up in Berlin / Potsdam is still open.
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May 22, 2011 8:41 a.m. Lesley SuperDork
I was in Stuttgart a couple of weeks ago, visited the Porsche factory and Museum. It's a must-see for us car lovers. I'll say one thing for the Germans – they sure know how to make a decent cup of coffee!
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May 22, 2011 9:08 a.m. Woody SuperDork
Lesley wrote:
I'll say one thing for the Germans – they sure know how to make a decent cup of coffee!
...which only partially offsets the lousy breakfast.
When I was there, the entire country was a passing zone, even blind corners on narrow back roads. If it wasn't safe to pass, you didn't do it.
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May 22, 2011 12:04 p.m. Lesley SuperDork
Really? I had this really amazing muesli and yogurt concoction, with sliced fruit and a sprig of mint. Looked like porridge, tasted fantastic!
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May 22, 2011 12:34 p.m. BoxheadTim SuperDork
Woody wrote:
Lesley wrote:
I'll say one thing for the Germans – they sure know how to make a decent cup of coffee!
...which only partially offsets the lousy breakfast.
Depends, I never got used to the Anglo-American style breakfast, even after 12 years in the UK and a year over here.
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May 22, 2011 3:10 p.m. AquaHusky Reader
I remember my uncle once told me, when he was stationed in Germany, he had his Ford Country Estate wagon taken over with him. He would be doing 80-85 MPH and was still getting passed like he was parked on the side of the road. He also mentioned that their road manners there were superb as compared to US drivers. Makes me want to take a trip there just to see that alone!
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May 22, 2011 3:13 p.m. Salanis SuperDork
Have you gotten out to the Nurburgring yet? Are you planning to?
If I were there, I'd also be wanting to take a tour of Weihenstephan brewery.
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May 22, 2011 4:26 p.m. Twin_Cam SuperDork
<----- Jealous that you're in Deutschland. I want to go back
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May 22, 2011 7:40 p.m. novaderrik Dork
Lesley wrote:
Really? I had this really amazing muesli and yogurt concoction, with sliced fruit and a sprig of mint. Looked like porridge, tasted fantastic!
looks like someone already ate that...
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May 22, 2011 7:59 p.m. Lesley SuperDork
Awww... you just had to go there, didn't you?
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May 22, 2011 8:03 p.m. modernbeat Dork
pinchvalve wrote:
The VW Sirocco is awesome. Please, please bring it to the states.
Lee had one in the Koni booth at SEMA a couple years ago. I was impressed.
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May 31, 2011 2:47 p.m. pinchvalve SuperDork
In reply to Jay:
Thanks for the offer, I was in Baden-Württemberg (Bad Friedrichshall, Neckarsulm, Inglefingin) with stops in Heidelburg and Stuttgart. I was partial to the Paulaner Hefeweizen.
Drove past the Porsche Museum on the way to the Mercedes Museum, which was also amazing. Stayed a few blocks from the Audi Forum, which was neat. The Autobahn was awesome, 145mph on the way to work in the morning, and the Porsche factory testing cars on the roads at night.
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May 31, 2011 3:01 p.m. e_pie New Reader
The drivers (and roads for that matter) really are amazing in Germany.
If I were to ever move out of the states, that's where I'd go, it's just an all around nice place.
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May 31, 2011 3:03 p.m. pinchvalve SuperDork
Oh, did I mention my transportation?
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May 31, 2011 3:18 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork
pinchvalve wrote:
The VW Sirocco is awesome. Please, please bring it to the states.
Only when VWoA gets their heads out of thier asses and realise that it will not take sales from the GTI
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May 31, 2011 3:37 p.m. Kendall_Jones Reader
e_pie wrote:
The drivers (and roads for that matter) really are amazing in Germany.
If I were to ever move out of the states, that's where I'd go, it's just an all around nice place.
However, there is no DIY car stuff. Oil changes are expensive, its illegal to put a cold air intake (or anything else) on a car.
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May 31, 2011 3:57 p.m. Jay SuperDork
^^ My car has an aftermarket intake, K&N cone filter, and HKS bypass valve on it. Along with a rollbar. It's legal.
Oil changes cost me €29. I'd do them myself if I had my own driveway. But yes, dumping the used oil down the sink or in the bushes behind the skip is illegal.
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May 31, 2011 4:11 p.m. BoxheadTim SuperDork
Kendall_Jones wrote:
However, there is no DIY car stuff. Oil changes are expensive, its illegal to put a cold air intake (or anything else) on a car.
Actually, that's not true. A lot of larger towns have rental workshops where you can rent a bay or a lift by the hour to work on your cars, or you rent some space with a few like-minded individuals to work on your cars. Or you just work in your garage - the main problem is that it's very much frowned upon to change the oil by the side of the road.
It is illegal to put non-type approved tuning parts on the car unless you have the changes recorded in the car's paperwork. To do the latter, you have to have the vehicle inspected by the local TÜV or Dekra vehicle inspectors and if they're happy with the quality of the parts and the work, you're OK.
You can get away with some pretty interesting stuff, if you want to make massive changes the idea is that you check with a local inspector first, talk him through the plans and if necessary, have the car inspected partway through the build (if you're making massive changes to the body, they might want to inspect that before you get it painted). A lot of the engineers involved in that sort of inspection are enthusiasts themselves and as long as you can prove you know what you're doing and your mods are safe (and still pass emissions), they're unlikely to deny them.
In Belgium OTOH, you're not allowed to make changes to the drivetrains (ie, not CAI etc unless it's a race car), but you can do to the body what you want, which explains why a lot of the Euro-look type trends came from Belgium.
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May 31, 2011 5:57 p.m. e_pie New Reader
Yeah Belgium is ridiculous with their car laws.
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May 31, 2011 7:08 p.m. Kendall_Jones Reader
whoops sorry, my bad. has this changed from 15 years ago? I looked at relocating over there back then & it wasn't that tuner friendly.
Kj
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June 2, 2011 9:42 a.m. pinchvalve SuperDork
The factory next to the marina is a Dupli-Color paint factory. (not sure if it is related to the Dupli-Color that we all know so well) Not a bad work location eh?
