Ma-fia Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Gentlemen, apparently there're enough idiots everywhere. I did some driving around Europe, but not too much, so I couldn't make very reliable comparisons. All I know I will never want to drive around Rome again in a large car; as a matter of fact walking is much more pleasant. I had a rental diesel Ford Mondeo station wagon, extremely cumbersome on narrow windy streets. On the top of that someone broke in and stole the full-size spare at night. Mind it, for the States, I think it's a mid-size (leaning towards small) vehicle! On quite a few occasions I flashed my brake lights. A few times I got mad and hit brakes real hard (at various speeds), still leaving enough room in front of me to speed up fast if needed of course. Most of the times it works, but I do not enjoy doing it. Slowing down is the least dramatic method of "getting rid of 'em". Unfortunately, I have below zero sense of competition or desire to "prove" things to people, thus it only set me out of balance. Perhaps, the crazy trick is best -- most people are afraid to "catch crazy" and would stay away , like you can catch it as a flu. Maybe I should learn to scratch behind my ear with a foot; always wanted to get into stretching and gymnastics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ma-fia Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Boy, I hope we didn't squeeze EuroB-rad out of his own thread. Talk about hi-jacking! Are you still out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 True, I'll start a new thread: How to Deal with Tailgaters Look for it under Off Topic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger83 Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Sir, back to your topic. ADAC is the German auto club. Their services are far more comprehensive than AAA. Their guidebooks and maps are great, and the local office can give you all kinds of good travel advice. There's usually at least one person in an office that speaks decent English if you don't speak German, especially in offices near U.S. Kasernes. http://www.adac.de. ADAC used to publish statistics back in the day ('83-85) on the causes of the most frequent highway breakdowns. #1 on the list was fan belts. #2 as I recall, was tires. Mechanical failures depended more on the age and condition of the car. The final drive ratio appears to be the same for U.S. and European Subarus. Subaru.com and Subaru.de don't seem to list it, but other websites in the U.S. and subaru.co.uk do. So you should be able to crank along with the Euro versions. Over the long haul, car accidents kill more GI's than enemies do, so there is some Command Attention focused on that area. Garryowen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted January 24, 2004 Share Posted January 24, 2004 about speed limiters? I think my BMW is limited to 155 or so becuse of rules for Germany. If it true that there was a deal with the Green party to limit top speeds of production cars in trade for not putting a speed limit on the autobahn, or is this urban legend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flo4Legacy Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 This is partly true. Some brands like BMW, Audi, Mercedes set up an agreement to set the top speed limit at 155 mph (250 km/h). This was an absolutely free decision and had nothing to do with the green party (maybe with the gouverment, but not only the greens). By the way, Porsche never took part in this agreement. In fact the green party wouldn't be satisfied with 155 mph - they would prefer to have a speed limit of ZERO (means no cars at all). But that is another story. Some years ago there was little discussion about a general speed limit at 80 mph but that fortunately didn't get real. There is a recommendend travel speed of 80 mph - but you are allowed to go faster. But at your own risk! This meas, if you are involved in an accident and it isn't your fault, but you drove more than 100 mph, you will automatically get a "part-fault" which means you have to pay 25 % (for example) by yourself. On the other hand, in the times of ABS - who could figure out what the actual speed was??? The agreement for the 155 mph speed limiter is slowly falling. Several brands are pronouncing cars with no speed limiters and top speeds exceeding 155 mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroB-rad Posted January 25, 2004 Author Share Posted January 25, 2004 Ma-fia and Setright, I am still here, was down in K-town the last few days for some work. Thanks for the good laugh about highjack the thread and for the info I was looking for. I am pleased at the direction this thread has gone. It is amazing no matter how some start, that peoples driving abilities come into play. Thanks again and I will let you know how things go. EuroB-rad;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger83 Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 Some brands like BMW, Audi, Mercedes set up an agreement to set the top speed limit at 155 mph (250 km/h). This was an absolutely free decision and had nothing to do with the green party (maybe with the gouverment, but not only the greens). By the way, Porsche never took part in this agreement. I understood the agreement to be that the manufacturers would not advertise a top speed in excess of 155 mph / 250 km/hr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ma-fia Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 EuroB-rad, I'm glad you are alive and kicking, and even liked out little discussion. Stay around, and you'll find things to laugh at most of the time! I didn't even know they had such things as speedlimiters. What if it breaks and starts limiting you at 35? What other cars do you all have? Any new Fords? I know, most people on this board consider Ford to be a lower class animal (compared to almost anything Japanese -- I can't but agree), but I've got one, because I just had to have it -- nobody else offers this bodystyle (Focus ZX3). When I get rich, I hope to gut it out and put some good diesel engine & a 5-speed in... Well, it's got a 5-speed now, but I don't hold my breath over it. I am curious what oil recommendation European dealerships have. But, I'm even more curious about Australian ones. Over here Ford wants the car to be fed 5w20 year round, and I'm questioning how wise this recommendation is in summer at over 100F (=37.8'C) here in sunny Texas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flo4Legacy Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 Originally posted by Ranger83 I understood the agreement to be that the manufacturers would not advertise a top speed in excess of 155 mph / 250 km/hr. AFAIK the agreement included speed limiters "in hardware". I've read several review were the drivers stated that the car won't go over 155 mph. But this special "hardware" could be neutralized by tuners. Mercedes even has the "AMG" brand which is a separate tuner company but can be ordered over the Mercedes dealer. In Mercedes AMG types there never had been this speed limiters! This was the back door concerning the agreement. Some month ago Audi started to produce the RS6 capable of speeds over 250 kmh but still with a speed limiter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 has not concerned me much here in CA. I think you would end up looking like Rodney King it the cops caught you at 155 much less more. If I lived where I could run it as some of you folks do it would concern me much more. Since I have never tried it what does a Forester do top end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrickjd9 Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Originally posted by Flo4Legacy Frankly said it's hard to drive 130 kmh when there's a lot of traffic. I agree on this. It seemed to me like you had to drive at either 80 kph, never leaving the right lane, or at 150 kph+ to pass safely using the left lane. Even at 150 or 160 kph, a careful eye on the mirror is needed for faster cars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrxsubaru Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Originally posted by Setright True, I'll start a new thread: How to Deal with Tailgaters Look for it under Off Topic My windshield squiters at freeway speeds shot over the car, and hits tail gaters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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