Unrestricted Autobahn Rotterdam - Cologne?

[talksthetorque]

I have to travel to Cologne on Wednesday with work. I'll be getting the ferry from Hull to Rotterdam, as I can't be arsed driving through France and Belgium, and abecause it's a lease car on excess mileage rates already.

Are there any derestricted Autobahns on the way-ish, I'm open to a bit of a detour.
And is there any chance of errr....getting to the upper limits of my car's design brief velocity - it's only a heady 133mph, but it would be nice to see a bit closer than the 70 mph maximum I've driven over here, Officer.

I know as it has UK plates it may explode in a ball of flames as soon as I hit 71, but I'm willing to take my chances.
and yes, I have the paperwork from the lease company.

Or would I be better taking my chances and trying it on the M180 :-)

[dcb]

talksthetorque said:

I have to travel to Cologne on Wednesday with work. I'll be getting the ferry from Hull to Rotterdam, as I can't be arsed driving through France and Belgium, and abecause it's a lease car on excess mileage rates already.

Are there any derestricted Autobahns on the way-ish, I'm open to a bit of a detour.
And is there any chance of errr....getting to the upper limits of my car's design brief velocity - it's only a heady 133mph, but it would be nice to see a bit closer than the 70 mph maximum I've driven over here, Officer.

70% of the network is unrestricted, so you've got a good chance of getting
a Vmax run anywhere.

You'll be entering Germany near either Venlo, Gock or Emmerich, which are autobahns
I don't know ;-<

If you are really unsure, suggest drive downto Maastricht and onto Aachen.
I know there are substantial chunks of four lanes each way unlimited from Aachen
to Cologne. 150 mph no problem there.

And if it can only do 133 mph, that means it's going to be a bit sluggish
over about 115 mph, so I suggest you stay out of the fast lane.

The 155 mph BMW / Audi / M-B club won't appreciate the interference.

[Hugo a Gogo]

Firstly, don't speed at all in Holland, you will get fined back at the ferry port

in Germany, you've got the 4 from Aachen
you can have unrestricted 2 lanes from Aachen, or you can have 4 lanes right by Köln but not unrestricted 4 lanes anywhere in the area
57 from Nijmegen
61 from Venlo
40 north of Venlo towards Duisburg
off the 61 to the 52 or 46 towards Neuss/Düsseldorf
they all have unrestricted bits, but not a lot, and two lane only, and fairly busy with trucks

you'd easily get the odd burst up to above 200kph, but keep your wits about you

most people will be keeping it below 160kmh/100mph, and Dutch trucks will pull out on you

the 3 that starts near Arnhem is a bit quieter, at least at the beginning there

if you really want a detour, head for the 31 by Bottrop, long, straight, unrestricted, fairly quiet, but still only two lanes
you might see the odd Brabus out testing on that road too

I used to sit on that road with the cruise control set to flat out (ok, in a diesel Passat, about 200)

you could head right across Holland, on the dutch A1, Apeldoorn, Enschede to the german border, then get the 31 south
it goes further north where it's even quieter but that is a real detour then

once you get near Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Cologne it's all busy

the 555 towards Bonn is wide and sometimes quite free, but it's not very long

Edited by Hugo a Gogo on Monday 11th May 08:49

[talksthetorque]

Thanks both of you.
I'll be travelling through Germany around the middle of the day if that makes any difference?

[Olivera]

If you still have the Z4M take it, regardless of cost

[NNH]

http://www.autobahn-speedhunter.com/

[talksthetorque]

Olivera said:

If you still have the Z4M take it, regardless of cost

Unfortunately this is not an option.
1) I need to carry tools
2) The OH would have changed the locks when I got back.

Edited by talksthetorque on Tuesday 12th May 07:04

[dcb]

NNH said:

http://www.autobahn-speedhunter.com/

Oh dear.

Last thing the Germans need are a load of clueless drivers out of their depth
trying to do Vmax runs.

I seem to remember a lot of speed-limited sections near US military bases.
Aschaffenburg, Heidelburg etc. At the local's request, it kept a lot of drivers
unfamiliar with high speed driving from killing themselves and others.

Most of the network is two lanes each way only and getting over 120 mph
I wouldn't recommend.

Some of the network ( < 20% ?) is three or four lanes each way and I find
that's the best place for a Vmax run.

[talksthetorque]

dcb said:

Oh dear.

Last thing the Germans need are a load of clueless drivers out of their depth
trying to do Vmax runs.

I seem to remember a lot of speed-limited sections near US military bases.
Aschaffenburg, Heidelburg etc. At the local's request, it kept a lot of drivers
unfamiliar with high speed driving from killing themselves and others.

Most of the network is two lanes each way only and getting over 120 mph
I wouldn't recommend.

Some of the network ( < 20% ?) is three or four lanes each way and I find
that's the best place for a Vmax run.

Thanks for the vote of confidence

So - assuming :
1) You trust me to be aware of what's behind me as much as I am aware what's in front ( just like every day when I drive an average of 125 miles on motorways)

2) You trust me to keep it in my pants with an astonishing 140bhp on tap
and
Are there any 3 or four lane bits of German unrestricted Tarmac between Rotterdam and Cologne worth visiting, just for the sake of it?

[dcb]

talksthetorque said:

Thanks for the vote of confidence

Thanks. I've seen plenty of inexperienced drivers cause all sorts
of trouble on the 'bahn.

French plated 2CV pulling out into a stream of 130 mph traffic for example.

talksthetorque said:

So - assuming :
1) You trust me to be aware of what's behind me as much as I am aware what's in front ( just like every day when I drive an average of 125 miles on motorways)

Brit motorways aren't like German motorways. Average speeds in Germany
are currently about 95 mph and are rising. 15 % of the traffic is
doing over 110 mph.

You simply don't get that in UK - Brit drivers in general have no experience of
that kind of speed, although maybe you do.

Let's not forget that the standard Brit driving licence *still* in this day
and age has *no* motorway training on it.

talksthetorque said:

2) You trust me to keep it in my pants with an astonishing 140bhp on tap

It's not just how fast *you* can go. Folks around you will be doing 120 + mph
and expecting you to cope with them.

I assume you know your car's stopping distances at over 100 mph, you
have had the car *properly* serviced and you know the 2 second rule.
German coppers are hot on that.

talksthetorque said:

Are there any 3 or four lane bits of German unrestricted Tarmac between Rotterdam and Cologne worth visiting, just for the sake of it?

Now you are just repeating yourself. Have a look at

http://www.autobahnatlas-online.de/AutobahnkarteMi...

Pink lines are what you are looking for - the 3 lanes each way.
Rust lines are only two lane.

Anywhere from Krefeld to Dortmund to Koln is Ruhrgebiet and will
be busy. About 15 million people live in that area.

[talksthetorque]

Im not some 18 year old kid. I have been doing 30k miles a year for work for the last 15 years, I have driven in France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal and the U.S.that time I have had 1 low speed bump where someone bumped in to the side of me. That was in Glossop.

Have you had it serviced? ffs

It was exactly the same as driving on the UK motorways, some stuff going higher speeds (2 cars in total ) and the rest slower.. Barely touched the brakes, as checking closing speeds between all other vehicles as I drive is second nature.
Dutch mobile home drivers seemed to be the least worried about looking in their mirrors before pulling out. But nothing that meant more than coasting back down to their speed or a light dab of the brakes.
There were a couple of sections where I had to slow down for visibility round tree lined sweeping corners,and I was bearing in mind wagons can't see back round a right hand bend in their left mirrors, but -over all- plain sailing.

I wanted to experience driving at these speeds without the concern of losing my licence, as that means losing my job.