Drive Flat Out On The Autobahn

The adventure

There is a moment on the Autobahn when a round white sign crossed with diagonal black lines slides past, and the speed limit simply ends. The left lane opens up, you squeeze the throttle and the needle keeps climbing, past numbers that would cost you your licence on almost any other road in Europe.

It is not a free-for-all. German drivers are famously disciplined: they stay right unless overtaking, signal early and move over quickly when headlights appear in the mirror. At full speed everything sharpens. Bridges and slip roads arrive faster than seems possible, cars that looked parked turn out to be doing 130, and a Porsche can appear from a dot in the mirror to filling it in seconds. Then the limit signs return, everyone eases off, and your heart rate slowly follows.

Why it’s epic

Germany's Autobahn network runs to roughly 13,000 kilometres, among the longest motorway systems in the world.
Many stretches have no general speed limit, only an advisory 130 km/h.
Its first stretch, between Cologne and Bonn, opened in 1932.
Many German performance cars are electronically limited to 250 km/h by agreement between manufacturers.

What it is

Parts of Germany's motorways have no general speed limit, only an advisory one of 130 km/h.

How to do it

Hire a capable car and look for stretches without a limit sign. Stay in the right lane except to overtake.

Top tip

Check the car hire rules; some have speed caps.

Need to know

Overtaking on the right is illegal, and you must keep to the right lane except to overtake.
Stopping on the Autobahn is banned except in emergencies, and running out of fuel counts as an avoidable stop.
In a traffic jam you must form an emergency corridor between the left lane and the others for rescue vehicles.
Many hire cars have speed caps or contract rules, and limits often apply near cities, at junctions, in roadworks and in bad weather.

Do it yourself

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My experience

If you love speed the German Autobahns are the best place to head for – only 30% have speed limits, the other 70% have unrestricted speed limits. Grab your supercar and embrace the need for speed!