Quote:
VKSF said:

I'd bet most of the car guys in Europe would be well-served by buying a house in the Munich region for autobahn runs, drives into the nearby mtns and for quick blitzes to more global playgrounds in S France/N Italy for arguably hotter chicks and better cuisine....

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Europe, ex-Germany, certainly doesn't sound any more car-friendly than CA....there are speed lims everywhere but Germany....

VKSF, your description about the advantageous location of Munich is absolutely correct, but regarding the driving-friendly legal and political environment here in Germany it maybe time to correct some myths: yes it is true that there is no GENERAL speed-limit on the Autobahn, but meanwhile the stretches with a speedlimit (in most cases 100 km/h or 120 km/h) are becoming more and more "popular" due to "green" politicians and other bureaucrats disliking so-called "racers" (= car enthusiasts) - in fact accident statistics do not support the idea, that speed limits on the autobahn would lead to a significant decrease of crashes, so it's more a thing of political correctness. Actually appr. 50% of the autobahnen are "spoiled" by speed-limits today already and this percentage is increasing every year. For example back in the eighties I could rush from Cologne to Bavaria (appr. 700 km) in just 4 hrs + 15 min, if taking off on a sunday early morning. Today I would run the risk of loosing my driving licence if driving at that pace.

Up to a couple of weeks ago I could enjoy at least two extended stretches of my daily commuting autobahn-route without any speed-limit (sort of nice concentration workout if you can rush to your office at a speed of > 200 km/h) - still way slower than Carlos' commute at > 300 km/h
Then all of a sudden the party was over as these ugly signs for a 120 km/h speed limit have been installed.
I hope that the rumors saying that there will be a general speed limit in the near future due to European "harmonization" will never turn into reality....
But sometimes the autobahn-myth helps when driving abroad: my wife has had a friendly encounter with a police officer in California when riding a 911 (in the early eighties) way to fast. First the officer was admiring the 911 and then he looked at the old-style grey German Führerschein like it would be some kind of an official race-licence "I heard that you don't have those speed-limits in Germany, is that really true ?" so she was not charged with a fine. I experienced the same situation some 10 years ago on a Brazilian highway (between Rio and Sao Paulo).

I allways have been asking myself whether the success of the German carmakers actually is supported by the fact that the German cardrivers could enjoy the autobahn without a speed limit, forcing the carmakers to look for the best technologies in terms of suspension, brakes etc. - maybe an interesting topic for a new thread...

Enjoy the fantastic scenic routes in California (I envy you when thinking of the upcoming German winter)