PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Sharing my recent European observations with my fellow Forumers

pcmaher · #1 07-26-2004, 08:46 AM

Just got back from a European Vacation. The countries we visited were Iceland, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Czech Republic. Signage in Austria and Germany is great. They really do have the Tourist in mind. It’s very easy to find your way around. Italy and the Czech Republic are quite a bit different. For example, it took us 45 minutes to get out of Venice. At one point, there were three different signs for our destination, all pointing in different directions!

Owning a 1995 S600, I was naturally keeping my eyes peeled for W140’s on this trip. I saw relatively few, and was disappointed. I see far more around the Chicago area. I saw only one confirmed V12 W140, in Iceland of all places, no others spotted during the entire trip. I can’t be entirely sure, because many vehicles have no designators on the trunk lid. You can’t tell what size engine they have. I was very surprised at the amount of diesels. They outnumber gas cars in some places. My cousin has a 1994 BMW 5 series with a 2.5 liter (I think that was correct) diesel in it. Stick shift, no A/C, and the rear windows are crank operated! Many of the MB’s I saw had engines that are not available here in the States. Lots of E classes with 2.0 liter engines.

For my friend bdonkersgoed…headlights on all European W140’s I saw are exactly like the ones on my W140. Did not see any lenses without “ribbing”.

Rented a VW Polo with stick in Iceland. Overall a decent little car, but the defroster didn’t work at all. Not good in a humid and cool environment. We got lost, and spent some very stressful hours on roads where a 4 x4 would have been far more appropriate. The bottom kept scraping the middle ridge of these volcanic rock roads because we didn’t have enough ground clearance. My sphincter was in continuous-clench mode due to the repeated scraping. Finally found our way back to paved roads. The Icelanders like to go off-roading. They especially like the big Toyota 4 x4's with turbo diesels and huge balloon tires. When one of these roars by, there isn’t much room left over for another car. I have to say I was amazed at the gas mileage of this VW. In fact, I thought the gauge was broken and stuck on full. The needle didn’t budge for a long time. I thought we were going to be stranded on one of those forsaken roads with no gas. Turns out this car gets around 50 mpg. I’m not used to this…I can almost see my fuel gage moving toward empty during driving.

Down in Austria, I was tooling along at 140 kmh in an Opel Astra Station Wagon (I had pushed it to 165kmh in Germany, but that was very uncomfortable with 4 people and lots of luggage. The car was on the hairy edge, so 140 kmh was the comfort limit). The Opel was a disappointment. We had originally reserved a brand new E class, and I was really looking forward to wringing it out on the Autobahn. I later found out that the Rental Company would not insure MB’s for travel in Italy and the Czech Republic. The Opel was the only vehicle covered for travel in those countries. After driving it, I can see why. No one would want to steal this thing. Anyway, we’re doing 140 kmh in Austria, and we are passing everyone. Subconsciously I’m wondering what the hell is going on. We can’t possibly have the fastest car around. I eventually spot a Porsche Carrera coming up slowly behind us. He’s moving “slow”, maybe 150 kmh. I’m thinking this is a shame, a beautiful speed machine like that and he’s barely passing an Opel station Wagon! NEWS FLASH! There is a speed limit in Austria!! The limit is 130 kmh. I discovered this later, and at that time finally realized why the Porsche was traveling so slowly.

MB provides many different vehicles in Europe, far more than in the US. Buses, trucks, V class vans, A class cars, and I think they make the Smart Car (that thing is tiny…I would never drive in one of those). The big trucks are absolutely beautiful. I wonder why we don’t see them here?

I think that there is a mistaken belief that there is no speed limit on the German Autobahns. There are speed limits in Germany in many places, but some stretches of Autobahn are not speed-limited. The fastest cars / drivers I saw were Audi, BMW, and VW of all things! Station Wagon VW’s! Saw some new E class going pretty fast, but the BMW’s were blowing past like I was standing still. The fastest vehicle I saw was a brand new 645 BMW. Good God, he had to be doing 150 mph…a beautiful sight to behold. The sound these vehicles make going that fast is also incredible. To my European Brothers and Sisters owning MB’s…this was embarrassing! These cars should be moving over for us! Come on, let’s turn this around and make sure those Audi’s, BMW’s, and definitely VW station wagons see your high beams flashing 3 feet off their bumpers! I’m counting on you to rightfully reclaim the Speed Crown!

It was really something to watch the traffic on the three lane Autobahn. These people drive like they're waltzing together. There is deliberation, cooperation, and an uncanny ability to sense what the other driver will do in the next instant. It was so nice to see people moving over for faster drivers. There is no insult in moving over, it is simply the proper ettiquette over there (this was in total contrast to the AS@HOL$ in the left lane doing 70 mph on 94 East when I was coming home. He didn't budge, so I had to pass him on the right).

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed my rambling to some extent. I would be interested to hear about other people's experiences in Europe as well, and I would also like to hear from our European friends.