Driver's Ed? Huh, what's that?

[Mark Yacavone]

https://www.12news.com/article/traff...ROZEjhHN9-XZB0

[FED 387]

We joke about the LEFT lane lovers around here--- mostly vehicles with Wisconsin plates ---they will drive for miles on end sometimes for 2-3 hours in "their own lane" before they ever change lanes also usually at 15-20 over the posted limit

[6130]

It was such a revelation to drive in Germany, where drivers do not set up camp in the left lane and go into a road coma like they do here in the U.S..

We were in Europe for a month for a trip we built around the European Delivery of my wife's new custom-ordered BMW Track Pack car at the factory in Munich during Oktoberfest. After putting 1,000 miles or so on it driving through Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, over the Swiss Alps into northern Italy (to tour Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, Pagani, Ducati, and MV Agusta), we finally found an unrestricted section of Autobahn back in Germany on our way to drive the world famous Nurburgring Nordschleife. Even at 155 mph, we kept an eye on our rear view mirrors and used the left lane for passing only.

[jmcarter]

Originally Posted by 6130

It was such a revelation to drive in Germany, where drivers do not set up camp in the left lane and go into a road coma like they do here in the U.S..

We were in Europe for a month for a trip we built around the European Delivery of my wife's new custom-ordered BMW Track Pack car at the factory in Munich during Oktoberfest. After putting 1,000 miles or so on it driving through Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, over the Swiss Alps into northern Italy (to tour Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, Pagani, Ducati, and MV Agusta), we finally found an unrestricted section of Autobahn back in Germany on our way to drive the world famous Nurburgring Nordschleife. Even at 155 mph, we kept an eye on our rear view mirrors and used the left lane for passing only.

Learned about driving in the left lane in Germany REALLY quick in 1975 when my wife and I were stationed there, you could be humming along ~80 in the left lane keeping an eye in your rear view mirror, look away and suddenly there is a big Mercedes sedan flashing his lights and honking at you. Have done the Performance Center Delivery before and dreamed of doing the European Delivery deal last year but COVID squashed that notion. Germany is by far my most favorite European country to visit, one reason being the drivers seem to actually know what they're doing.

[6130]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

https://www.12news.com/article/traff...ROZEjhHN9-XZB0

God bless that fine peace officer.

Just about all states have laws (even if the general population doesn't know about them) stating that the left lane is for passing only, that slower traffic must stay as far to the right as possible, or some similar laws aimed at left lane campers.

But most states also have little-known laws prohibiting passing on the right. Which means that all it takes to clog a highway, is one dummy in a middle lane doing 5 under. It's not legal to pass them in the empty right lane(s), and they've reduced the number of available left lane(s) for legal passing by blocking one of them. If there's two lanes in each direction of a divided highway, there is no legal way for anyone to pass them at all. If it's three lanes, there's now only half as many lanes available for passing (1 vs. 2). It's really inconsiderate, and causes a lot of traffic congestion.

[6130]

Originally Posted by jmcarter

Learned about driving in the left lane in Germany REALLY quick in 1975 when my wife and I were stationed there, you could be humming along ~80 in the left lane keeping an eye in your rear view mirror, look away and suddenly there is a big Mercedes sedan flashing his lights and honking at you. Have done the Performance Center Delivery before and dreamed of doing the European Delivery deal last year but COVID squashed that notion. Germany is by far my most favorite European country to visit, one reason being the drivers seem to actually know what they're doing.

Amen.

Oktoberfest is pretty fun too.

We have not done the Performance Center Delivery, but I can tell you that NOBODY does European Deliveries like BMW.

A limo driver in a 3-piece suit picked us up at the airport in Munich in a big black 7-series long-wheelbase limo. Upon our arrival at the BMW Welt, we were issued our credentials, lockers, a coupon to buy accessories, and directed to the Premier Lounge upstairs, reserved solely for European Delivery customers. The free food menu changes three times a day, and all the free alcohol you want. At the appointed time, my wife's delivery consultant walked her down a long dramatic staircase to her new car, which was slowly rotating on a turntable under spotlights in the center of the building. She cried. The car came with German plates, registration, insurance, stickers to get us into the major cities, road triangles, first aid kit, and a full tank of gas. All we had to do was use the coupon to buy a couple of orange reflective safety vests. A professional photographer took her delivery photos, and we were later presented with them framed. After her delivery, they let her drive a "victory lap" around the inside of the building while everybody stopped to watch. It also came with free tours of the BMW factory, the museum, and the Welt itself. It was just epic.

When I ordered my new Porsche convertible, we considered doing a European Delivery in Stuttgart at the factory where it was built, but Porsche just doesn't compare to BMW when it comes to European Deliveries.

[6130]

I don't have her delivery video hosted anywhere, but this one I found on YouTube gives you kind of an idea what it's like:

[jmcarter]

6130, that was painful to watch, hopefully they'll reinstitute the program before I age out on fast cars. Since you're in Texas now you need to go to COTA in Austin; if rumors are true and they build a drag strip there it will be great. I did a M school there in June and it was amazing!

Did you bring your Camaro Super Street car to Texas with you? Lot of wins with a small tire car in that class! Saw you win at Pacific several years back.

[6130]

Originally Posted by jmcarter

6130, that was painful to watch, hopefully they'll reinstitute the program before I age out on fast cars.

I would like to think that our trip was even better than that. We did dinner in the Eiffel Tower, rode around Rome on a red Italian Vespa scooter, did Oktoberfest in Munich in costume, had a picnic at the little lake at the top of the San Bernardino pass in the Swiss Alps, and had wine and desserts in the world's most famous castle, but the cherry on the top of that trip was an $860 cab ride for my wife in a Porsche 911 GT3 RS Race Taxi driven around the Nurburgring at speeds of up to 200mph by the late Sabine Schmitz.

Since you're in Texas now you need to go to COTA in Austin; if rumors are true and they build a drag strip there it will be great. I did a M school there in June and it was amazing!

We're looking at attending the MotoGP races there in October.

My background also includes being an expert-licensed motorcycle road racer and motorcycle road racing instructor, so I'd also like to do a track day at COTA on my new MV Agusta F3 800.

We have also done the Isle of Man TT, and I could bend your ear for hours about that trip.

Did you bring your Camaro Super Street car to Texas with you? Lot of wins with a small tire car in that class! Saw you win at Pacific several years back.

Sorry, that's not me. 6130 was my NHRA competition number up until 1990. I raced a red 70 cubic inch Mazda rotary-powered RX2 2-door in Pro ET at Portland and Woodburn mostly.