Off to Stuggart and the Autobaun, with 997 Porsche rental car Options

[DonTraver]

WoooHoooo, leaving for Stuggart in a few hours to go on a Porsche sonsored tour, includes a new 997 coupe rental car. It's the PCA Treffin Tour. Also get hot laps on Porsche's factory test track, full factory tour, cruise the mountain roads of Bavaria and stay at 5 star hotels.

There's is also a Fall Treffin Tour, put on by Fast Lane Travel at fastlanetravel.com

I've never been to Europe, and have always dreamed of driving the autobaun in a Porsche. Porsche and Fast Lane put my dream vacation together. There will be about 20 people on this tour. Everyone gets their our Porsche rental car. The price is around $2500 plus air fare, really pretty reasonable considering what the tour includes.

I'll send pictures, maybe pictures of me doing 150+ in that 997, yeah, that's the ticket.

[SirAndy]

QUOTE (DonTraver @ Jun 9 2005, 06:06 PM)

I've never been to Europe, and have always dreamed of driving the autobaun in a Porsche.

drive careful, the Autobahn is not like the freeways you're used to!
most parts are only 2 lanes, some are 3 lanes.

a few tips:

left lane is for *fast* driving only, which also means merging lanes is much more dangerous than around here if you're not used to judge the speed of a car coming up on you from behind.
watch your mirrors. a lot.
a car twice as fast as you will look far away in the mirror and by the time you changed lanes, he'll be in your rear trunk. literally ...

only use the left lanes for passing. if you're not going faster than the guy to your right, you're in the *wrong* lane!

NEVER EVER pass on the right! not only is it illegal, but highly dangerous.
no one over there expects to be passed on the right.

onramps/offramps go parallel to the autobahn for at least 300 yards.
when coming off, don't break while still in the right lane, move into the offramp and use the 300 yards to slow down ...
when getting on, as soon as the onramp straightens out, HIT the gas to the floor, you'll need to get up to speed with the slow lane traffic within the next 300 yards.
do *NOT* stop on the onramp looking for a gap in traffic. you will be rearended ...
slow lane traffic usually moves at around 60-80mph ...

when you see brakelights ahead, be very alert!
people only brake when there really is a reason to slow down. most cars are stickshift, so you won't see the "hit the brakes but don't slow down" syndrom you're used to here in CA ...

there will never be an exit or onramp to the left. ever. your exit will always be on the right.

contrary to popular believe, there are parts of the autobahn that have speed limits.
adhere to them. the police will *not* follow you (like here in the US) but they *will* have radar traps that take your picture and you (or the rental company) will get the ticket in the mail ...

suggested cruising speed (not for the fast lane!) is 130km/h (about 80mph) ...

try to stay with the flow. no sudden lane changes. use your turn signals!

those are the basics. follow them and you'll have a great time!
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/driving.gif) Andy