Germany’s Autobahns — A History and our Experience Driving FAST on the German Open Roads

Kim G • Jul 08, 2020

German Auto Expertise in Orlando: Superior Detailing

 

We love learning about automobile history from our European experts. That being said, we always seem to fit in something automobile-related on our European trips. Automobile Magazine very recently published an article titled “A Concise History of Germany’s Autobahns”. Here is a link to the article. It’s a great read and offers a lot of facts about the history of Germany’s famous road networks. Give it a read!

 

In this brief post, we present this latest Automobile Magazine online article. We also discuss our experience on Germany’s Autobahns!

For those who don’t know, Germany has a huge network of roads throughout the country that are limit free. In other words, they technically do not have a top speed limit. Here are some other fun facts about Germany’s Autobahns that you may not know:

  • The roads are very well maintained and constructed to a depth of 30 inches in many areas
  • It’s the third largest network of roads in the world.
  • Many lanes have minimum speed limits and there are areas that do have top speed limits
  • The far left lane is strictly a passing lane only
  • No passing on the right
  • There are different opinions about whether or not Hitler and the Nazi regime played an early role in building the road network

SD Experience on Germany’s Autobahns

In 2015 and 2017 Superior Detailer (Steve and I) drove on Germany’s Autobahns during our bike tours. More recently was in July 2017, just after America’s Independence Day and our first Goodwood Festival of Speed experience.

As the 4th of July just passed, we can’t help but remember our experience that year at Goodwood. The Goodwood 2020 event would take place earlier this month. But, we all know that the Coronavirus has different plans for us in 2020. In summary, remembering our travels connects us to this latest online article from Automobile Magazine .

Shortly after our 4-day Goodwood experience we rented an Audi A5 Sport and took the fast drive through Germany’s Autobahns.

July 2017 – Kim and Steve Heading into Germany for an Amazing Journey

What is the one thing we noticed most when driving on Germany’s Autobahns? Well, as the author Aaron Gold notes, “passing on the right is strictly forbidden.” https://www.automobilemag.com/news/autobahn-germany-history/. In other words, you pass on the left! Germans know this rule and strictly adhere to it. Wouldn’t that be great if we had the same highway etiquette here in our country? Also, we found that many areas of the lanes had minimum speed limits of up to 60 mph!

TOP SPEED!

German Road Sign Indicating “No Limit”

OK, so you’re probably wondering how fast we actually did drive that day. Well, first let’s say that a percentage of the roadways do have limits. And Germany does hold a “suggested speed” somewhere around 80 mph. As you’ll read in the Automobile Magazine article, though, many German automakers agree that their vehicles should not go over 155 mph.

But how fast did we go??

I took this photo as we were approaching our top speed.
200 km/h = ~124 mph
We likely got to 135 mph that afternoon. Even that speed is too slow for some!

Autobahn, Germany, Audi
Steven approaching his top speed on the Autobahn near Bremen, Germany, July, 2017

At 124 mph in the middle lane, there were still wagons passing us swiftly in the left lane. Germans understand and abide by the rules of the road. As a result, the traffic flows really well and there’s little confusion on the roadways. Tailgating is forbidden and it’s not really necessary there.

That’s it folks. We hope you enjoyed this short article about Germany’s Autobahns and our experiences driving in Germany. It’s definitely something you should experience! We hope you also enjoy Automobile Magazine’s article and learned a little about German history.

-Kim Giramma
Superior Detailer

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Our mission is to provide the highest level of fine auto detailing services with 100% customer satisfaction. Our #1 priority is YOU and your vehicle. We take a one-on-one approach with all of our clients and build relationships based on honest work and integrity. 

MEET THE TEAM


We are a team of professional detailers, internationally and locally trained. Working closely together, each of our individual strengths complement each other and create an exceptionally well-rounded team. We are Superior Detailer! Owner, Steven Fritz, started his detailing career in 2002 at a Central Florida car wash. In 2008 he founded Superior Detailer LLC as a high-end mobile detailing business. He has been perfecting the art of fine automobile detailing ever since. What started as a small mobile detailing business has turned into a family business in a state-of-the-art detailing studio in Downtown Orlando. 

Steve Fritz Superior Detailer Car Detailer Orlando

STEVEN "KARIM" FRITZ

Owner/Chief Operator

As the owner and founder, Steven invests his soul and passion for automobiles into every vehicle that he touches. He is an avid car enthusiast with over 19 years of high-end detailing experience, continuously educating himself on the latest products and techniques. He has trained at NXT, is XPEL factory trained, and a Modesta Verified Installer. Steven's passion for automobiles and detailing has taken him all over the world, even detailing in Europe and the Middle East. Steven is the creative mind behind all SD detailing processes and procedures. Steven is also an amateur photographer and takes nearly every photo that you see on this website and our social media platforms. In his spare time he enjoys photography, cycling, riding his motorcycle, traveling, and spending time with his wife, Kim, and their two animals. 

Kim Giramma Superior Detailer Orlando Florida

KIM GIRAMMA

Managing Partner/Auto Detailer

Kim, Steve’s wife, joined the team part-time in 2013. Since then, her detailing skills have evolved to include paint protection film application, Modesta coatings, and polish work. Kim is a factory-trained XPEL PPF installer, completed Intermediate Polishing Techniques at Rupes in Colorado, and received Modesta Verification in Budapest. She manages all aspects of the business with Steve to include website development and social media. Kim has a B.A. in English from the University of Central Florida. Before joining the SD team full time, she had a 15-year career as a Technical Writer and Proposal Specialist. Her hobbies include cycling, weightlifting, and traveling with her husband, Steve.

GUILHERME BATISTELE DE BARROS

Auto Detailer

Guilherme (Gi) completes the SD team. Gi is an Auto Detailer from GSB Detailing in Brazil. He brings over 12 years of detailing experience to the SD team. His area of expertise is classic car detailing and restoration and he especially likes undercarriage detailing and restoration. Gi is an IDA Certified Detailer, became a BigFoot Systems Specialist at Rupes in Italy, and completed KockChemie 1k-Nano application training. He also completed the Sonax Glass Polishing online courses. Gi is extremely passionate about cars and his work, and strives for success every day. When he's not at the SD studio, Gi is detailing or working on his Mustang. He enjoys car shows, weightlifting, and spending time with his wife and dog in Orlando, FL.

OUR STUDIO

The environment in which we work has a huge affect on the quality of work produced. For us, this means having two separate climate-controlled spaces to accommodate for spikes in heat and humidity. It means separating our high-end detailing services to prevent contamination in film and coating applications. Our Downtown Orlando studio is 5,600 sq. ft. of air conditioned space with 2,500 sq. ft. dedicated to clean PPF and coating applications.  

We have an indoor wash bay with warm and deionized water. We utilize Rupes machines, LED overhead lighting, and Scangrip/LED portable lighting. We have a 4-post lift, scissor lift, and QuickJacks portable car lifts. Our spaces are separately outfitted with right LED lighting for the specific work being performed. We have CCTV security cameras inside and out, with 24-hr armed on-property security monitoring.


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