(Meanwhile)The drivers school in Germany......

[puricele7e]

Hi guys,

please don't laugh because my English is not that good, and I really don't know what's the correct expression, driving/drivers school, anyway....I hope you will understand what I mean 👍

So you (maybe) know I've been driving a VW Polo in all sorts of Auto-X and Slalom races for the past 2 years (since I was 16), so I couldn't wait to have my drivers licence ! The car is(because I'm not ENTIRELY ready, I need some night lessons, which are manditory) a
2004 E46 BMW 320d, 150 hp, 6-speed Manual , M-pack , fulll leather interior....anyway....being a real BMW nut I could go on for hours

I had today my first Autobahn hours (3 hours 👍 👍 ) After accelerating to the 120-130 kmh cruising speed, the driving instructor......told me....what's wrong, go for it Ok.....so....I had to let her rip . After around 8 hours of driving the car (spread over the last 2 weeks....), I hat to find the truth......what's the feeling at a typical-German cruising speed ?
Please don't have too high hopes (this is still drivers school, right?) Anyway....I managed to reach 180 kmh in 6th gear before having to break for a tunnel.......(Braking from 180 to 80 is really frustrating ). So that'd be just a tad under 115(-ish) mph (i think).

The feeling is purely extraordinary, the car remained very stable (it had the ///M-spec suspension on it, as well as 17" rubber), even with some really strong side-winds, the steering feedback is great (even without the active steering), pretty firm (for power steering standarts) but I like it that way 👍 The suspension is just a tad on the firm side, but I guess even in a Mercedes going at 180+ kmh (115 mph?) you could feel at least some amount of bumps, but quite a bit of side roll (that's how I would imagine it, unless the Merc is equipped with ABC).

That aside, I wasn't scared at all (the 2 years of racing helped, I least I think so), but my hands were getting sweaty (really!) because, after all, it's not everyday you see a DRIVERS TRAINING car cruising at 180 kmh on the far left lane But all was well, you should have seen me climbing out of the car, I was GRINNING LIKE HELL

An afterthought......if Drivers school costs 1500 euros in the best case (yes, it's THAT expensive ), it has quite a few hours included, like 5 in the city, 5 on curvy roads (ahem......A-roads) 4 on the highway and 3 at night. That kinda shows that drivers school is taken really seriously in this country, that's why the drivers are all pretty cautios and drive really well, because, after having the today's experience.....I am able to tell that quite a few (more than 60-70% of all drivers) could handle higher speeds on the Autobahn, even with the risks included, and that this standard training really helped to develop one's handling skills and "smooth driving"-skills 💡

That's why I respect Germany's idea not to have speed limits (on most) Autobahns, it's because it really does something for it to be safe for (most) drivers.

Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it
Have a nice day and drive safe
Puricele7e

PS: If anything interesting happens, I will surely let you know, stay tuned

 

[Tourettes Guy]

I had today my first Autobahn hours (3 hours 👍 👍 ) After accelerating to the 120-130 kmh cruising speed, the driving instructor......told me....what's wrong, go for it Ok.....so....I had to let her rip .

Lucky Bastard! These morons get NERVIOUS going 30mph... Stupid Americans.

An afterthought......if Drivers school costs 1500 euros in the best case (yes, it's THAT expensive ), it has quite a few hours included, like 5 in the city, 5 on curvy roads (ahem......A-roads) 4 on the highway and 3 at night.

Sounds worth it to me... The only thing close to that is Skip and they just touch the surface. I got to drive a Viper though.

 

[puricele7e]

Well, to tell you the truth, maybe the instructor was calmer knowing my (SLIGHTLY higher-than-normal) experience........ Maybe......

EDIT: Lucky Bastard !

 

[Poverty]

The learner driver cars in germany are BMWs!!!!!!! Now I know why my gran thought my driving lessons were cheap when I told her 460 pounds. She sent me 1000 euros, quite a bit more than I needed.

 

[puricele7e]

Well, to be honest, this is the only driving school in Munich I know of (I only know a few, mind you....) that has 3 BMWs, all the exact same specs, and a Seat Leon TDI Cupra (the TDI-Sport, with 150 hp). Here in south Bavaria they usually have Mk.5 Golfs or Audi A3s, but there could be more schools that have BMWs. This guy is a real car freak (as well as BMW freak.....hmm....coincidence, isn't it?) so he got these 320d instead of Golfs or other popular training cars

 

[Dave A]

Your driving lessons and test over here never even take you on a motorway, I think the maximum I went in my lessons was 40mph, I was driving back from Blackpool today, about 8pm so it's dark, I'm cruising at 90 and some guy in a blue Mazda 3 speeds up along side me as I'm coming up to overtake a car in lane to my left, swerves right infront of me, overtakes the car I'm about to overtake then swerves back into the other lane. No indicators, he was doing well over 90mph and swerved very last minuet and to add to that, it's been chucking it down today. Britain really does need to re-think what the requirements are for drivers. I don't mean make the tests strickter for the criteria they already have, but teach people to drive on motorways as part of the test, ect. We have no set rules on having to have lessons in the city, at night, in the rain ect. You can pass your test having never driven in the rain, never driven at night and never driven above 30mph depending on where the examiner takes you.

 

[Tourettes Guy]

You can pass your test having never driven in the rain, never driven at night and never driven above 30mph depending on where the examiner takes you.

Umm... well we practically give it away. Illegal aliens get them all the time.

 

[Poverty]

Alot of my younger friends say they have been on the motorways whilst learning. Odd because I didnt and I thought you werent allowed to.

 

[Jay]

Our driving lessons are mostly in the traffic but one double session in the country most the time well under the speed limit, 80kph (50mph) is the fastest learners can go even on highways.

 

[Wolfe]

Funny, just tonight my friend and I were asking ourselves, "how the hell do some people manage to get their licenses around here??"

FPS_n00b is right -- we practically give licenses away here in the states, but the testing system is a little backwards, too...basically, the more nervous, cautious, and uptight you are, the more likely you are to pass. I failed my first test basically because I was too confident of my driving.

I always give the following advice to people who are going to take their test: "drive like an old grandma who is positively, 100% convinced that absolutely every single other person on the road is trying to kill her by ramming their vehicle into hers at a high rate of speed."

I kid you not when I say that looking at your mirrors is preferred to looking ahead of you, and absolutely nothing is taught about any high-speed driving.

Anyway, puricele7e, it seems that you're having fun with your lessons, and that the (very) expensive fee may end up being (partially) worth it in the end...

 

[ExigeEvan]

Alot of my younger friends say they have been on the motorways whilst learning. Odd because I didnt and I thought you werent allowed to.

You're not allowed on the motorway if you have L-plates.

I really hope I get some Motorway practice when I'm learning. I travel on the M4 almost daily as it's only about a mile from my house. It would be rediculous if an instructor didn't give me the chance on it even though it's so close.

 

[Dave A]

Alot of my younger friends say they have been on the motorways whilst learning. Odd because I didnt and I thought you werent allowed to.

They probably mean dual carriageways, your not allowed on a motorway until after you pass your practival test, and you only get taught on motorways if you take the pass plus test after you get your license.

Evan your instructor isn't allowed to take you on the motorway, but motorway driving isn't hard. I think it's easier that town driving myself. But what gets me is that your not allowed to get taught how to drive on roads you will be driving on once you've passed. The maximum you can go while learning is 50mph, and only some dual carriageways have 50mph zones.

 

[niky]

What are these driving lessons and license tests people keep talking about?

Here, you're not required to take any lessons... but if you want to, there's tons of driving schools around (certificate after half a day of driving if you pick the cheap ones)...

Most of the driving schools use our public roads as obstacle courses. I can't remember how many times I've almost been killed by a student driver coming to a dead stop in the middle of the road.

My only driver's ed consisted of driving five hours in the mountains to the beach at night. Which is why I didn't start speeding until five years later.

As for license tests, all we have is the paper test. Take the paper, and copy the answers they hand you. Don't ask for the questionnaire because they'll think you're a dumbass, and try not to get everything right, because it'll look like you're cheating... oops... you are!

Doing the 'bahn in driver's ed sounds wonderful... I wish driving school was like that here. Most people don't know how to use the highway around here...

 

[STLbarcelona5]

My driver's ed car was a 2003 Chevy Cavalier. What a god awful car . . .

 

[BMWteamPTG]

awesome story. i only wish. you had my dream...lucky man

oh well...my time will come soon

 

[puricele7e]

>> BMWteamPTG

Thanks,
Nice avatar

 

[vladimir]

i guess every country has its advantages.


i did my training in an e46 330d, with the instructor shouting "faster, faster" everytime i did not completely bury the throttle on onramps..
on my first autobahn drive, i did up to 170. the bahn was a bit crowded and he did not encourage me to go over the suggested speed of 130, so i did it entirely on my behalf and figured that 160 was a good cruising speed so i kept to it whenever it was possible.

 

[Tourettes Guy]

What are these driving lessons and license tests people keep talking about?

Driving lessons is just driving around with an instructor... I think you have to have like 24hrs. accumulated? My street is used as a test facility... Unfortunately. I think earlier cars were modified to have two steering wheels, Like this. The License tests is just a written test where you answer questions on how you should drive but will never do once you start driving.

My driver's ed car was a 2003 Chevy Cavalier. What a god awful car . . .

I used a Saturn untill the crank fell out of it one day... then we had to drive a '85 Olds Cutless Sierra... My family owned the wagon version at that time. God how I hated GM after that.

 

[hydr0x]

hehe, yeah, germany rules i did 190km/h during my autobahn lessons, w/o any racing experience . unfortunately after a while it started to rain and i had to go down to sth around 140km/h. But believe it or not, in the 5 years i've had a license i never went faster than 200km/h, i just didn't have a car at hands to do that . I did 190km/h with a VW Polo II (i think it was II) though

 

[puricele7e]

Nice one, congrats on that Now I'm envious, but my autobahn lessons are not over, and the car's top speed is around 210......but don't REALLY want to try that out during my lesson.....maybe...should keep it under 200, just for my peace of mind

 

[neanderthal]

i have fond memories of driving school days.

walking in the african bush to the city center. piloting a datsun 120Y around the town. hill starts on inclines it could hardly go up.

good times.👍

 

[Takumi Fujiwara]

I'll add to the concensus that US driving schools are terrible. My school had 3 or four year old (at the time) Corollas, with an Auto, of course. I learned Manual in my dad's car in an afternoon, but we weren't even ALLOWED to take the test in a stickshift car.

They really should make it mandatory to drive stick to get your licence here in the US. It's insane how many people can only drive auto. I get so pissed sometimes, when someone is surprised to see that my WRX is manual and are completely puzzled as to why I'd buy a manual in the first place.

 

[puricele7e]

.... You're right.....automatic? Nah...that's for commuters ... and for Mercedes !

 

[Jay]

I get so pissed sometimes, when someone is surprised to see that my WRX is manual and are completely puzzled as to why I'd buy a manual in the first place.

Really? Wow, over here if you drive a automatic WRX people wonder why the hell have you got one in auto.

 

[luftrofl]

Really? Wow, over here if you drive a automatic WRX people wonder why the hell have you got one in auto.

Yep, really. Here in the U.S. we have loads bad drivers and loads of automatic cars because people don't know how to drive manuals. 👎

Don't even get me started on our driving "lessons." Let's just say I learned more about driving in GT4 and watching my parents. 👎 👎 👎

 

[Ev0]

I had a great time in driving lessons. I had a great instructor who actually was able to show me a few things about street driving, and I absolutely loved his car; a VW Golf TDI. Excellent car.

The licensing system in Ontario sucks too. Like Wolfe said, you're better off driving like an old granny who is terrified of everything around her than a proper confident motorist in the test. Fortunately, my instructor reduced me to the level of the terrified granny before the test. We were parked infront of the licensing center waiting for my test to begin, and he was pointing at some of the testers running around, saying how he never had students who were passed by certain ones. Yeah, I was a bit scared...

But the driving test was really simple. We drove around side streets, did a three point turn, parallel parked, and that was it. You'd have to be a pretty pathetic excuse for a driver to fail the test. Yet, there are tons of pathetic excuses for drivers who are licensed.

I envy you Germans; you actually seem to have a licensing system that works.

 

[neanderthal]

i think its more important that the idiot behind the wheel can drive and interact amicably with other drivers, than that they can drive a stick.

my cousin cant drive a stick, but she drives intelligently and defensively, being proactive and clearly communicating her intentions (signalling before she gets to the corner and brakes!!!!! its a pet peeve) to other drives, anticipating thier actions and being prepared. id give her a license before half the clowns here who can drive a stick but think they can "drive."

i differentiate between being able to pilot a vehicle and being able to drive.