Cruising the German Autobahn – 200kph on public roads, legally

To many petrolheads around the world, driving on the German Autobahn is a pilgrimage. Famed for their lack of speed limit restrictions, the autobahn network was one of very few positive legacies of Nazi Germany.

Germans themselves, I suspect, hold the autobahn to a lot less reverence than outsiders, but there is no denying the impact that these network of roads have made to their motoring culture. It is the reason why German-branded vehicles invariably have unflappable high-speed manners; they are built to survive the exacting high-speed demands of the autobahn.

The opportunity to drive on the autobahn is one of many perks of being a motoring journalist, but recently I decided that rather than having the experience constrained by the confines of a rigid media programme, I’d have a go at the legendary highway at my own pace and at my own time.

The recent ZF Global Press Event at Potsdam gave me the opportunity to act on that thought and I duly went about sorting out an extended stay after the event’s conclusion. Having gotten my leave approved and accommodations booked, my next task was to obtain a car that was up to the task; with help from BMW Malaysia’s PR team, that came in the form of a BMW X4 with which I went on to cover nearly 1,500km of German tarmac, much of it on the autobahn stretching between Berlin and the western town of Aachen that is famous for being situated at the tri-point where the territories of Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands meet.

Launched globally over a year ago, the X4 is available in Malaysia in the same xDrive28i variant as provided to me by BMW’s German press office. In our shores, a similar but not identically specced vehicle as the one pictured sets you back RM435,800 with on-road costs before insurance.

Power comes from BMW’s 2.0-litre N20 twin-scroll turbo four-pot generating 245hp and 350Nm; paired with our test car’s ZF 8HP automatic transmission, it propels the X4 xDrive28i to a rated top speed of 232kph and a 0-100kph sprint of 6.4 seconds.

I did not put BMW’s claimed top speed to the test nor did I put in a significant effort to try. Yet, it was amazing that even with on part throttle, albeit with the vehicle’s Driving Experience Control system set to ‘Sport’ mode, nudging the X4 north of the 200kph threshold required only very minimal throttle application.

It wasn’t my first time hitting the double ton, but it was most certainly the first occasion which I was doing so legally on a public road. It was far from a mindless blast down the highway, however. Driving at such speeds require extraordinary levels of focus and concentration; throughout the journey, I found myself almost constantly experiencing a heightened sense of awareness – my field of vision seemed widened, I was more keenly aware of other cars around me, and I learned to anticipate their movement from afar.

Indeed, as I observed the lane-changing movements of vehicles particularly along the autobahn’s de-restricted stretches, it became quickly obvious that drivers there are adept not only at handling their vehicles at high speeds, but have very keen awareness on their surroundings. Roadhogging and tailgating are rare occurrences; as drivers always find ways to maximize available space around them.

If a faster car approaches from behind, the slower car in front not only makes way, it moves all the way to the slowest lane. There were even more impressive examples where cars on the middle lane moving over to the fast lane to give room for another car on the slow lane to overtake a heavy vehicle up ahead. These guys are clearly practiced in the art of pro-active driving and giving each other plenty of breathing room.

De-restriction of speed limits do not apply to entire stretches of the autobahn, however, and on stretches where speed limits do apply, they are strictly enforced. Speed limits are also variable based on weather and traffic conditions, but they are prominently displayed on electronic boards. In this scenario, the test car’s traffic road sign recognition feature comes in handy, constantly showing  on the instrument panel the speed limit that is being enforced. Alternating between restricted and de-restricted zones of the Autobahn, I also learned to switch between ‘Eco Pro’ and ‘Sport’ driving modes with practiced slickness.

After eight days in my custody, the X4 was returned to BMW’s official representative with its trip computer giving an average fuel consumption reading of 12.5 l/100km over the 1,492km of road which I covered, a figure which corroborates closely with manual calculations based on brim-to-brim refueling. Considering the regularity which the car was driven above 200kph during that stint, this is outstanding fuel consumption for a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, although for a motoring journalist earning his pay in a fast-depreciating ringgit, it added up to a sum that is too painful to disclose.

At the end of both legs of my journey between Berlin and Aachen, I emerged from the 680km drive feeling utterly refreshed and none the worse for wear. In contrast, my similarly long journeys between Melbourne and Canberra last year through Australia’s strictly limited 110kph-only roads were tiring in comparison, my mind exhausted by the tiresome need to continuously monitor my speed on the highway.

On the de-restricted Autobahn, I had the freedom to focus my attention almost entirely on the road, my eyes the free to constantly scan far ahead and anticipate any potential obstacles. I learned to take responsibility and make sensible judgments on the appropriate speed which I should be doing – if I see heavy traffic, de-restricted or not, I slow down from afar; I kept respectful distances from other cars and gave very generous safety margins. As far as driving on highways go, it was as engaging as it was invigorating; even at 200kph, I felt much safer on the Autobahn than traveling at 110kph on our local highways.

Authorities always tell us that speed kills and recently, we have the unfortunate example of a Porsche 911 GT3 that crashed and burned whilst its driver was allegedly doing 250kph along the Second Link Highway in Johor to prove that point. Indeed, we do not dispute that with added speed comes added risk, but as the German Autobahn illustrates, driving fast can be safe if we all learn to be more alert, pro-active, responsible, and most importantly, to watch out for each other on the road.