how many of you USA'ers have driven in Europe?

[wrooster]

subject line pretty much sums it up.
and what did you drive?

jim aka the wrooster
'99 323i

ps
germany, 1 wk, audi 80. little driving, just in munich and surrounding.
germany, 2 wks, vw golf, bmw 535i. the golf was the rental. the 5 series was a colleagues car, drove it one way about 100 miles on the A8 autobahn from munich to salsburg austria.
spain, 4 wks, peugeot 406. nice car. drove about 1000 miles and enjoyed all of them. a big round trip from madrid to cadiz with stops in grenada, rhonda, malaga, marbella, arcos de la frontera, seville, and so on back to madrid. i lamented giving that car back. it was fast, stable at speed, and got good mileage.
italy, 4 wks, rover 25. complete POS. transmission would not stay in reverse, among other issues. passed many times by audi estates on the italian A1 and A3 autostradas. car felt extremely nervous over 80MPH. when in mountainous regions, most gearshifts per mile of any car i have ever been in. drove from florence to sorrento via rome and lots of places in tuscany and umbria (e.g. siena, montaione, assisi, lucca, san gimignano, etc). trip highly recommended, car not.
greece, 4 wks, VESPA scooter. :P

[bimmerchop]

I've gone to Portugal every summer, and always try to rent out either an Audi, or VW. Always get the TDi engines too. I love driving in Europe :thumbup: Car's I've had while there...

A4
Golf
Passat
Peugeot 307

Before the rentals, we used to have a car there, a Renault, but got rid of it.

[JCsE46]

Never been in Europe. But my wife and I will be travelling to Europe on September. First stop, London - two nights there, then off to Paris, France - another two night, then to Lucerne, Switzerland - two nights, off to Venice, Pisa, Florence and Rome-Italy. :)

[Wagon Man]

Manila: 5 years - Ford Escort, Mitsubishi Lancer
HongKong: 6 years - Volvo 240DL, Ford Laser, Honda Civic
Macau: 1 week - Toyota Celica
Sydney : 10 days - Mazda 323 (?)
Bali: 7 days -- Susuki Sidekick
Puket-Thailand: ~3 days (too long ago) -- Mitsubishi
KL - Malaysia: ~5 days (too long ago) - Toyota ??

Oh ...
London <=> Oxford : 7 days - Vauxhaul (spelling?)
Edinborough: ~ 10 days (multiple times - total) - vauxhall (spelling?)

and your question is being .... :dunno: how can I help?

subject line pretty much sums it up.
and what did you drive?

jim aka the wrooster
'99 323i

ps
germany, 1 wk, audi 80. little driving, just in munich and surrounding.
germany, 2 wks, vw golf, bmw 535i. the golf was the rental. the 5 series was a colleagues car, drove it one way about 100 miles on the A8 autobahn from munich to salsburg austria.
spain, 4 wks, peugeot 406. nice car. drove about 1000 miles and enjoyed all of them. a big round trip from madrid to cadiz with stops in grenada, rhonda, malaga, marbella, arcos de la frontera, seville, and so on back to madrid. i lamented giving that car back. it was fast, stable at speed, and got good mileage.
italy, 4 wks, rover 25. complete POS. transmission would not stay in reverse, among other issues. passed many times by audi estates on the italian A1 and A3 autostradas. car felt extremely nervous over 80MPH. when in mountainous regions, most gearshifts per mile of any car i have ever been in. drove from florence to sorrento via rome and lots of places in tuscany and umbria (e.g. siena, montaione, assisi, lucca, san gimignano, etc). trip highly recommended, car not.
greece, 4 wks, VESPA scooter. :P

[Mitrashark]

I've gone to Portugal every summer, and always try to rent out either an Audi, or VW. Always get the TDi engines too. I love driving in Europe :thumbup: Car's I've had while there...

A4
Golf
Passat
Peugeot 307

Before the rentals, we used to have a car there, a Renault, but got rid of it.

Where, in Portugal, do you go? I live in Porto. It`s nice to know that some one in this forum know my country. lol

[K-Man]

I have not been to Europe yet...I travel on business to Asia:

Malaysia: Honda Accord 2.3L: So-so car
Nissian Serena 1.6L mini-van: POS
Kancil 850cc: Kind-of-cool mini car
Honda Jazz 1.6L: Not to bad

Singapore: Nissan Sentra 1.6L: More like an Altima

I still would like to drive a Singapore Airlines flight attendenthttp://forum.e46fanatics.com/images/smilies/icon20.gif

German Cars in Asia are worth their weight in Silverhttp://forum.e46fanatics.com/images/smilies/woot.gif

[bimmerchop]

Where, in Portugal, do you go? I live in Porto. It`s nice to know that some one in this forum know my country. lol
I have a summer house close by Lisbon/Setubal. I also spend a lot of time down south in Algarve, but I do go up north for a weekend or so from time to time :thumbup:

[Mitrashark]

I have a summer house close by Lisbon/Setubal. I also spend a lot of time down south in Algarve, but I do go up north for a weekend or so from time to time :thumbup:

I love the south of the country. It`s warmer so the chicks have less cloths. :) I usually spend my summer vacations in Costa da Caparica, I have a flat near the beach there. Do you know Costa da Caparica?

Cheerz.

[jvr826]

I spent a few weeks in Europe in 1998...

Koln: picked up a 520i5 at Hertz, drove it to Munich. 200kph with 4 adults and a trunk full of stuff. Got back to CA and ordered a '99 528i

Munich: Mercedes E320, to Salzburg and points in between. Land barge, but comfy for 4 of us. No match for 520i in any dept.

Munich: BMW 320i5, Innsbrook. Fun, had a 328is at home so it was familiar.

London: Mercedes C230 (i think) almost crashed looking the wrong way. Damn passenger seat driving position :-)

But, the fastest I went in Europe was on the train from Paris to London. 300kph and the Channel Tunnel. What a ride!

[AndrewE46]

I been to a bunch a places all over but never got to drive anything :bawling:

[M VENOM]

Me and the guys are planning a trip to Germany (the autobahn - no speed limit :drool: :drool: :drool: )

how much is it to rent a quick car

[bimmerchop]

I love the south of the country. It`s warmer so the chicks have less cloths. :) I usually spend my summer vacations in Costa da Caparica, I have a flat near the beach there. Do you know Costa da Caparica?

Cheerz.
Yea, I've been there before, beautiful :thumbup:

[M3LTDOWN]

Germany and France - 2001 BMW M5

Absolutely amazing. Drove from Munich to Stuttgart and from Stuttgart to Brittany in France.

I want to move to Germany!

[akhbhaat]

Me and the guys are planning a trip to Germany (the autobahn - no speed limit :drool: :drool: :drool: )You mean this autobahn?

http://home.att.net/~texhwyman/g_imgs/stau.jpg

[bimmerchop]

^^^ :lmao:

[Solid]

Drove a e46 M3 on the autobhan by Kaiserslautern not much traffic and hit around 160mph before the road got too curvy with 4 people in the car. :thumbup:

[Coldintake]

e90 320diesel in France on the A8. I just got back to the US

[audiphile]

I drove a Vauxhall (sp?) Corsa in the UK, and a Renault 19, Lada 2108 and 2106 in Moscow

[thesmaz]

I currently live in Belgium :woot: but being in the USAF I've been all over the world. Here's a quick list

Europe:
Spain - lived there for 2 1/2 years
Portugal
Italy
Germany
France
Belgium
The Netherlands
Luxembourg
England
Scotland
Whales

Other:
Japan
Okinawa
Korea
Hong Kong
Iraq
Djibouti
Qatar
Panama
Columbia

I'm sure that there's more but thats everything that comes to mind

[penguintheory]

Amsterdam -> Paris via Stuttgart and Munich. Mercedes-Benz S430.

[Bob Marley]

I have traveled the world with my job for the last ten years:
U.K. Jordan Australia USA
Ireland Abu Dhabi New Zealand Canada
Denmark Dubai China Mexico
Germany Yemen Japan Costa Rica
Netherlands Egypt Singapore Jamaica
Belgium Qatar India Cayman Islands
France Iran Nepal Guadeloupe
Luxembourg Bahrain Martinique
Spain Oman St. Maarten
Portugal Tunisia
Italy Madagascar
Austria
Switzerland
Monaco
Greece
Turkey
Liechtenstein
Croatia
Russia

Driven too many cars to mention, but my favourite place to drive is the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Breathtaking. Contrary to popular belief on this board, there ARE speed limits in most places on the Autobahns in Germany, and they are strictly enforced. There are still some stretches with no limit, but usually the traffic prevents you from doing what you really want. Not only that, if you have an accident on the German Autobahn and the police can see that you were driving in excess of 130kmh (about 80mph) it is considered your fault for insurance purposes, no matter what the circumstances.

[noBenz]

Yess the unlisted speed limit is 100 km where no speed limit is posted. but usually your ok with high speeds if you are not near big cities. I've been captured in photoraphs plenty of times by cars on the side of the road with speed detectors hooked up to cameras.
The best experience for a high speed drive is the A3 from Kaiserslautern to Frankfurt. There is about a 7 mile downhill that lets you pick up speed at a freakishly and scary rate. Did that in a benz c220 and this bmw

[rmepilot]

'87-89 while stationed in Hanau and Wiesbaden, FRG (GE):

Germany
France
Italy
Switzerland

pos 1976 528 that I bought for $650 + another $600 for an engine swap out from a pos 728. :thumbup:

[greenohawk69]

don't remember the cars, but have driven in England and Scotland.

[joe_323]

UK- Spent a week driving a Vauxhal Nova Mini Merit. It was a POS, but got great mileage. I was the first person EVER to use it too! It was a rental and I got it with something like 23 miles on the clock. I loved driving in the UK. I made it from Heathrow at 6 AM to Edinburgh (Scotland) at 6 PM and that included a stop for lunch. UK drivers were happy to just move over instead of playing "You can't pass me, you can't pass me". The car did almost flip over when I had to do emergency braking from its top speed of about 104, thanks to a clueless road worker who wandered out from the median of the M1 with his back to traffic. The funniest part was all my friends in Scotland thought I was rich for having a "G Reg" car. THey could tell it was new from the plates and all the while I am thinking I wouldn't be caught dead in this thing back home.

[CoconutPete]

I lived in Denmark for 16 years - unfortunately you have to be 18 to drive, so I have only driven there when I have been back to visit since:
VW Golf III, VW Golf IV, Audi A4, Fiat Punto, Ford Scorpio, Ford Escort
Out of all those, we probably took half of them to Germany, including the Golf III which we almost died in on the Autobahn when some idiot in a Mercedes Box Truck cut us off doing about half our speed......

I've driven a bunch of funny little rentals in Italy since I am usually there in the summer, Golf IV, more Fiats, Peugot 206, and most recently a "Smart ForFour" - First time I ever hit 95mph in a vehicle with a 1.1L motor :craig:

We took our Golf III and drove it onto a ferry and sailed to GB..... driving a left hand drive car on the left side of the road is WEIRD!!!! They give you these funky little stickers to put on your headlights so you don't blind people on the other side of the road.

Out of all of the above I must say that Italy and Germany is an even split when it comes to "Fun". Yea, the autobahn is amazing, but the Italians are just so d@mn crazy that their windy little highways are just as fun!

[e46sr]

a few times:

1983: picked up a Ford Escort in Amsterdam, dropped it off 3 weeks later in Paris. Amsterdam-->Hamburg-->Copenhagen-->Heidelberg-->Munich-->Innsbruck-->Venice-->Montova-->Genoa-->Monte Carlo-->Nice-->Chur/Arosa-->Paris.

1985: 3 days in Ireland in a small something (Austin Metro?). First time driving on the left :yikes:

1999: 2 business trips to Nijmegan (Netherlands). First trip - VW Passat Diesel, second trip - Mitsubishi Spacestar.

[schon weg]

I lived near Frankfurt for a little while and owned a POS Jetta with 170,000+ miles on it. I beat the snot out of that car on the Autobahn every day. My daily commute was entirely limited to 120 kph but I cranked on that little silver death-trap anyway. I drove an almost constantly sustained 135mph in a red-lining Audi a4 tdi wagon on the A2 going to Berlin and was riding shotgun in an Audi a6 twin turbo wagon at over 150mph on the A63.

One of my best friends and fellow driving enthusiast (Skip Barber grad)came to visit for Oktoberfest and I picked him up at the Frankfurt airport in the tdi Audi. He was totally jet lagged and fell asleep as soon as he got in the car. Once we were on the A66 towards Mainz I did exactly what the car's owner did every day: I got into 5th and brought it to redline. My buddy is sleeping against the door pillar when I hear him start to speak. Glancing over, his eyes are still closed and he says "Dude, how fast are we going?" while half asleep. He then woke, turned to look at the speedo when I said "Not as fast as that guy!" as we both watched a McLaren F1 scream past in the other direction. If we'd have blinked we would've missed it. I had goose bumps for hours.

When its clear, the Autobahn is a dream. Most of the congestion takes place around cities and those places are speed limited and filled with cameras anyway. I love how most trucks must stay in the right lane and people get the **** out of the way in the left lane.

So Germany is a lagging post-industrial nation. So they have rampant unemployment. So the birth rate is low and their welfare state is going broke. So most city demographics now resemble Istanbul. So what! They have the best highway system in the world!

[rsjean]

I have driven in Italy, Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Holland. Usually drive friends cars - Saab Viegen, Audi TT, Bimmers etc.

First time though was in Italy with a rented car. I was real uneducated on the roads of Europe at the time and did not even know Italy had an AutoStrada (sp?). So being unprepared the car I had rented was a Fiat that was almost smaller than my suitcase as I remember. I could only floor it, stick to the far right lane and dream.... as all the local fanatics flew by in real cars... :dunno:

[tomwac]

I currently live in Belgium :woot: but being in the USAF I've been all over the world. Here's a quick list

Europe:
Spain - lived there for 2 1/2 years
Portugal
Italy
Germany
France
Belgium
The Netherlands
Luxembourg
England
Scotland
Whales

Other:
Japan
Okinawa
Korea
Hong Kong
Iraq
Djibouti
Qatar
Panama
Columbia

I'm sure that there's more but thats everything that comes to mind

Ha...where exactly in Belgium ? I'm from Northern Belgium :shhh:

[Alan]

Germany for 6 1/2 years. I hear that there are more speed limits on the autobahn than there used to be.

[rcurley55]

I got my company car (golf deisel) up to 120mph or so with a tail wind, down hill one of the last time's I was there (I work for a German co outside of Koln)

My ceo also took me out in his z8 with the top down at about 140mph...he also picked up 4 of us in his 7 something and hit about 120mph on the way to the office at 8am - that's a strange experience - that kind of speed and he's having a normal conversation. I was in the back seat with a perma-grin :D

[Cobra]

when i went to europe, i was too young to drive. i can't wait to go back and rent a porsche 911 turbo, and take it on an autobahn with no speed limit http://forum.e46fanatics.com/images/smilies/icon20.gif http://forum.e46fanatics.com/images/smilies/woot.gifhttp://forum.e46fanatics.com/images/smilies/drool.gif

[Synchromesh]

i have been to europe multiple times, specifically germany, but never driven....that is the what i hope to do on my next trip over there.

been to:
Munich
Stuttgart
Dusseldorf
Einbeck

Next up:
Nuremburg
Hockenheimer