Driving stupidly fast at the Autobahn

AUTHOR spends a quiet afternoon with the Panamera Turbo S

Two hundred seventy six! My friend and companion Andy Leuterio calmly called out to me as we sped merrily, serenely and happily along Germany’s famed Autobahn.

The figure 276 meant 276 kph as displayed by our faithful steed, the Panamera Turbo S’ digital speed readout. Mind you, it was a typical German afternoon at the Autobahn. There were cars all over, and more importantly buses and trucks carrying equipment, fresh produce and the like. We hit these speeds on the four-lane section of the Autobahn connecting Stuttgart and Frankfurt, not some super-wide, unrestricted sections elsewhere. The 276 kph was my best attempt at getting the maximum possible speed out of the Panamera Turbo S, earlier attempts being 266 kph, 268 kph and 272 kph before finally hitting 276 kph, by which then our exit was looming ahead in less than 400 meters so we had to behave and move to the slow-lane where slow vehicles were traveling on.

Mind you, slow is relative in Germany. On the Autobahn, the recommended maximum speed is 120 kph nowadays. Mind you, that is the recommended speed, not the speed limit. The average vehicle speed is roughly between 140 kph and 160 kph for private vehicles, and between 100 kph and 120 kph for trucks, buses and articulated lorries, basically land trains of trucks with two or more trailers being towed. But traveling at these speeds feels safe, very safe, far safer than doing 80 kph on our typical provincial highways.

Of course, hitting stupid speeds on the Autobahn is made easy by the Turbo S’ 550hp and 800 newton-meters of torque, but with the Panamera Diesel, we hit 224 kph before we had to back off because traffic and our exit were coming into view. On both cars, for most of the way, we were cruising at about 190 kph to 210 kph. And it wasn’t just us, but various large luxury sedans like Audi A8’s, Mercedes E- and S-Classes and BMW 7-Series limousines were all traveling at about the same speeds as us.

FIELD of dreams no more, a resting place after a day of driving freedom at the Autobahn.

Germany has some of the most disciplined and conscientious high-speed drivers in the world. Everyone sticks to their lanes, everyone slows down when needed, and everyone knows not to hog/straddle the lanes to allow faster moving cars to go ahead. German drivers know how to use and look at their side mirrors constantly to check for faster cars coming up behind them. German drivers are also conscientious users of their turn signal indicators, so whenever there was free road on my lane for a good kilometer or so, I’d floor the Panamera in the hopes of reaching 300 kph. I’d get closer and closer but each time, a car would signal well ahead to overtake the trucks on the slower moving lane, giving me ample time to slow down and caress the brakes. The car pulling out would immediately notice that a faster car was coming up and had to slow down so that driver would immediately pull back into the slow-moving lane once he’d overtake a couple of slow-moving trucks and buses, allowing me to open up the big twin turbo V8 yet again.

I played tag with a silver Audi A8 along the way, tucking up behind him for a good 10 minutes before he moved over, let me pass, which allowed me to cruise easily well past 250 kph, the big luxo-mobile vanishing behind my rear view mirror. After a few minutes, we got onto traffic and he snuck up behind me, looked at my Porsche carefully, particularly the rear where he must’ve noticed the Panamera Turbo S logo prominently displayed on the Panamera’s arse, which then made him realize his 4.2 V8 with direct fuel injection was no match for my twin-turbo direct injection 4.8 V8 and gradually slowed down.

It is this controlled and disciplined aggression on driving that made me feel safe driving fast on the Autobahn, only my second time ever to drive stupidly fast on roads outside our country. In the morning, in the diesel variant, Andy was feeling a bit tense allowing me to drive stupidly fast. But in the afternoon, Andy was close to falling asleep for most of the way. And as much as I would like to think it was my driving, it really was the combination of the Panamera Turbo S’ effortless power and the skilled, disciplined and conscientious German drivers who truly welcomed us in open arms out on the Autobahn, letting us overtake and speed along freely. In motoring terms, this truly was freedom. Hopefully next time we’ll do 300 kph.