BAHN STORMERS

Germany’s speed-limit-free roads are the best place to check out another of the country’s national treasures – its fine automobiles. Stephen Worthy reports

In 1974, electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk wrote Autobahn, an homage to one of the 20th century’s great engineering feats. Like most Germans, you see, Kraftwerk were fiercely proud of “die autobahn”. This 12,200km (7,500-mile) network of high-speed roads, which celebrated its 75th birthday in 2007, makes travelling around one of the EU’s biggest countries a pleasure. Which is why I’m about to burn through 500km between two of Germany’s largest cities, Hamburg and Frankfurt. Not surprisingly for a nation of “autoholics”, if you love driving, you’ll love Germany.

If there’s one fact any schoolchild knows about German autobahns it’s that there is no speed limit. But, they’d be wrong. For safety, especially around junctions and urban areas, hurtling past at 200km/h (124mph) is a no-no. Speed limits are sometimes set at 120km/h, even going down to 80km/h or 60km/h through roadworks. If you want to break free, the one you’re looking for is the “de-restriction” sign – five thin, black, diagonal bands on a white background, and the autobahn has lots of them. Back in November 2007, German Chancellor Angela Merkel even rejected her party’s call for a 130km/h speed limit on unrestricted autobahns in order to reduce CO2 emissions. In the words of 2 Unlimited, “there’s no limit”!

Our rapid encounter with the German motorway begins in the medieval port of Lübeck, 65km north-east of Hamburg. After flying in on a damp autumn afternoon, we are given our car for the weekend – BMW’s new X5 3.0sd. This iconic, luxurious SUV has the ability to chew up the kilometres. It may be a diesel, but the modern engines are a long way from their smelly, choking image of old. The X5 3.0sd hits 100km/h from a standstill in seven seconds – that’s rapid in any language. Like most car manufacturers, BMW is facing the challenge of making them greener head on. The X5 3.0sd is the embodiment of Efficient Dynamics, BMW’s programme to improve CO2 emissions, increase fuel economy and reduce the weight of its cars without impairing the manufacturer’s legendary reputation for performance.

Saturday afternoon on Germany’s A1 south and the traffic is, in UK terms, light. Porsches, BMWs and even a rickety VW Passat growl past us in the outside lane. A quick check in the rear view mirror then, with the sports button engaged to enhance performance, I flick across into the outside lane. To know that, if I want to, I can keep on accelerating way past speeds that’d have you pulled over by the police back home is both energising and more than a little daunting.