High speed running in Germany

I've just been fiddling with my sat-nav after using it extensively on my recent trip through Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

I noticed that it has recorded a maximum speed for the trip of 129mph, which I reached (legally and safely) in a brief burst on a completely clear stretch of the A5 between Basel and Frankfurt. The Alfa 159 (2.2 litre four cylinder petrol version) I was driving at the time felt like it had more to give, but I would have required a much longer piece of empty road to max it safely.

But don't go thinking that the Autobahns are a high-speed paradise. Long stretches of the A5 have a 120 km/h limit, have only two lanes in each direction, or are clogged with traffic - that means average journey times probably aren't much better than they would be in the UK.

What's outside today 22 - Opel Vivaro

16.09.07 Casal dei Fichi, Francavilla d'Ete, Marche, Italy. Had a go on this while helping out with transporting people around at my pal Bruce's wedding. It can carry an awful lot of people and their stuff and it's fine to drive, although I noticed that it has a big gap between first and second gears.


Anyway that's enough on the Opel Vivaro - more on the wonderful Casal dei Fichi another time.