Doug's Corner, June 2012

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Parent Category: Blogs & Columns

Created on Thursday, June 28 2012 11:11

Last Updated on Sunday, January 06 2013 03:01

Published on Thursday, June 28 2012 11:11

Written by Doug Wiebe

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We went into a group tire buy (for Diablo members only) in partnership with Stead Porsche and it was a win win for all. Ed Won worked hard to set up a great deal and Eric and Melissa at Steads did a super job of putting club participants on the road with new tires. I've seen many emails flying around from very happy customers. And Steads likely has some new customers for the future. If you are looking for yet another benefit to being a PCA member, talk to Jim Kruse. He won his set of tires FREE thanks to PCA North America in a drawing of Stead participants. My thanks go to all of you for a great job. If you have any friends or neighbors with Porsches who are not members yet, remind them of the many financial benefits available through sponsor discounts.

As I'm writing this, we just finished another successful Wash n Shine. My thanks to Walt Lietz for leading the committee that put it together and to all our sponsors for the great door prizes. More on this later.

Jet lag is fading. We just completed a 3 week European vacation that included the Porsche Factory Tour in Stuttgart. My thanks to Gunter at Fremont Porsche for helping to set it up. It seems you don't just walk in and say I want a tour. They are in high demand. More on the tour later too.

We had a diesel 6sp manual Ford S Max to drive around Germany. On the Autobahn at 160 kph it did just fine. Yes that's about 100 mph.

What's the Autobahn like, you ask?

• First of all the roads are near perfect for driving fast. Signs, marking, and pavement, all in excellent condition. Curves are very gentle and comfortable to take at 100 in what was essentially a tall 4 door station wagon, with 4 adults and luggage.
• Drivers actually pay attention to the traffic around them and use signals.
• You stay out of the fast lane, unless you are going fast!
• If in the fast lane to pass someone, you watch your mirrors OFTEN.
• It is illegal to pass on the right side of anyone, and this rule is obeyed.
• Yes it is mixed traffic, trucks (lots of trucks), slow cars, and very fast cars.
• I saw one Porsche TT already going at least 150mph and loud on the gas.
• Most cars in the fast lane seem to be Audi's.
• We saw very few police cars anywhere.
• There is little drama at 100mph, but you must look far ahead and keep two hands on the wheel.
• You cover a lot of distance quickly when going that fast. Makes a more efficient use of your vacation time.

I know a lot of you have driven the Autobahn and I expect to hear comments on my comments.

It would never work in this county, or many others. Too many latte drinkers, iPhone users, sandwich eaters, poorly maintained vehicles and unlicensed drivers. And our roads are not good enough. But don't get me started on our failing infrastructure....

BTW, all the beer in Germany is very good, unless you order a "Radler." Apparently it is relatively popular as it's on many menus mixed in with all the other drafts. It consists of half draft beer and half Sprite. Yuk!