German mini meet

Our family friends live in Obererbach. They are planning to pick Joanne & I up at the Marriott in Cologne on the Saturday (Aug 15th) for the drive on the Autobahn to their home.
I let them drive my 1993 Mustang (750 HP) on Route 80 in New Jersey last fall. That is our version of the Autobahn on the east coast. They feel obligated to return the favor.

Interstate 40 between Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon is the real deal... NO SPEED LIMIT!
The signs on Route 40 read: "What ever the weather permits"

I was doing 125 MPH in a rented Shelby Mustang, and cars were passing me.
 
Had to look it up but apparently Obererbach is about 60 miles south east of Cologne and you'll be taking the Autobahn A3 down there which has me hoping you can actually get to enjoy the drive because the A3 is the main connector between Cologne and Frankfurt and can be rampacked full at times. If you would like to meet up with me I suggest we do it in Cologne because Obererbach is further for me, you can PM me to discuss this further.

I didn't know there were places left with no speed limit in the States, I remember back in the day the state of Montana didn't have speed limits on their highways. I usually set my cruise at 100 mph, this has proven to be a good compromise between fuel consumption and covered distance in the Marauder. Fastest I've ever done with it was 140 mph and at that speed you can litterally watch the fuel gauge move. These days most German cars are electronically limited to 155 mph so I can't quite outrun them but it's still fun to watch the faces of the ignorant Audi/Benz/BMW drivers who occasionally cut me off thinking I'm a slow yank tank anyway but I stay right on their tail as they try to pull away.
 
MGDriver said:
Heidelberg? I know that place well since we've got family there and I always loved visiting them as a kid because we would see all those American cars from US military staff around.
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Not much of a US presence in the Heidelberg area anymore. The US Garrison and Military Community there officially closed in September 2013. Many of the facilities have been turned back to the German government or commercial entities. All of the turn-back activities should be completed by the end of 2015.

My family and I really enjoyed living there. It was also a great location for heading out to other destinations in the north, south, east or west and had great connections to the Autobahns. I lived about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Hockenheim Ring as the crow flies. Close enough to hear Formula 1 and motorcycle racing on some weekends.
 
the American autobahn

This is what I allowed our friend Jonas to drive on Rt 80 from the George Washington Bridge to the Delaware Water Gap. He did the posted speed for most of the trip... 80
All those Blue and White signs with the big 80 on them reminded you of the speed limit.
 

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Bluerauder said:
My family and I really enjoyed living there. It was also a great location for heading out to other destinations in the north, south, east or west and had great connections to the Autobahns. I lived about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Hockenheim Ring as the crow flies. Close enough to hear Formula 1 and motorcycle racing on some weekends.
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Heidelberg is a beautiful area but very expensive to live in, probably not so much for you military folks but certainly for the locals. I seem it recall it was ranked amongst the top 10 places with the highest costs of living in Germany. My relatives had to sell their beautiful family home on a hillside in Ziegelhausen and move into an apartment complex a few years ago because they couldn't afford the upkeep anymore. I was sad to see it go as I always loved it there, had a wonderful view over the Neckar river.
I live in the middle of nowhere, my area is boring but living is cheap so I can afford driving a big American land yacht, try that in Heidelberg insurance will kill you.

MM03MOK said:
Please note: NEW FORUM - EUROPEAN MARAUDERS!!

:woohoo:
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Eurorauders representing!:banana::burn:

jsignorelli said:
This is what I allowed our friend Jonas to drive on Rt 80 from the George Washington Bridge to the Delaware Water Gap. He did the posted speed for most of the trip... 80
All those Blue and White signs with the big 80 on them reminded you of the speed limit.
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Nice Fox! I used to have a New Edge before the Marauder, 2004 GT 40th Anniversary and that thing was fast, had it up to 160 mph before.

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Nice ride

Ford has been running driving events at all of the major shows. You get to drive the 2015 GT, if you know how to drive stick. Otherwise, the sales rep drives, and you hang on for dear life.

I love the color of your car. What is the name? I have a 2010 Sport Fusion in Sangria Red (factory name for the color).
 
MGDriver said:
I usually set my cruise at 100 mph, this has proven to be a good compromise between fuel consumption and covered distance in the Marauder. Fastest I've ever done with it was 140 mph and at that speed you can litterally watch the fuel gauge move.
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Yep. It feels comfortable till 110 mph, after that it get's noisy and the factory suspension reach it's limit. Surprisingly till 100 mph the fuel consumption doesn't increase much. :)
 
I have all of my high performance cars dyno tuned for 80 MPH. The gas consumption is fantastic at 70-75 MPH and then starts to fall of above 80 and below 50.
The '93 has 750 HP so dyno tuning is a must, and I'll get 25 MPG.
The Marauder was dyno tuned with 425 HP and gets 25 MPG, if I maintain 70 MPH.
The 70 Boss 302 is a pig. All I can squeeze out of her with dyno tuning is 15-18 MPG. It is those damn carburetors.
 
ChiTownMaraud3r said:
Very cool. Been in Italy for a month, and the only american sedans I have seen are Chrysler 300s. 300/magnum combo.
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That's because those are officially sold in Europe and now that Fiat took overship of Chrysler they are marketed as Lancias so the Chrysler 300 is now a Lancia Thema here.

Lancia-Thema-Heck.jpg


jsignorelli said:
I intend to spend next summer in Italy (mid August through mid September) seeing where my grandparents came from. One site I have to visit is the ancestral home of a distant (departed) relative, Luka Signorelli

see website (http://www.santantonio.it/en/doc-s-27-310-311-30-1.aspx )
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Really cool, you are getting to see more of Europe than I have! I've been to Italy just for business so I didn't see much of it and always in the arguably borning northern part around Milano and Torino.
 
id love to get another meet together.. well as soon as I figure out whats going on with my MM.. so far its looking good but I wont know for sure until I get my bore scope camera in the mail.
 
Yeah problem is we are spread too far apart but maybe we should all discuss a Marauderville Germany somewhere in centralized location that's relatively easy for everyone to get to.
 
MGDriver said:
That's because those are officially sold in Europe and now that Fiat took overship of Chrysler they are marketed as Lancias so the Chrysler 300 is now a Lancia Thema here.

Lancia-Thema-Heck.jpg




Really cool, you are getting to see more of Europe than I have! I've been to Italy just for business so I didn't see much of it and always in the arguably borning northern part around Milano and Torino.
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This made be do a triple take. Lancia's I'm familiar with from the 70's were crap.
 
My wife & I will be in Cologne (Koln) from Aug 13 - 18.

We are staying at the Marriott Hotel. We have a BBQ on Saturday (08/15) with my son's intern from BMW. He had to go home in December, after his 10 month internship here in the states at Corp HQ.

If we can get together any day except that Saturday (08/15), that would be great.
If you can meet up, send me a PM and I'll send my cell number. I arranged for international service already with my provider (Verizon).
 
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