Every time I do any mods on my car I think of the trouble I had living in Germany. No matter what I bolt on my car here I don't have to worry about the TUV and I am loving it. I know these inspections are important to keep the roads safe. How is it in the UK and other country's are you guys plagued with sort of TUV inspections or such ? Thomas
UK is fairly relaxed compared to Germany. You can almost get anything road legal. Take a boat and stuck wheels to it, fine! No lights on it? For daytime use only.... Got some box section left over from making garden fence and a bent motorbike? I can see a trike in front off your drive. But every coin has two sides, as I had to find out the hard way. INSURANCE! The ba***&ds rip you off for every single modification, or even worse, WON'T insure you at all. Even for safety related mods like roll cage or bigger brakes. As soon you remove the OEM hubcaps, the saga begins..... Looking at some "roadworthy" cars in the UK I sometimes wish the german TUV would be here.
TüV = Technischer überwachungs Verein Basically the authority you need to let have a look at your car every two years to keep it raod legal. Also required to get their approval for EVERY modification of the car. different tyre sizes, rims, springs, seats, spoilers, exhaust, enginemangement systen,......you name it. parts can only be fitted to a vehicle if the manufacturer of the part has done an approval with the TüV and applied for the appropriate paperwork of testing which is supplied with every part. You then can install that part, take the supplied paperwork with you to the TüV where they check if it's: A) the right part B) if it's installed according to the paper work. They then write this modification on your cars log book which you have to carry with you all the time that teh police can check if you car is roadlegal or not. Considering that you can drive FULL SPEED on german Autobahn all the time, it makes sense that you have the right tyres fitted and brakes which are up to the job. But sometimes the whole thing can be a little bit of a pain.....
Don't worry Uwe, I'm sure someone from the European Union will make us all the same one day ! Enjoy it while you can. X(
I think when you can do 200 mph on the Autobahn if its not heavy traffic (note I did not say that it had to be empty) then going thru TUEV is only a small price to pay. lets see: a) go thru TUEV every 2 years. have every mod checked for safety (remember not everyone with a sports car is also a competent mechanic) drive high speeds when legally allowed to do so. or b) do whatever you want to the car because noone gives a sh**, but you are forced to drive as slow as the next guy --- you know, to dumb it down to the lowest common denominator. hmm. I dont have to think long which scenario I like better *but TUEV also has a lot of BS going on, it doesnt always function like it should. and Germany is not a free for all either -- most major autobahns nowadays SUCK. But just 15 years ago, its was much better than it is now. You could drive top speed everywhere and people did. now gas is 1.50 euro / liter. so many people dont want to drive top speed even if they could. John
John, well described. Last time when visiting my folks at home I could hardly go past 120mph because of all the traffic. 15 years back we had a stretch of Autobahn where we went testing the bikes Sunday morning 60kms of FULL SPEED without major disturbance. Then turn round and 60kms back, and then turn round..... Now most of that stretch is speed limited. Noise restriced zone....
my 220kph blast on the autobahn this morning while going to work made living in germany worth it... I also don't have to deal with TUV... best of both worlds i guess
well i guess the trade is that i live on a little over $800 US a month after taxes so there is always the good with the bad
Yes, totally agree. Always some good things and some not so good things. Main thing is being safe, happy and having peace.
Hi Eric, see you found the board. Glad you decided to join. Eric has a nice M5 now (S38B38) and Eric is a very trusting guy. He handed over the keys to some stranger to let them drive his M5 around the ring in the rain on a mixed set of tires Im sure by now Eric already has a couple hundred laps under his belt. There are 2 back to back ring weekends mid August Eric, but you probably already know that. John
Wow, looking back the price of gas in Germany 1.5 euros/liter is almost like $6.5/gal. So far, we pay $3/gal here in FL, USA. If I have to pay $6.5/gal, I will switch to another trasportation like a motorcicle and let to drive my M3 just one or two times a month. Even $3/gal, it's starting to hurt my wallet. :evil:
John, i haven't really been back all that much... with the dodgey suspension, i dont want to waste my money on 15 minute laps. those few laps i have done on the ring plus driving the car a bit harder than the previous owner has completely killed all dampening that those old shocks might have retained. so ive been saving my money for a new spring shock setup, and i hope to have it all sorted by the next big ring weekend. will your car be ready? on another note, and updates on that box we were talking about at easter? JoseM3 - i pay the US national price average here
Mmm.. how i wish we had flat,straight roads with no speed limit in NZ.. but then again if we did you'd get to almost all places in 10 mins flat, and there isn't any place with a straight stretch of road long enough to ever have one here.
Its not relevent but I see one very good reason for living in the states and that ebing able to replace my White brothers pipe on my YZ motocross bike for about 150 dollars rather than 250 quid!!!! If it wasnt for import tax I'd have lots of early xmas presents!!
