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Posted by editor Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:41:36 PST
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0 responses 0 comments Dear Q & A: We might take a trip to Europe this year, and we’ll probably rent a small car and drive around in several countries. We’ve heard about the German Autobahns and how it’s all right to go as fast as you want on them. Are we risking our lives by driving on those roads with no speed limits?   
— G. N.
Dear GN: In Switzerland and Austria, which also have Autobahnen (the German plural), there are speed limits, of 120 kph (74.4 mph) and 130 kph (80.6 mph), respectively. In Germany, though the official “suggested” speed limit is 120 (74), you won’t be arrested if you exceed that number, even by a lot. Unless, that is, you give the Autobahnpolizei reason to believe you’re driving in an unsafe manner. There are locally applied limits, of course, on congested urban and tricky mountain sections. But in general, if you have a Maserati, Mercedes, or Maybach, you’re a competent driver, and need to get from Hamburg to Hannover, a distance of about 154 km (95 miles), in an hour or less on E-45, the cops won’t worry about your speed.

But such high speeds cost fuel and pollute the air far more than slower velocities, and the influential Green Party in Germany has been pushing for more environmentally (and safer) limits for some years. Lately Germans generally, who like most Europeans, are more eco-conscious than Americans, are beginning to let themselves be persuaded. So there may be universal limits in the foreseeable future. As a member nation of the European Union, that continent’s “united states,” Germany may soon be required by federal law to conform to the Union’s regulations regarding highway speeds, which are generally south of 80 mph. This is the new limit (since 2003) on the busy Autobahn between Berlin and Hamburg. Forty percent of the system is now regulated, but 60 percent, about 5,000 miles of it, are “red-line’s the limit.” Your best policy is probably extra caution. And keep a wary eye on the rear view mirror.

Dear Q & A: I know this is not a very high-tech question, but I’ve never changed a tire before, and I could use some guidance in case I ever get a flat tire and have to take care of it myself, without killing myself or damaging something. What’s the basic procedure?  
— Matt
Dear Matt: If you do it safely, it’s not that hard. First park on a flat, solid surface, with the transmission in Park (or reverse, if it’s a stick shift), and the emergency brake firmly set. Chock the diagonally opposite wheel with bricks, rocks, or chunks of lumber. (That is, if you’re changing the right front wheel, chock the left rear.)

Pry off the wheel disc or hubcap. Fit the lug wrench to each of the lug nuts and crank them slightly loose (turning counter-clockwise), one by one, with the wheel still on the ground. This step takes the most strength. Now the jack. Place it under the car (set on a piece of stout plywood, if the ground is soft) directly under the frame’s jacking location just behind the RF wheel, and jack it up slowly till the tire clears the ground by a half-inch.

Remove all the lug nuts and take off the wheel. Place the spare wheel in position, wiggling it a little to set it exactly where the old one hung, and spin the lug nuts back on, but make them only finger-tight for now. Next, lower the car till the tire touches the ground, and tighten the lug nuts with the wrench: Numbering the five lugs (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) clockwise from the top, tighten them in this sequence 1, 3, 5, 2, 4 (opposite to opposite). Finally, lower the car all the way, remove the jack, really tighten the lugs, in this same order, as tight as they were on the wheel you removed, replace the wheel disc, remove the chocks, and congratulate yourself. You’ve changed a tire safely, and you’re good to go.

This is general advice. Your owner’s handbook takes precedence, if there are any differences.

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