# Other Places Around The World > Europe Travel General Discussion >  >  Ultimate Driving Machine - A trip to Audi, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and BMW

## Petri

*How, why, why not?*

L was heading to Copenhagen for a Havana d'Primera concert so I decided to get myself a quick break to some engineering marvels by getting a 92 euros return ticket to Munich on Lufthansa.  Pretty good price for a 2.5 hour flight and Lufthansa still serves free drinks.  The 20 minutes taxi ride to the airport cost 38 euros, almost the same as a 2.5 hour flight.

I decided to travel carry-on only, a first for several years, and as the option existed, this is all I had for my ticket:

 

You put your phone on the reader at the gate, red light turns into green as it reads the 2D barcode and you pass through a gate.

For the TSA fans: Airport security was a breeze.  It was a busy morning at HEL and there was noticeable queue but it cleared through pretty fast, from the taxi to the secure area in five minutes.  I took out the iPad and my belt but no shoe show and I forgot to take out the liquids bag -- nobody noticed.  It was even faster at MUC, which is a major airport after all, I walked straight to the security and took out everything as required.  I didn't take off belt nor shoes.  After the x-ray a lady wanted to check my camera and look through it.


And as I was heading to the country that has practically built modern motoring, to visit the leading car brands, the obvious choice would be to rent something nice.  At the airport Europcar was showcasing their rental BMW M3 and Sixt had a special deal with Porsche for rental 911's, Panamera's, Cayman's and others.

But instead I chose to travel only with public transport.  After all, I wasn't flying private jet either but in coach..

 

Originally I had planned to take a taxi in Ingolstadt to the Audi Forum but the airport bus left me at some strange secondary railway station and I could find a taxi stop.  I managed to find the central bus station and spotted a local bus going to Audi.  Problem solved.  I had booked the train ticket to Stuttgart for Porsche and Mercedes-Benz but the rest was improvised.

On my way to the Audi factory in Ingolstadt.  I wonder who had more space?  And who could have enjoyed free morning beer on the plane?

 

Sunday morning at 8am in the Munich subway wasn't a busy moment.  Even the escalators where idling.

 

A quiet saturday in Stuttgart, the home of Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.

 

On my way to the BMW World.

 

A mandatory moment of Bayerische food.  Müncher Sauerbraten von Bürgermeisterstück und Semmelknödel.  The beer comes from the oldest brewery in Munich, within the monastery of the Augustinian brotherhood near the cathedral of Munich.  Since 1328, btw..  

 
(But I have to say, I'm not a big fan or german cuisine..)

Spotted this ad.  Real friends don't exist as Apps.  Drink Bacardi.

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## Petri

Part of the trip was to compare what the motoring titans have to offer in terms of pure enjoyment, fulfilling your primary needs and to satisfy all the senses with the finest german engineering has to offer.

Audi set a good benchmark:

 

Porsche had a very lively, modern space with friendly service:

 

Mercedes-Benz offered a slightly conservative option with traditional colours:

 

And last but not least, BMW offered quite a different kind of experience and they didn't see the need for a straw:

 

I know the forum will only be able to give you the visuals but leaving the rest to your imagination, who do you think had the best culinary engineering?

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## Petri

*Audi Factory tour*

Vorsprung durch Technik

 

The german car factories offer factory tours, usually just on weekdays and most of the time you have book well in advance.  Audi was one of the easiest to book and fit my schedule perfectly.  Unfortunately there is just one english tour a day and it was full so I had to enjoy the tour in german.

The tour takes about two hours and photos are not allowed.  It was by far the best two hours spent on this trip.

The Ingolstadt plant is huge, about the size of Monaco.  They build the A3/S3- and A4/A5-series there, including the S3/S5/RS5 models and all types of chassis.  From the A4 sedan to A4 Avant, to A5 Sportback and the Q5 SUV.  All the different models are built mix and match on the line.  A4 Sedan followed by RS5, followed by Q5, followed by A5 SB.

Looking at the monitors, the most common A4/A5 was the Avant estate, followed by A5 Sportback.

 

This video clip pretty much shows the full picture:

 

Audi's great virtual tour to the factory, start from the metal pressing shop:

http://www.audi.com/com/brand/en/com...ngolstadt.html 


During the tour you see large machines cutting steel rolls into car parts, hundreds of robots (2000 in total) taking the parts and putting them together, welding, checking out that everything is 0.1 mm accurate, and eventually creating a car frame.  Tireless workers, those robots.

But there are people working there, too.  On the line they take bits and pieces, put the to right place on the car while the line moves slowly forward.  A robot takes a car window, puts glue to the edges and prepares it for the worker to attach.  Everything has been designed to the second and millimeter.

Did you know that only 4 litres of paint are used to paint a car?   Despite being a factory, the place was very, very clean.  It didn't even smell a factory.

*Audi Forum*

Ingolstadt isn't only the factory, though, plenty of other Audi operations including a sales office, extensive shop and a large museum.

 

The showroom has the latest Audi models on show, fancy a ride on a new R8 Spyder?

 

And there's a large customer delivery area where people are picking up their brand new Audis:

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## Petri

*Audi Museum*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi 

Various prototypes over the years.

 

 

 

 

Auto Union Type C racing car, 6-litre V16, 520 bhp, top speed 400 km/h

 

 

 

Happy Audi?

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## Petri

One of the most beautiful Audi's ever built

 

Don't forget the racing heritage, the birth of Quattro.

 

Love the colours.

 

 

*Lamborghini exhibition*

 

 

 

.. and this will help you with the purchase.

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## Petri

Where next?

 












.. and that would be Porsche of course.

 

The Porsche museum is quite a futuristic place.

 

 

 


But one can't but admire the beautiful heritage Porsche has built over the years.

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## Petri

Porsche 804 Formula 1 from 1962.  1.5-litre 8-cylinder boxer engine.  270 km/h.

 

People had strong opinions about diesel powered Porsches but in fact they've done that already a long time ago.

 

And what would a sports car marquee be without winning the races.

 

The nice thing about these museums is that they are being enhanced every year by the latest models, many of them becoming future classics.

 

 

 

A brand new Porsche 911 GT3 RS in matte black, a ride home anyone?

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## Petri

Next stop: Mercedes-Benz

Stuttgart is the home of Mercedes-Benz and Daimler.  It's also the home for the huge Mercedes-Benz Museum, showcasing the history of motoring to the earliest days.  The museum is visited by almost a million people every year.

 

The origin of hard german suspension.

 

 

Even the elevators are spectacular.

 

Once upon a time people had the dream to move from A to B.

 

 

 

 

The nice thing about this museum is that you start from the top, walking downwards year by year, decade by decade, learning the history of motoring and matching it with the other events in the world.

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## amyb

fantastic presentation for us Petri. Thanks for the photos of your automobile building adventure.

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## rivertrash

Great, great post!  Thanks for sharing it with us.

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## Petri

*Mercedes-Benz - The History
*

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## Petri

*Mercedes-Benz - The Favourites
*
 

 

 

 

I wonder what she thinks..

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## Petri

*Mercedes-Benz - Racing
*
 

 

 

 

A mandatory religious moment for every finn.

 

*Mercedes-Benz - Today
*
And what would a Mercedes-Benz destination be without a flagship dealer.

 

.. where you can purchase a nice Merc for him and her.

 

The front cabin is about the same size, I think.

 

*Mercedes-Benz - Future
*
The museum also displays the design concepts and other efforts that will shape the future of motoring.

 

I wonder why a future Maybach looks like a wheelchair?  Customer demographics?

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## Petri

*BMW

Freude am Fahren -- The Ultimate Driving Machine*

 

Final stop, BMW.  Bayerische Motoren Werke, Bavarian Motor Works, was born in Munich so it's the right place to finish this tour of german motoring excellence.

Like the other sites, BMW also houses BMW Welt, a flagship store and customer delivery center and BMW Museum, a museum of the BMW motoring heritage.

Here in Finland the BMW slogan is "Ajamisen iloa", joy of driving.  Just like the german slogan, Freude am Fahren.  The english slogan "The Ultimate Driving Machine" is something very different :)

*BMW Welt*

 

 

On the top floor there are cars ready for customer delivery (only during the weekdays).

 

 

But not everything is about petrol..

 

Classic car clubs and owners of classic cars are usually welcome and encouraged to park by the entrance.

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## Petri

*BMW Museum*

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## Petri

*BMW - The Good Times*

Why do cars and photos from this era always bring a smile on your face?  The cars look cute, the colours are fresh, and people are enjoying everything -- and not just sitting in the back of a minivan looking a DVD movie.

When was the last time you sit in your car trunk, sipping a glass of champagne?  People should do more of that!  JEK, fancy a veuve cliquet in your BMW's trunk?

 

 

 

 

*BMW Art Car Collection*

Want to refresh your car's paint job?  BMW runs a project where famous artists paint BMW vehicles.  Sometimes the results are, well, artistic.  Not sure about the street cred.

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## Petri

*BMW - The Motoring Company*

While the folks at Mercedes-Benz can take credit for inventing the motoring as we know it today, BMW actually started as an engine company.  From the aircraft engines they expanded into motorcycles and eventually into automobiles.

*The Engines*

 

 

 

*The Motorcycles*

 

 

 

*The Technology*

BMW has been the source for plenty of innovation in the motoring technology, in every aspect from the engineering to design, aerodynamics, ergonomics and safety.

 

 

 

Which one do you have?

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## Petri

That's a quick wrap for a short visit to german automobile history.   Next time perhaps in Detroit, the Motown?

What do you think, who had the best coffee and cake?

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## julianne

Petri,    Thank you so very much for this fabulous exposition of automobiles and more. I liked the BMW coffee and cake selection the best. 

But, oh the cars! My auto-racer husband was delighted, especially with the shots of race cars of yore. For fun driving, we like BMW and MG's. True auto fans appreciate fine engineering and aerodynamic design as well as performance and the brands you visited display all of these attributes. Those factories are amazing -- might have to go on our bucket list.

It was great of you to share your outstanding trip with us!

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