Red Dvl

Hello,

I'll be living in/near bamberg early 2012 and plan to bring my C6 Z06 with me. Any words of advice on bringing the car over greatly appreciated. Excited!!!

Scott

MRNZ06

Enjoy! Lived near Karlsrue/Baden-Baden myself for a year. Goodentag, who is da Auotbahn bitter? all you need to know.

aligator

It has been a long time since I was stationed in France and Sembach, Germany. There is more to Europe then then driving on the auotbahn. I would not bring any nice American car there. When I was there for 3 years I bought a used Citron DS19 and then a VW van. we drove all over France, Germany, Italy, never had to worry about repair shops or parts. I would suggest you talk to someone at your new duty station.

diddiyo

hi

i was born and raised in germany. i've been living in the US since 2006 but i'm most likely moving back to germany in 2012 and I'm planning on taking the z06 with me.

if you know some german make sure to check out the german version of this board: www.corvetteforum.de good people over there! and don't worry about parts etc, there are quite a few places that specialize in corvettes.

feel free to ask any questions you might have. enjoy germany!

rjmij

I got here early 2011. Been loving every minute of it except when you get caught up in a stau (traffic) or you get flashed (speed camera). Lots of us around here. I will send pm.

Rick

Red Dvl

Hi again and Thank you for the posts and Pm's. My wife and I are pretty excited about living in Germany for the next few years. I do not speak any German other than the basics that everyone knows but I do plan on buying some audio tapes shortly to listen to while driving to/from work each day. We are not sure yet exactly when we will be there because of Rumurs of deployment but eventually, we'll be settled there. I HIGHLY look forward to the cruises and meeting/sharing times with fellow Corvette enthusiasts.

Cheers,

Scott

WICKEDFRC

I have ALOT of suggestions.....

1. Make sure your tires are all season, or ship a second set. Your summer tires will SUCK *** in winter and tires are a little more expensive there. Plan ahead for winter. Your Z will undergo an extensive TUV inspection. Make sure you do not give a reason for failure, such as "excessive noise", no front license plate, or tint. If it is not factory tint, you will fail and have to be reinspected at a later date. Driving up with the windows rolled down will not work either. Remove tint prior to shipping. If you have aftermarket exhaust with no mufflers, swap back to stock for inspection, then change out after you pass. Your inspection will last 1 year. There are many on-post Auto crafts shops to utilize.

2. If you have a lein against the Z, make sure your insurance company releases you to take it to Germany. You will need that for customs and ask for yoru "GREEN INSURANCE CARD" for Germany. It is different than stateside papers.

3. If you have a means of transportation without the Z, suggest ship it SOONER than later. At least 20 days PRIOR to flying out will help expedite arrival on the other end. You will need your car in Germany more than in the states. Atlanta is a TOP KNOTCH shipping center. If your car is spotless, you will be in and out in less than 20 minutes. Trailering will help, otherwise, a detail may be necessary prior to inspection. Antenna, floor mats, license plates, etc will be boxed up. Suggest remove everything from car not factory installed unless it is bolted in. Sub boxes and amplifiers must be bolted in or they will be removed. Suggest you remove your front 3-Piece air spoiler under teh front fascia prior to arrival. Will help loading/unloading on truck. Roll on/roll off on the baot is a simple procedure. If you have access to HP Tuners, LS1 Edit, etc, HIGHLY SUGGEST you set REV LIMITER to 3500-4000 so the truvk driver or idiots at the boat yard arent pegging redline. I found my car had 7 miles on it when I picke dit up. There is NO WAY anyone can accumulate 7 miles from drop off to pick up. Plan carefully.

4. Prepare for yoru European Driver License sooner than later. People do fail the tests and if they do, you had to wait (I think) 30 days to retest. The rules of the road are midevil and somewhat very different than ours, to include who has the right of when when it comes to horse drawn buggy's,and men with hand-drawn carts. They have some weird road signs too. So, study up and pass it the first time.

5. Look up Baden-Wurrtemburg Corvette Club. An AWESOME club that has many cruises, get-togethers, races, events, etc. More than any other club I belonged to. Trips to Normandy (Le Mans), Luxembourg, Poland, many cities in Germany, NurburgRing, HockenheimRing, etc etc etc. A GREAT bunch of people. Not just show-shiners, but those who also feel a Need for Speed.

YOu are going to LOVE Germany. I wish I could live there. In my two years with teh Vette, I met so many people. German Race Wars in Eisenach is a blast and "What goes Race Wars, Stays Race Wars"..... What I learned at my FIRST Race wars is "Sleep is over-rated". Pack a tent, some extra clothes, and have a BLAST!!!!

If you are lucky, the IAAA Car Show will come to Frankfurt. A must see.

Bodensee World Tuning.... Without a doubt, one of teh best car shows I ever been to. Yes, alot of imports, but that is Germany for you. Over 160,000 attende dthe first day. Arrive super early as it took 1 hour to travel the last 1 mile to the Messe.

Oh, and if you don't have a video camera for the Vette, now may be a good time to purchase one. Plenty of Autobahn mayhem going on. I hit 191 mph in my Forged C5. I am sure 200 could be in your near future.....

Have fun! Any other questions, feel free to PM.

Red Dvl

Wow, I printed that! Thank You! Great news, some I had heard. I am shipping the car with new(ish) Mich. PS2 tires and plans for a Cam without headers are in the works. Exhaust is stock currently except for the M2W. I plan to buy a local winter beater as well. Many thanks

Scott

WICKEDFRC

You are very welcome Scott. One thing I forgot, you may want to invest in a extreme weather car cover.....(unless you pay for storage)

I had mine out in the elements and wow, what a beating it took.

Rain, sleet, snow, shine, tree sap, bird poop, etc. I lived in a house in Mainz-Gonsenheim, and many many trees..... My C5 was my daily driver and I had no garage. It was brutal. Save your Euro change and utilize spray off car wash sites often.

(I mentioned tires because I was caught in a 4 inch "Snow Storm" and the summer tires were better used as a sled. I was embarrassed when I was maxed out at 35 mph on the B-8 getting passed by everything and having to park 3 blocks away because my Vette wouldn't climb a 8 percent road. Hahahaha A neighbor was kind enough to give me a ride in the blizzard three blocks. Hahahahaha

Red Dvl

Lol,

I just came from Lewis to Leonard wood for school and in 08 up in Wash. State had some similar experiences. I picked up a beater 4x4 while there but its currently for sale (not worth shipping to Germany due to the Maint. it needs). Had a lot of snow days that winter.

I am having my quarters repainted (rock chips) and putting that plastic protectant film on them as well as working on finding a local(ish) shop to do a Cam/Valve train/Tune before the winter when I plan to store it before I ship it. I'll be shipping it in early January and we look to depart from St. Louis in early February so It won't be prime Vette driving season in Germany when we arrive.

Will probably ship the wifes Altima before then on Army dime if possible and pay out of pocket for the Corvette. My front splitter is already BTF up so i plan on replacing it with something aftermarket as well once I get over there.

Just overall very excited for the opportunity and already thinking I'll try to stick around for 6 years if possible.

vette'n

Its always your choice, but I garage mine in the winter months, If you can afford a Z06, you can afford a winter vehicle About the tint, its only the side and front windows they care about, and if your car is with in I think 5 years old you can get tags for 2 years. You can aquire study materials online prior to arriving so you are better prepared for the test, your sponsor should help you out with that. If you fail the first time you can test on the next retake day the following week, however if you fail a second time you have to wait some time to test again, most people don't. Its not all that difficult. You will have a blast in Europe with the Vette, Autobahn's Nurnburgring, and all mentioned above. Europeans def. appreciate American Muscle! Good Luck! Enjoy!

60-vette

Scott
we live in Germany and we're Germans. In case you get tangled up by anything or anyone let me know I 'll bail you out. Bamberg is not close but telephone flat rates are available for the first counterstrike in case you do not understand what the Krauts are telling you.

The www.corvetteforum.de is a good one. Plenty of members all over Germany. Many speak English. You won't be alone. Lookin forward to meeting you in the ol' world.
Thomas

Red Dvl

Thomas,

Thank You! I went to the forum you recommended. Can it be translated into English? If not, i'll try to navigate my way around and introduce myself.

Thanks again,

Scott

Red Dvl

Question about "All Season" tires. Who makes an "All Season" tire for the C6 Z06? I cannot seem to locate a pair that isn't Summer or Max Performance.

R/

Scott

60-vette

the corvetteForum.de language in general is German, but you can open any thread in American and answers by English spoken guys will be given.
Just give it a try.

BlueTeamZ06

Sounds like you're on the right track. Check out the B-W Club at:

www.bwcorvettes.com

davisce

Scott,

All Season Tires won't cut it any longer in Germany. Must have Winter
(Snow) tire for winter. German Law changed last year 2010 just before I left Heidelberg (after 25 years) to return to the states. And there aren't too many "Snow" tires (NONE) out there that fit Z06 Corvettes.

I drove my 99 C5 (bought it new) in Germany for over 11 years and it was great. There is an American/Germany Corvette Club called Baden-Wurttemberg International Corvette Club (BWICC) located in the Heidelberg/Mannheim area. This is a pretty cool club, no fees, no dues, not elected club officers ! Members are from all over Germany, e.g., Stuttgart, K-Town, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Heidelberg, Mannheim, etc., etc as members.

This club takes trips all over Europe, e.g., 24 Hours @ Le Mans, Fance, Corvette FAME Corvette Show in Walkenburg, Netherlands, Corvette Shows in Prague, Corvette Clubs of Europe Meeting in Suhl (a great event) and lots of local cool stuff. So you should have a lot of fun with your Vette while you're there. . .

Good luck on your tour in Germany. . . its a cool place, so have fun !

Ciao,

BlueTeamZ06

I have seen a C6 with the Pirelli SottoZero tires here in Germany. I see no reason why a z06 couldn't run these in the correct size.

GT-Ralle

Just beside , remove your speed limiter, do a Driver training – some of our highways are without speed limit :

Have fun

Ralf

BlueTeamZ06

Speed limiter? I don't think Vettes have or ever had one of those. Do the German-Spec Vettes have them? I know that many of the Euro-Spec cars are limited to 250km/h.

My Z06 is *definitely* not limited to 250km/h

There are alot of great options for driver training. You can do a track day on the Nurburgring or Hockenheimring with an instructor. ADAC also offers alot of fun classes including drifting and advanced driving.

In any event GET AN ADAC MEMBERSHIP!!! They will save your a$$ if anything ever happens to the car, will flatbed the car home from anywhere in Europe and give you a rental car or transport home. I was involved in an accident here and the ADAC flatbed showed up before the Polizei.

Definitely look up the Corvette Club:

http://www.bwcorvettes.com/

And look forward to the open Autobahn. Here's a little inspiration. It's some maniac thrashing a blown Z06 :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoJmA8lwL1I


When will you be in country?