One of my brothers just spent 1 year in Germany, He brought some video footage back of him and a mate on an autobahn, amazing, they are doing 200+ and there is a Ferrari a Porsche and a Volvo that pass them looks like they are doing 220-240 (the Ferrari passes them almost like they are standing still!)! They themselves are in the second fast lane, and there are two slower lanes as well (they pass quite a few cars as well!). The thing on the video that you notice is the road quality is amazing, high fences on both sides so nothing can get onto the road, and the road itself is silky smooth. These roads are built for speed, with MINIMUM speed limits not Maximum. And the road 'manners' are amazing, people that let you pass.... indicate etc etc.....
Also intresting to note that the driver training side of things is shared between the govenment and the manufactures, with the town that my brother was staying in had two driver training facilities, when you purchased a 'high performance' car from the manufacturer, a 6-8 week driver training program was included! And these were serious facilities... I'll get some screen grabs if I can, but basically people driving brand new mercs and bmw's on skid pans etc..... as well as simulated tire blow outs etc etc.....