You don't have to but some people like to arrive earlier and drive faster. And many people I know don't like following other cars, so they'd rather overtake and drive 130 km/h in front of the other car than behind. This, however, changes with autopilot.
Driving faster on the autobahn (or any freeway/highway) will not get you to your destination much faster. The total transit time is impacted the most by city/local traffic and such. Unless you are on a 500km journey you are not saving much time going 180 (rather than 140) on the autobahn.
This is actually incorrect. When you ask a German how far away another city is, their first question will be: "What kind of car do you drive?"
The biggest difference is that in Germany, the speeds are more sustained. In the US, cars generally drive in whatever lane they feel like, so your speed is constantly changing. So even a difference of 180 vs 140 will be significant. (and it could easily be 200 instead of 120).
This is untrue. Are you seriously attempting to use a colloquial joke as some sort of evidence?
While Germans are a bit more conscious of driving in the left lane when not passing, what you are saying neither makes sense, nor is it applicable, especially in any amount of traffic.
It also totally discounts the vast amount of road construction and maintenance that Germans continually do on their roadways (infrastructure maintenance is a big deal). The construction alone, especially in Hessen/Rhineland Pfalz vastly impacts travel times in ways going 40kmph faster could never attempt to approach.
I've driven plenty in both the US and Germany and the road etiquette in Germany is light years ahead of the US.
If I choose to drive 120/130 on the autobahn I have a much higher chance of doing so continually than if I choose to drive 75 Mph on an Interstate highway in the US.
I'll give you my anecdotal evidence from last year's trip to Germany. I took a ~550 km trip, and while I don't have actual GPS data from my trip on hand, I do remember that I was able to drive roughly one third of the way in sections with no speed limit and no traffic/construction.
For 2/3 of the way my average speed (including traffic and construction) was 122, so that took 3 hours. For the rest (1/3) of the way I was able to travel with unlimited speed. Traveling 183 km at 183 km/h (average) vs. 122 km/h saved 30 minutes of my trip.
I'm absolutely relying on anecdotal evidence. But I spent more than a decade on tour with a band driving vans all over the US and Europe. I've been on almost every stretch of highway in Germany and America many, many times, and I was extremely familiar with travel times between cities in all seasons and conditions. So yes, still anecdotal evidence, but a whole lot of experience behind it.
Obviously construction (anywhere) affects travel time. But in the US the highways have more exits, cops running radar, and there's ALWAYS someone going slowly in the left lane. Unless you're in the western desert states, it's pretty hard to maintain a steady speed. By contrast, everyone in Germany knows how to drive, and everyone follows the rules about keeping right and passing left.
