You are joking. Perfectly flat? I wish it was. AFAIK it took them up to 80 years to replace the highways built in the 1930s.

I don't have the balls to drive 80 in a Rusa, but the same road in another car at 130? Sure. No problem. It IS the car. I drove the same road in my 2013 Golf, in a 2016 Peugeot 208 and an 2016 Opel Corsa. Did 210 in the Golf, no issues, not tiring. Did 180 in the Peugeot, no issues, a bit more tiring, but it's fine. Did 170 in the Opel, was absolutely exhausted when I got out of the car, and quite terrified while driving (unfortunately I was in a hurry, otherwise I would have driven much slower in that car). The Opel is IMHO designed as a city car first and foremost, and for driving around towns it is good. Really good. But don't drive fast in it.

Likewise I just think that most Japanese cars, because it isn't necessary for them to drive fast (it only really happens in Germany anyway), aren't good at it. Different priorities.

I meant out of breath in the sense that they are out of their comfort zone. Might have mixed something up, apologies. And yes, I am generalizing, and I am talking about mainstream cars. Performance cars are an entirely different story. I am also excluding Japanese (and Korean) cars designed for Europe. Those tend to behave much more like European cars. And Mazda.