Must be the weather down here. Not sure if my orient red 240d counts as plum, but the only part of I-37 I am ever on is the stretch near the alamo dome on my way to get biodiesel, and I am usually in the wagon, so I doubt it was me, but I regularly smoke by people on the hi-way here in my 240D. I can pull 85 if I have to, but 75 seems to be a sweet spot for mine.

All the talk about slow 240D's seems a bit overstated to me. I never have trouble keeping up with San Antonio traffic. Katy (on the way in to Houston) is another story - they are CRAZY over there!!! :b

__________________

Current Mercedes
1979 maple yellow 240D 4-speed

Gone and fondly remembered:
1980 orient red 240D 4-speed

Gone and NOT fondly remembered:
1982 Chna Blue 300TD

Other car in the stable:
2013 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI / 6-speed MT

Same here. Must be all the automatics. My 4spd hasn't seem particularly slow so far, and 70 is no problem in fairly short order although I haven't timed it.

__________________
You're a daisy if you do.
__________________________________
84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

I had a Volvo 240 in which I transplanted the 4 Cyl with a Ford 5.0 HO engine. Kept the outward appearance completely stock save for the full dual exhaust and Borla mufflers. Stoplights were tons of fun and that car led to more conversations than any other car I've owned. I was once pulled over for doing the speed limit only because the cop was interested in seeing what I had under the hood.

I've been looking to start another project like that. However, I'm interested in doing an OM617 in an R107.

__________________
This area is typically used to brag about one's current or former automobiles.

It's hills and merging into tight traffic that I notice it the most, or when you just start her in 20* F. She'll do fine on flat ground

__________________
1983 240D 3.0T 4-speed manual, now sold

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition

I think many of you have bought the hype and fun so many engage in about the 240 power ... I have posted this before.... mine has a sweet spot at about 76 mph.... if I am driving along without looking at the speedo often.. like at night out on the road... it settles in at that speed... it will do four hours at that speed just fine ... I have to be careful to watch to keep on it to keep from giving up ' involuntary donations ' to local governmental bodies.

__________________
1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/10414-help-i-need-check-stretch.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

My 240 stick is as fast and as powerful as many turbos I have driven. The automatic is another story (it ain't hype).
I spoke with a fellow that had spent alot of time in Europe and his take on the 240 autos is that in Europe many people have a car for just tooling around town errands etc. and long trips are made by train because of the economics of travel (cost of fuel etc.) also higher taxes on more powerful vehicles. So the 240 autos were designed for more of a specific purpose/market unlike American cars which are more marketed in a power/performance all around utility kind of way. It made some sense to me. Maybe some of our European bretheren/sisteren can comment on this.

__________________
1982 240D auto
1978 300CD auto
1985 300D auto
1983 300TD auto
1984 Porsche 944 5 speed
1973 Opel GT 1900 4 speed
1967 Chevy C30 350 Sm420
1973 Mustang Grande Convertible 302 C4
1981 VW Pickup 1.6D Turbo 5 speed
1983 Rabbit 1.6D Factory Turbo 5 speed
Plus parts vehicles...

At 70 MPH my 240D is turning 3500 RPM in 4th gear and that engine is screeming at 80 MPH it would be doing 4000 RPM about the limit before things fly apart on these old beasts.

Little formula for the fans of 240D (stanadard axle and tires) : In 4th gear
car speed (MPH) = engine speed (RPM) / 50

__________________
2010 ML350 Bluetec
2012 Mustang Convertible

Maybe the driver was following the advice of former poster DieselDog who recommended driving a 240D like you had just stolen it. Foot to the floor, shifting near the shift points on the speedo. It's definitely more entertaining that way.

__________________
Kevin

1978 300D
1979 240D

Once you cross from Austin County into Waller County, the checkered flag waves and race begins.

__________________
'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

If you where in San Diego i would say it could have been me. I still have the 240D badges on my trunk. The 3.69 gives the car fabulous acceleration. Totally worth it.

__________________

1979 240D with a 617 turbo diesel.

Interesting story. I used to drive a 1979 300SD (W116 chassis) and now I have a 1968 200D (W110 chassis). Once I learned to floor the car and shift quickly I found it actually merges onto the freeway fine and I can cruise at 70 MPH if I want. I can actually pass cars at that speed and I bet I could drive at 80 MPH before running out of steam.

These cars tend to have the reputation of being slow, but I think "medium slow" is more accurate. You won't win any races or be able to jump out into traffic from a stop, but they do just fine in normal driving situations if you floor it and shift quickly.

When I was thinking about buying my 200D I was really scared that it would be dangerously slow and wouldn't do freeway speeds, but this car has sure proved that theory wrong.

A 5-speed swap would probably be much better for lower highway RPMs, but not that much drop. I miss the acceleration when my 300D had the 3.69...

__________________
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

At least you're not dealing with highway gears like in the '85s... a turtle from a standstill but ample enough on the highways. Sometimes I miss the brute force from my AMG, now THAT'S power!

All stock 123s are underpowered machines in today's automotive age so they are what they are. But we love 'em!

__________________
My Mercedes-Benz Homepage and W123 Owners Photo Gallery and W111/W112 Coupes & Convs Gallery
2005 Northeast GTG and 2005 Mid-Atlantic GTG and Summer '09 Central FL GTG on YouTube

There are a few random manual 240ds reported that appear to be somewhat faster than the average examples. I have one in the garage with a still very low mile replacement engine from mercedes.

It seems to do above quoted averages. Or the speedometer is bad. The noise inside is pretty bad at those speeds though. I have never investigated or noticed if there are any differences to account for the effect.

I also own another one that seems to comply with the common perceptions of average 240d performance usually posted on site.

So if a twin to the one in my garage was down your way. Why were you holding him up? He probably picks the toyotas and hondas out of his grill regularily just to restore normal cooling.

Merging? That must be an east coast thing. We've got none of that here in San Antonio.