Slightly off topic but...
 

my w123 has more road feel than the w203 which is cool. Having said that, the c class sedan would run circles around the wagon in most if not all driving situations. Been in both and had to make emergency type maneauvers. I trust both nearly equally; I'd give the w203 a slight nod except that I typically drive the thing 15-20 mph faster than the w123...

Well, I have a set of 195/70/14 Falkens on it that are less than 1 year old and have great tread. Not exactly snow tires, but great rain shedding tread (which is much more often needed in this area than snow traction).

As far as weight in the trunk, I usually try to avoid carrying much, but at the time I had a brand new engine stand back there that weighs somewhere in the 50-75 pound range. I also had both my boys in the back seat - about another 120 extra pounds.

Still didn't get traction enough to keep from breaking 'em loose every time I put any real pressure on the go-pedal. On the other hand, the temps were well down into the 20's and it was a very wet snow that instantly compacted into ice under your tires.

For my money, when the snow falls, the Benz stays home and I drive the Jeep...

a turbo motor and automatic is a poor combination on snow and ice. a stick is much more controllable on snow for an experienced driver.

Yeah, I can buy that.

Mine has a bit of the "afterburner" effect going on once the turbo starts to spool too. I need to do a valve adjustment, timing check, and probably an ALDA adjustment to get the throttle response back to being more linear.

BTW, kinda off topic, but how hard is it to swap the ALDA from my old IP onto the one in my car? The one on there now has never been tampered with and the one on my old motor has already had the screw-protecting "cannister" removed. If its an easy swap I'd rather leave the one that is still original as it is and swap on the one that has already been modified.

Can I just remove the 4 screws and swap the top cap from one to the other, or would I need to remove the entire ALDA assembly?

I find the W123 in the 240D incarnation similar to a tank in the snow. I also run 195/70-14's - Michelins - the same size as rcounts. But in snow in any car, mashing the throttle is not a common practice unless I am in a parking lot doing donuts in the snow, trying to break the rear wheels loose. The brand of tire is not the issue.

The slickness on snow comes from the tire compressing the snow or ice enough to make it momentarily become a liquid directly under the contact patch. The liquid water as an interface to the ice beneath and rubber tire above makes for a near zero friction condition. The colder it gets the less water is made, until in really cold weather, no liquid forms. At that point snow and ice are not that slick and you can maintain pretty high speed around turns and can actually effectively brake.

Jim

It unscrews at the base.

I just looked at a couple of posted pictures and now I see that what I was picturing in my head as screws in all 4 corners of the top plate aren't screws at all - or if they are they're the end of screws that are put in from the bottom.

So, Bgkast, do you have an pictures or instructions showing what to unscrew to remove the ALDA? Is it mounted on a center "stem" with a locknut or what?

I run 195/70/14 Nokia snow tires all around with 200# in the trunk and my experience in the MB on snow is similar with the additional advantage of gently backing off the throttle till the wheels grab and continuing on my way. The slow throttle response and low speed torque of the 240 is really helpful in slick conditions.

Blizzaks will help
 

A set of Bridgestone Blizzaks would help snow traction in a 123 as they did in my R320.
My R class is now pretty unstoppable in nasty winter storms as opposed to white-knuckle scary at 35-40 mph in snow last season. Of course I can go faster than a RWD 123 due to the 4Matic, the ABS, ESP and stuff. I have to keep an eye on the speedo so I don't go over the posted speed limits of 45-55 mph during blizzards :eek:

LOL. except the w123 was neither high performance nor luxury, even by MB's standards. recall the S-class 450sel 6.9. Much nicer interior appointments, and the 6.9 engine speaks for itself. If any Mercedes of the 70's/80's defined luxury and performance it would either be the w116 or the r107, not the w123.

fully agree with this comment

I've never driven a W123 but I own a W114 250CE in the UK. You can really throw that car around in town. It's like a giant mini in that respect (the original mini, i have not driven the new ones). I'm not sure how well they handle at high speed but I have taken my 250CE to 115mph and it was rock solid. This was in the mid 90's and my other car was an 89 BMW 318i which did not feel as chuckable.

At the limit, you should expect any car with with IRS to be more predictable then a pickup with a solid beam rear axle because of unsprung weight. Pickup trucks have big engines and big axles and turning them too quickly would be like trying to spin a dumbell with your wrist too quickly, Force takes over.

I agree. There was never a pickup built that will out handle a 123.

From personal experience, I greatly prefer the handling and ride of the W116 (especially the 6.9 with hydropneumatic suspension) over the W123. The W115 I had was also better but not as good as the W116. The W124 had the best handling of any E-class I've driven though; too bad it's significantly uglier. :P