I was out the other day,and came to a RED LIGHT while going up the hill. This is my most dreaded driving event that I hate. Sometimes will take the long way home to avoid the hill.

Just wondering what other 240D drivers think of stopping on hills.


Bob K
1981 240D 4 speed manual

Stopping on them is easier than starting on them ;-)

I don't have a problem in mine (also a 240D 4 speed). When I'm approaching a pretty steep hill that I'm concerned about, I set my fast idle knob up to the fast position. This gives me enough clutch advantage to get going again. I also trade a tad of clutch life for some safety -- I go ahead and go to half-clutch with the fast idle set to fast before i ever get off the service brake. That way, I've got extra throttle and half clutch holding me in place until I can goose it. Then I just floor it and declutch the rest of the way gently.

Hard on the clutch but easy on the rear bumper seems like a good alternative to the opposite.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

Stopping is easy. Getting going again requires a little patience. Not a problem, just an extra 2-3 seconds to get the rpm up.

I worry more about GETTING up hills than stopping at the top of them in mine. I routinely drive 2-3 miles of 8% grade on highway 421 getting up into Boone. With my foot on the floor, all the accessories (air con, etc) turned off, and literally giving it everything it's got, 43 mph in 3rd is the most it will do. If even one thing gets worse on the thing, sometimes I worry it won't even hold THAT speed.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

Not a problem with the clutch/shifting. Just so SLOW getting up to speed.
Bob

Up, it's that whole pesky gravity thing.

John Deere makes things with more horsepower than a 240D, and the 240 is geared high enough to translate 65 hp into 70 mph, which means that low isn't really a good granny gear for getting it moving. It is what it is.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

S L O W L Y is the 240 way!

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82 240D Manual 277K and still rolling!
02 Volvo S60 AWD For Sale

Amen

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1981 240D 143k 4 spd manual -SOLD

2004 VW Jetta TDI 5 speed 300k -still driven daily

For about a month or so my 240 had no 1st gear... dreaded indeed.

A 240D is NOT the car for an impatient person. Once an impatient person, like myself starts driving one, it makes that person a more patient person. This first happened to me in 1977. When I first started driving a 240D, 95% of it was highway cruising. That's the only reason I made it through the Patience 101 portion of the curriculum.

This is kind of interesting. I find that different vehicles affect the way I drive. I'm not a total lead foot or Speed Racer type. Still, I do go a bit faster than the law allows. I notice in the 240D, that I tend to go slower than the law allows. On the same streach of road, I'll have to force myself to do 55 mph, in the 240D. In my Ford Contour, its hard to keep under 65 mph. I notice I drove a bit faster, when I rented a truck. At least when there was no load in the bed. I thought then it was that I sat up higher.
I don't have to contend with to many hills around here. There is one spot near work though. The 240D manages as well as some other cars I've had at that place. I heard a Semi pooped a wheely there last week. People were speculating what kind of damage was done to the suspention.
Tom

40 mph isn't that bad either. 10-20 would suck, but you're doing fairly ok at 40...

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[/SIGPIC]~cirrusman

1983 Mercedes Benz 300SD - Wife calls him "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"
[SIGPIC]




1983 Toyota Tercel (Tommy, The little Toyota that could)
1965 Ford F100 (Grandma Ford)
2005 Toyota Sienna (Elsa, Wife's ride)


Gone:
1988 Toyota Pickup
2004 Subaru Outback

1987 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham
1986 Volvo 740 GL Station Wagon - Piece of junk.
1981 Volvo 242 DL 2 Door - Hated to see it go. R.I.P.
1987 Pontiac Fiero GT

Driving a 240D is an exercise in conserving momentum.

there is an onramp I dread completely that I have had the misfortune to try and take the 240 on. Its on a busy, crowded, windy and hilly highway.

The ramp was designed for vehicles back in the 30s, you come around a sharp uphill curve, and STOP completely at a stop sign. Then you have to floor it in any vehicle and merge onto the highway going uphill over a bridge with no real shoulder.

I get to the stop sign, put on my hazards, look for a gap in traffic, and floor it. Extremely dangerous for the 240 with everyone going 70 on the freeway.

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