Nope, that Diesel Jetta wouldn't stop for a Miata either.

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2005 Audi A4 1.8T CVT -Silver/Black "Siegfried"

1982 300D - Silver/Blue "Ralph" -For Sale:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-cars-sale/119226-1982-300d-sale.html#post852260

1989 VW Diesel Jetta Blue/Blue "Bodo" RIP

TXBill: A spokesman for reason

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1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

I won't even get into the race between me and a honda accord in the Atlantic City expressway tunnel connector.

Don’t forget that these Einstein’s that drop their cars down to the bump stops to look ‘cool’ don’t have enough suspension travel to keep from bottoming out over a cigarette butt. To add insult to injury, they rarely will have proper shock/strut valving to match the increased spring rate (assuming that the springs were not just simply cut). While there will be very little body roll, when those cars are thrown into a turn the front wheels don’t get much adhesion while the car is bouncing up & down like a pogo stick.

Then there is the matter of trying to stuff the biggest wheel/tire under the fenders with no regard for offset & suspension geometry, let alone unsprung weight. Don’t even get me started on the improper loading on the bearings, which can be a safety issue in its own right. And what about proper alignment? Gee, what does that mean? Do you think that 4 degrees of negative camber is a *good* thing?

The fact of the matter is that a stock suspension setup with *good* stock size tires on these rice-turds would generate more lateral g’s & proper balance than a typical hacked-up, street driven, dumped-down one with the widest tires, unless they on a billiard table smooth road, like on most race tracks.

Larry is quite correct – look at the numbers in any road test article. Almost any newer car will out-corner a vintage Benz if both are driven to their respective limits. Most people don’t know how to get the most out of their car, and the public roads are not the place to learn.

RTH

an F-15!

Really. The other day out in the desert, had gone further south to get out of a snowstorm, while making my way along a twisty two-lane, all of a sudden I hear a roaring exhaust. Looking around for the idiot that is trying to pass, when suddenly black stuff starts settling around my car, and just about 100 feet off the deck, overhead is a beautiful F-15 making turns for about 350-400 knots. No way I could catch up even with the interceptor.

Still a neat experience, wish I'd had the digital (not that I could have gotten it into play in time).

__________________
Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

RTH

Thanks! You saved me a lot of typing!!

A stock Honda can outcorner one of these clueless modified cars anyday, even with 155x13 tires on them!
A cigarette butt would throw them into the weeds!
You have to laugh at these kids trying to drive 55 on the freeway while trying to look cool. I always honk at them and laugh and wave. To them, this is what seatbelts are for, to keep them in their seats!

Sorry guys, I don't think there are too many sedans out there which handle better than any Honda product, regardless of price.

My colleague at work was gifted a 1989 Honda Accord 4 door stick shift with 185,000 miles on it. In the glove box was a neat notebook with every gas fill up and every oil change (3000 miles) up till 1999 and 160,000 miles.and MPG as well. Amazing that someone kept such wonderful records.
My colleague is clueless about cars and asked me to test drive it and tell him what is wrong with the car. I told him it needed CV joints, but other than that, the car felt new!
What a shame this car went to such a boob. He casually tossed this record book into the garbage can without a care!
He doesn't like animals either.

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Ed
1981 300CD (Benzina)
1968 250 S (Gina) 266,000 miles!
1983 Alfa Romeo GTV6 (Guido)
1976 Jaguar XJS-saved a V-12 from the chevy curse, what a great engine!
1988 Cadillac Eldorado (better car than you might think!)
1988 Yamaha Venture (better than a Wing!)
1977 Suzuki GS750B
1976 Yamaha XS 650 (sold)
1991 Suzuki GSX1100G (Shafty Gixser)
1981 Yamaha VX920RH (Euro "Virago")
Solex Moped
1975 Dodge P/U camper


"Time spent in the company of a cat, a beer, and this forum, is not time wasted!"

AFTER new Bilsteins, my 1977 300D corners like a dream. To you non NY/NJ drivers, amatuers, every on/off ramp is generally like turn 1 in any Formula 1 race, or actually like turn one at Bristol without the banking. My OLD MB holds it's own.

Many of you raise conventional wisdom about Honda's and the like which is probably correct, but it still does not convince an old man with an old car that my MB is a butt kicker in the turns.

JCD

sounds like the guys in the smaller cars didn't know how to drive or for some reason could not pass....I can't even imagine just about any car not being able to pass a diesel froma a dead stop....


Warren
1992 300SD
Columbus Ohio
[img] http://images.prosperpoint.com/images/1628/82440-4.jpg[/img]

If you want to play on a more level playing field, find someone who *knows how to drive* and put them in a BMW E3 (Bavaria) or E12 5-series, then play on those roads.. You'll be suprised, and there will be a lot more competition to it. A modified Bavaria with a 5-speed, 3.5 I6, twin Webers, Bilsteins and bigger sway bars will give an S-Class V8 a good run for the money. AMHIK.

Sure Hondas and Acuras and the like can outhandle a S-Class, or even an E-Class or an M-Class, but that's what they're designed to do - it's simple physics - they're lighter and their suspension geometry is set-up for aggressive driving of that nature. Many of them are faster than our Mercedes, too (what with VTEC and the like), but they're not better cars.. The Majority of those cars will be ridden hard and put away wet, and probably left out to pasture while I'm still cruising along in my '84 Diesel. And yes, I drive fast on back roads, I clip apexes, and I taunt pathetic drivers in rice burners tuned way beyond their abilities. I beat some of them, a lot of them, even, but it's more about the driving than the car, IMHO.

-Reed
'84 300D/T

do you think that is fact that the orginal selling price of those cars was so much less and therefore they probably had a pretty youthful buyer initially who drove the car pretty hard ?

or on the used car market the cost or repairs versus the value of the car make it cost prohibitive to fix?


just my .002


Warren
1992 300SD
Columbus Ohio

Absolutely, added to the fact that the cars are simply not as durable in that the wearable parts wear more/faster than something along the lines of an MB. That's why I said "majority" - I had an '85 Prelude that we dubbed "The Little Honda that Could" because it was such a good car adn wouldn't die, even with upwards of 250K - but I maintained the hell out of it. Mature and informed drivers can probably make a Honda last forever, but a Honda (or other similar car) will not take the hard driving like a German car, I don't think. And where 250K was a blessing on the Honda, that's break-in on a diesel.

-Reed
'84 300D/T

This comes my way a lot! I've owned a few cars, VWs, BMWs and currently a 300D. Let me just state, that the 300D can out handle the VW Jetta (the Merc is 10 years OLDER) and can run pretty well with the BMW that was 10 years newer. I have an 85 300D and had a 95 Jetta and a 95 530i, both with a stick. From a driving standing, the Merc is the best handleing in real world terms. It doesn't feel as tossible as say the VW or as sure as the BMW, but through the range, the 300D does well.

Having been around 300Ds for roughly 10 years, (my father also had an 85 300D) I've been in several situations where the car surprises the other driver and even myself. Lets just say the car can hold its own against ANYTHING that comes its way in MOST situations. Is it a 911? NO! But it can fair well against most jerks on the road. It is NOT a car to be taken lightly at speed, and from what I understand, the W126 cars handle better in some ways, so the previous statements of 20 year old Hondas out running 300SDLs is pretty funny (but I know what you mean, we had a 79 Accord, drove like a rat with sneakers)... The Mercedes must be pushed to the very limit to "perform" for it really doesn't want to. Their size and weight mask the actualy prowress of what is a fine handleing car. Ask any Mercedes technician, they will tell you Merc suspensions from the 70's and 80's are really set-up quite well. Their simple, and they work. Drive down a highway in and out of traffic at 80 mph, and tell me nothing feels like a Mercedes. Your Honda can't do it as well, either can your new Acura... And take an off-ramp too fast, see what happens. You'll be surprised, but watch out, its not fault proof.

You would have to be a complete moron to loose control in a 123 or 126.. they are so predictable and easy to manuver I don't even see how its possible to not be able to regain control, i've never been in a situation were I havn't been able to, on dry roads or fast turns in ice and snow.

Even as a 16 year-old in my parents' long-gone '81 300SD I could predict the handling.. I used to love lighting up the inside wheel during a left-hand turn from stop at a particular intersection.. Ahh, to be young and foolish. I almost never do that in my 300D/T...

-Reed
'84 300D/T