Diesel SL - Time for another Road Trip - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

mach4 · #1 09-01-2014, 10:20 AM

It's been awhile since we took the Diesel SL out for a nice road trip so we decided to head out from San Diego to Vancouver Canada. It's been a little warmish so heading north this time instead of east seemed like a good prospect.

The goal for Day 1 was to just get out of California. I'm not suggesting that California doesn't have anyplace that's beautiful, it obviously does, but let the record show that the Central Valley isn't one of them - flat, dusty and desolate are pretty descriptive. Again, I'm not knocking the Central Valley as it's the source of a tremendous amount of agricultural products for the entire country, but its normally flat, dusty and desolate appearance was made worse, what with the current drought (both natural and politician induced) it's especially depressing.

So our goal was to start early, pound the miles and get to Oregon. Mission Accomplished.

It wasn't all ugly. Sunrise coming down the Grapevine was rather scenic - one last tease before the Central Valley.

I had hoped to get a picture of the car with Mt. Shasta in the background, but the smoke from the fires obscured everything and made breathing a bit uncomfortable. Here's the only picture of the car from day 1 with the smoke in the background.

Here are the rolling hills of Oregon.

The car performed really well. I built the car as an economical, reliable, open road cruiser. And to date it has lived up to expectations and design.

The first leg of 500 miles showed a mileage number of 36.5. To say I was happy was an understatement, but elation quickly turned to reality as I noted the needle on the second tank dropping quicker than expected. Yup, got bit by the classic "one tank wonder" mileage figure. Clearly the tank had an air bubble that allowed the fuel to show in the normal place in the filler tube but not be filled. It was the first time I used B20, so maybe the properties are different leading to the anomaly. Anyway, fueling up in Grants Pass showed a combined mileage for the day's almost 1000 miles of 33.6 - a decidedly more realistic number.

Using my custom Android Instruments App I showed peak TIT (turbine inlet temperature) of just over 1200 degrees over the top of the passes and trans and oil temps typically ran at 150 with transients of 180 on long hard pulls. My inlet temps typically run within about 6 degrees of ambient, so my air filter configuration is doing the job.

Day 2 will take us to Vancouver through what I expect to be decidedly more scenic territory.

With any luck, I'll have some decent dash cam video to post as well.

GregMN · #2 09-01-2014, 10:42 AM

If you have the time, you should get over to the coast and take the 101 through Oregon on your way back.

The "here we are on the Oregon Coast" trip

lovinthedeez · #3 09-01-2014, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregMN

If you have the time, you should get over to the coast and take the 101 through Oregon on your way back.

The "here we are on the Oregon Coast" trip

101 takes a bit longer but still highly recommended. And once you're back in California, it goes a lot quicker and is MUCH cooler temp wise. I live in the SW corner of oregon on the border. I love it here...

no matter which way you go, I'm sure you'll like what you see

crater lake at the end of july....

dieselbenz1 · #4 09-01-2014, 09:09 PM

I would be interested to learn more about your android app.

mach4 · #5 09-02-2014, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieselbenz1

I would be interested to learn more about your android app.

Here is a thread on the development of the app - Engine Instrumentation Project

The one thing that has changed is that the Droid Incredible I was using died and I replaced it with a cheap "phablet" from eBay. The 7" screen is a ton nicer as it's large enough to actually be readable. Still working out the final mounting but for now it's on a suction mount.

t walgamuth · #6 09-02-2014, 06:07 AM

The Mrs and I did the coast road a couple of years ago....stunning views of the ocean. I'd also recommend the redwood road in southern Oregon. In McMinniville (I think that's right) they have the spruce goose, a stunning display along with a lot of other ww2 war birds.

I really love your car and am very impressed with your mileage results.

mach4 · #7 09-02-2014, 02:32 PM

Day 2 on the trip was a Labor Day run from Grants Pass to British Columbia. The traffic was quite heavy and large sections of slow and go traffic made the trip longer than expected and more tiring. There were some very nice sections of scenic road.

Here's a random snippet from the dash cam - Fragment of 08570006 - YouTube

Later crossed into Washington with the obligatory welcome sign

and then on to Seattle

Continuing on toward Canada we crossed into BC with only a 2 minute delay, accompanied by some rain which was a delightful change from the hot and dry of SoCal.

The car did very well, and even with the heavy traffic and frequent use of brakes, managed 34.0 mpg for the 524 mile leg of the trip.

The next few days will be generally local excursions with hopefully a trip to Whistler for a break.

We are seriously considering the 101 section of Oregon for the return trip.

vstech · #8 09-02-2014, 04:41 PM

As a child I lived in CA.WA.OR.ID.SD... I miss it and my kids have never left NC... I need to plan a cross country trip soon before my oldest graduates high school. ..

dkr · #9 09-02-2014, 06:44 PM

I just did this trip in my '84 300D. It's amazing to travel up PCH/101, although it's very slow. I had some days where I drove 14 hours and would only do about 300 miles, although I was really taking my time in the beginning. Watch out for the cows between the CA/OR border on the way back :-)

It feels really wierd for a few days to try and drive in kilometers. It seems in the cities everyone follows the speed limit on the freeways and then once you get out of urban BC, everyone is driving 10-20 km/h over the speed limit.

Dkr.

OM617YOTA · #10 09-03-2014, 06:21 PM

Fun trip! Glad to hear the car is doing well.

If you have time coming back and come near Salem, I'll buy you a cup of coffee.

vstech · #11 09-03-2014, 06:29 PM

I REALLY enjoyed looking over and driving this car! It is just SOOOO well done. I WISH he had the android app installed when the car was in my yard!

EDBSO · #12 09-03-2014, 07:47 PM

PCH 1 is way to big and busy. Get off onto the Avenue of the Giants and dodge some redwoods.

Beautiful drive. I have also done PCH Vancouver to San Diego, a must drive for all.

mach4 · #13 09-03-2014, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OM617YOTA

Fun trip! Glad to hear the car is doing well.

If you have time coming back and come near Salem, I'll buy you a cup of coffee.

We're looking very seriously at the suggestions to come back on 101 through Oregon. That brings us tantalizingly close to Salem. Don't know when we'll head back and don't know for sure what the route, but should have things sorted out in the next couple of days.

Thanks for the offer.

mach4 · #14 09-03-2014, 09:54 PM

On these road trips I continually find it amazing how absolutely few 70s, 80s MB (107,123, 126 etc) there are. I can't remember seeing a single one on the entire trip until today at Stanley Park, where I spotted a silver SLC, but not in time to snap a picture.

I actually thought there would be a good chance of seeing some on Labor Day, the thinking being that people would bring out the cars on a holiday weekend. But no luck.

t walgamuth · #15 09-03-2014, 10:17 PM

I saw them in the northwest.