How long would our cars run if driven on the autobahn every day?
 

I was thinking about how long our cars could last every day run at top speed on the autobahn. I was having a conversation with a buddy of mine the other night. He thinks they'd "blow up after 50k" but doesn't realize they're designed and geared for the autobahn hence being German cars.

My E300s will run 140 all day if it were legal, but let's say from new I'd be curious if it would hold up with high RPMs every day for 300k without an engine rebuild.

What do you guys think on this?

I believe these cars were engineered for that kind of travel. I believe slow, bumper to bumper traffic is harder on these cars.

If maintenance was correctly performed they would thrive on the autobahn.

Wear increases as the square of engine speed. Double the rpms, quadruple the wear on internal engine parts like bearings, cam lobes, rings, etc... on the other hand, very little low-load operation and stop and start traffic with highway driving. I do know my gas burner 92 300TE gets better or the same fuel mileage at 80+mph as at 60. Blew my mind first long highway trip. Was running late and caught some fast moving traffic on the interstate. We were all running 85-90. I just hung in, expecting to have to make a stop for gas. Got about 30 miles further on the tank than my usual two lane highway 60mph running

I'm sure there is some data on that somewhere in German archives about the 240Ds running their hearts out at 85mph or whatever is top speed for them... It's been a while since I've driven a 240D, but my recollection is that RPMs seemed very high at around 75mph or so...

There's probably also data for the modern cars. There are a lot of Mercedes diesels in Germany.

Dkr.

I've driven a 1968 W110 200D at 70-80 MPH for about 14 hours a day making multi-state trips. The engine seemed happy at high RPMs. If I had a good run on the steep grades, it wouldn't even slow down.

Mercedes and Mobil1 did this to a W211, albeit on a test stand. 1 Million km or about 600k miles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fygoGMWgKxU

I think there's another one where they did 1 million km on a test track. 24 hours of LeMans style with guys driving it in shifts, and only stopping for scheduled maintenance.

I regularly run my 240D MT at 80mph and the tach shows an egine speed around 3900-4000.


I check and change oil regularly


My 350SDL ran swimmingly at 105 but the tach was fairly low for that.

I think the reason the German cars are known for duribility is they are designed to run flat out on the autobahn. Excellent cooling, excellent oiling, extremely high quality parts, etc. I had twenty year old benzes with the original cooling hoses for chriz sake!

;)

that's pretty impressive. lemans style is a good test. They beat the he'll out of them cars!

original cooling hose. impressive and scary at the same time! :eek:

I'm still running on 38-year-old cooling hoses. I'm hoping to change them soon.

Probably can't buy them that good anymore.

Isn't that the truth--it seems the ones for my car are mostly no longer available from Mercedes and the only brand offered anywhere is URO. The local auto parts store has Gates hoses that are supposed to fit, but they list them as fitting a bunch of other cars that use differently shaped hoses.

Please NEVER install Uro parts ANYWHERE in the cooling system! I would seek out used original parts from a junk yard before I'd install Uro. I know of a very very nice low mileage 126 SDL that died a terrible death when the Uro lower radiator hose failed catastrophically.

I used the Gates radiator hoses on my w123. I had to cut them down to fit, but 3 years later and they seem fine.

Well, O'Reilly sells a Gates hose that supposedly fits my car, as well as the W123, Ford Pinto, Cadillacs... I'm skeptical. My old hoses are nearing the end of their life.

Hmmm... You had to cut them to fit, you say? Maybe that's how they claim they'll fit my car AND a W123. My lower radiator hose seems longer than the W123, so maybe it will fit mine without cutting. I'll know today. Also, I was thinking that if a W123 lower radiator hose would fit, then I could just order a new genuine Mercedes W123 hose. But, they are probably shorter than the Gates hose.