From my search through this forum's archives, I have determined that our 300D was modified by DB for sale in California. The evidence upon which I base this conclusion is the location and design of the air cleaner, which is forward and on the passenger side of the engine space.

My reading of the postings regarding the California version has left me somewhat confused, so I am re-opening this matter to ask some questions.

First, what are the differences between the
California version and the so-called federal version, besides the air cleaner. Trap oxidizer? It's gone, thankfully. I am especially interested in differences which might affect the conversion of our car for off-road use; ie., the disabling of the EGR system, etc. How is the California version best customized for rural Washington driving?

One of the postings I read suggested that the California version had different gear ratios in the transmission and rear end than the federal version. How can I determine if this is, indeed, true? How can I determine the gear ratios of the components on our car and those of other 300D's? This is doubly of interest to me because we also have a Euro 300D which seems to be geared rather low. This may be a characteristic of its manual transmission or of the rear end. I fellow I was speaking of this week referred to an "Autobahn rear end", which implies that DB offered different ratios for different applications, at least for the European market.

Now, a few words of reassuance. If I do adapt our '85 for off-road use, I most certainly will attach one of the stickers which we often see on well-washed pickup trucks, which say "Off Road". Now I know what those stickers really mean.


Thanks once again,

Phil