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  #1  
Old 06-08-2009, 11:20 PM
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107 vs. 129

So I pretended that i didn't notice, but man did that gentleman's jaw drop when I pulled past his 129 at the light after work in the euro 107. I sat there for a minute in neutral without the brakes showing off the standard transmission. Revved it for no reason other than to let him hear that raucous three liter roar. Sliced through the gears and suburban twists and left him in the dust pulling onto the highway. All I saw in the mirror was envy as he desperately tried to keep up.

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  #2  
Old 06-09-2009, 12:13 AM
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Unless he was driving a R129 SL300 he wasn't really trying, or you imagined the whole thing.
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  #3  
Old 06-09-2009, 02:32 AM
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It's a good job nobody struck you from behind. Sitting in neutral without any brakes is not clever in any car.
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  #4  
Old 06-09-2009, 09:04 AM
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Originally Posted by jjrodger View Post
It's a good job nobody struck you from behind. Sitting in neutral without any brakes is not clever in any car.
It's a manual transmission car. At stoplights, I do the same thing. There's no danger to it, and if you sit at all stoplights paranoid that someone's going to rear end you (slim odds), then your blood pressure must be rocketing.
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  #5  
Old 06-09-2009, 09:15 AM
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It's a manual transmission car. At stoplights, I do the same thing. There's no danger to it, and if you sit at all stoplights paranoid that someone's going to rear end you (slim odds), then your blood pressure must be rocketing.
I don't know who taught you boys to drive but everywhere I have ever been it is considered essential good practice to apply a brake (preferrably the parking brake) when stationary, even if only briefly. It doesn't matter what transmission you have (being British I grew up with a manual transmission and regard it as the norm). Otherwise, if struck from behind (the most common kind of accident) you will be pushed forward either into the car in front or, if there is no car in front, the fast-moving traffic crossing the junction. The latter scenario doesn't bear thinking about.
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  #6  
Old 06-09-2009, 09:35 AM
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Must be a British thing. I don't know anyone that does that.
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  #7  
Old 06-09-2009, 09:57 AM
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Must be a British thing. I don't know anyone that does that.
Neither do I. Assuming theres someone behind you they will see you slowing to a stop. The only danger I could see if it someone is far behind you and doesn't see you stopped but thats a fairly rare occurance. Even then just be conscience of it and tap the brakes. No real need to hold it down constantly. Even in my automatic on inclines I won't always hold the brake, most times the idle will be enough to hold it.
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Old 06-09-2009, 10:00 AM
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Must be a British thing. I don't know anyone that does that.
Yep, driving tests are pretty stringent in the UK and only about 40% of people who take their driving test pass (not 40% off people pass first time). When I took mine, it took about 45 minutes in full London traffic.

By comparison, the driving test that I took in Georgia when I moved to the US involved driving from one parking lot to another where there were cones which you had to weave through, then go backwards in straight line, drive forward and do an emergency stop and parallel park between two cones. It took about 5 minutes.

The nice thing about the UK is everyone drives fairly predictably. Here, you know never know what the other guy is thinking.

Going back to the original post, I beat an Aston Martin the other day at the lights in my 73 MGB
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Old 06-09-2009, 10:11 AM
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Yeah and I kept up with a Ferrari a few years ago on the backroads of Litchfield.....

Yes I kept up, but was he trying? Probably not; but it was still fun.
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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
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  #10  
Old 06-09-2009, 10:17 AM
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Wow that took a turn! It was a 500SL and I don't think he was trying. I had fun, though.
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  #11  
Old 06-09-2009, 10:19 AM
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Originally Posted by Fulcrum525 View Post
Assuming there's someone behind you they will see you slowing to a stop. ... Even in my automatic on inclines I won't always hold the brake, most times the idle will be enough to hold it.
So do rear end shunts just not happen in America?

Of course, one would hope that following traffic would indeed see a slowing or stationary car ahead, but it doesn't always happen like that, does it? What about the guy who is too busy changing his tape/talking on his mobile telephone/eating a sandwich/worrying about money to see you sat still at the lights?

It's completely obvious: if you're sat there in your r107 with your manual (or automatic) transmission in neutral, no hand brake or foot brake on, dreaming about outdragging the 500 SL in the next lane, that guy rushing up behind who doesn't/can't stop (even though in a perfect world he would or should) is going to knock you flying into next week. Or, more precisely, into the pedestrian crossing the road or the 60mph traffic crossing the junction . If you put your brake on, that isn't going to happen. Or at least itis a lot less likely to happen. Who knows when the accident is going to happen: only a moron doesn't take the easiest of precautions against it. You wear a seat belt, right?

Holding the car on the foot brake is considered bad manners (although everyone, myself included) does it from time to time. This is because the brake lights are uncomfortable on the eyes of the fellow sitting behind you. This is especially so at night and with modern LED brake lights (try sitting behind a new top end Audi). Also, in a shunt, it is unlikely that you will hold the car: more likely your foot will come off the brake.

The driving test here isn't tough enough! For what it's worth, the only time I've ever driven in the USA was in San Francisco and northern California and I found the standard of driving was far better than here in the UK, especially at junctions. I found US drivers to be much more courteous and intelligent generally.
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  #12  
Old 06-09-2009, 10:21 AM
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I'm in your area. Nest time you're out, I'll "try" to keep up with you in the SL600.
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  #13  
Old 06-09-2009, 10:21 AM
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Originally Posted by Michael K View Post
Wow that took a turn! It was a 500SL and I don't think he was trying. I had fun, though.
Sorry to hijack your thread. I think a manual 350 SL, 280 SL or 300 SL of the R107 series must be the pick of the bunch. There was a 350 SL C with a 5 speed manual for sale here recently, I wish I could have afforded it. (In Europe the 350 V8 was the full fat 200bhp version).
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  #14  
Old 06-09-2009, 10:50 AM
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Sorry to hijack your thread.
Nah don't worry about it. I agree with you and should have explained further. I will always be on the breaks if there is no on directly behind me when I stop. Only if the traffic is heavy and we all stop together will I sometimes only use the gas to hold the car on an incline.
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  #15  
Old 06-09-2009, 11:03 AM
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Originally Posted by jjrodger View Post
For what it's worth, the only time I've ever driven in the USA was in San Francisco and northern California and I found the standard of driving was far better than here in the UK, especially at junctions. I found US drivers to be much more courteous and intelligent generally.
I live the San Francisco Bay Area and I find the drivers here are terrible. So many are oblivious to what is going on around them.

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