The only one I remember was the fellow who complained about my car. He had a little Honda hatchback, the same era as the CRX but with a square back. IIRC it had street tires and was not cherry.

The SEC was impressive for a relatively large heavy car with an open diff.....of course it was not in the leage of a Miata. A miata will often set fast stock time of the day if it is a favorable course for handling without too many places where massive acceleration helps....then a corvette may win fast stock time or a 350z.

In corners.....Small cars > big cars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrAl_haJwTw
4:15

(You might actually be interested in watching all 4 parts)

That was a hoot! Unfortunately my sound does not work so I am sure I missed a lot. The fellow in the blue wagon had the prettiest co driver. Yeah the ah sprite was pretty quick on the road course!

In the south bend region there is a fellow who autocrosses a fairly stock looking sprite like that in one of the modified classes who won at the nationals last year.

IIRC, the stock 500SEC has a 0-60 time of about 9 seconds and is shod with a relatively narrow tire for its weight. This bozo wanted you to go up against lighter 350 IROC Camaros with much larger tires?

There was a reason he was driving a ratty Honda - he was too stupid to hold a well-paying job...

Hey, I was beating him....

i have a 1984 Mercedes Benz w126 500 sec American version and i just had a blown head gasket, so i decided to put a European 500 sec engine . what is the difference? who's better in either performance or reliability etc ....? which is more powerful ? would you recommend the swap ? looking forward thank you. jack

There is no US version 500SEC.

Not true.

In 1984 and 1985 they were for sale new in the USA in Mercedes Benz dealerships.

~~~

Many of us would like to know more about deciphering the VIN numbers on the W126 coupes. Here's the trick for most U.S. spec vehicles. Keep in mind that most European grey market models use the chassis number (the number stamped on the secondary firewall) as the actual VIN number. U.S. vehicles have a VIN number stamping in multiple locations including the front windshield and driver's side door post.



Here's a sample VIN number from a 1989 Mercedes-Benz 560SEC: WDB C A 45 E X K A 478654



I'll break these down in order:



WDB - this refers to the manufacturer's code indicating Daimler-Benz (and now Daimler-Chrysler for 1999+ vehicles)



C - this code refers to the model or series. C = 126 series (other examples are E = 124 series and H = 202 series)



A - this letter refers to the engine type. A = gasoline, B = diesel



45 - these number refer to the model within the series. The following designations are relevent in the U.S. spec. W126 coupes:



- 126.043 1982-1983 380SEC M116.963 engine

- 126.044 1984-1985 500SEC M117.963 engine

- 126.045 1986-1991 560SEC M117.968 engine



E - this letter refers to the safety restraint system on the vehicle. E = seat belt + emergency pretensioners, driver and passenger

front air bags



X - this is simply a check digit



K - this is the model year designation. K = 1989 (other examples are P = 1993, R = 1994, and so on)



A - this letter signifies the plant of production. A-E = Sindelfingen, F-H = Bremen, and J = Rastatt



478654 - this is the chassis end number

source: www.mbcoupes.com

9 seconds seems slow.....thats only 3ish seconds faster than a 300SD.....and 1 second slower than a 300E.....though if it only has 185HP stock, that is why....the 300E is only a few less than that in a smaller car.

Euro 5.6 engine all the way if you can actually find one (And afford it.....)

Your looking at around 282 HP on the euro engine vs 220 on the US engine.