About my SD...mine is a 1980 and I can get into traffic just fine, and I wouldn't hesitate to take it to merge on to the H1 or H3 if we had them. (which, as you can imagine, I'm grateful that we don't) Not sure how many seconds it takes to accelerate to 40mph. Never timed it. With regard to the turbo...for me, it feels like another gear shift that comes at about 3000 rpm.

Just some thoughts...the car doesn't have neck snapping power or cat like acceleration. The a/c at it's very best is adequate but not wonderful (mine's been converted to R134a). But I knew that going in. What it does have is a big car ride, great comfort for four regular sized people (I'm well over 200 pounds and so are most of my friends), a large trunk, good mileage (I get about 28 miles per gallon), ease of maintenance with replacement parts readily available, (I change the oil and filter every 2500 miles - it takes about 10 minutes because the filter's on top in the engine compartment), and here's the bottom line for me...I love the classic design lines of the car. It's beautiful to look at! And judging by the fact that everytime (and that's no exageration) I have it out in public, even in a little town like Hilo, someone inevitably walks over to say "nice car, brah." They're shocked to learn that it's 22 years old and has 207, 000 miles on it.

Hope this helps you in your search and decision making. All the best to you!

__________________
Ray

1980 300SD (Anthrcite Gray) 253,108 miles
1982 300SD (Silver Blue) 242,398 miles
1982 300SD (Black) 263,185 miles