My car says of me: "Great guy...patient, lavish spender, strong, loyal, smells nice, tremendously handsome, etc., etc..."

(And it better keep it up if it wants to continue to be supported in the manner to which it has become accustomed.)

__________________
'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

I'm not being humorous in the slightest.

And, I fully admit to being prejudicial regarding the drivers of Expeditions and Durangos.

I can tell quite a bit about the person driving such vehicles:




The vehicle travels at a speed that is too great for the conditions.

The vehicle swerves into the right lane and back to the center........over to the left........and back to the center..........at least 20 times every mile in order to gain a few extra feet

The vehicle maintains a following distance of 10 feet at 70 mph.

The vehicle never uses a turn signal.

The vehicle is accelerated at maximum available power (250 hp) up to 50 mph in the city, only to come to an abrupt halt at the next traffic signal (about 1000' down the road and clearly visible).

The vehicle is behind you in the acceleration ramp on the highway. It moves into the right lane and proceeds to pass you and force you to remain in the acceleration ramp. You may need to brake if the ramp is short.

The vehicle is in the right lane doing 70 mph. You are in the center lane doing 65 mph and need to move to the right lane for your exit. You put on your signal and the vehicle accelerates to 75 mph in the right lane to prevent you from moving right.

You are in the left lane doing 70 mph with a 150' following distance. The vehicle is behind you. It swerves into the center lane, accelerates to 85 mph, passes you, merges in front of you into the following distance, and hits the brakes.



Yes, I'm prejudiced.........but it comes after years of observing the same BS by the people who typically drive these vehicles. The road belongs to them........to hell with anybody else who happens to be driving on it.

My friends dad drives his Durango in a very similar manner.

Also, he is a *****head and I dislike him.

So, Brian, I'm siding with you on this one.

__________________
1982 240D.
My name is Michael, and I am an 18 year old binge-drinkin', cigar-smokin', novel-writin', all around unsavory and unnattractive guy. I tell long-winded stories, and I only shave once a week, although I've had to do it every day since I was 16.

Had a nimrod in a lincoln this morning....hogging the left lane....constantly tapping his brakes ever 3 seconds ..trying to wash his windows adn mine till his resivour ran dry......all becasue I was 20 feet behind him this morning.....

when he finally did move over he turned hi high beams on...being well a testo di cazzo...(he was being slower than everyone in the left lane)

My benz runns clean bu if I alternat between foot off the accelerator to petal to the floor kicked own a gear acceleration it wll lay down a little smoke....


did that 4 tiems and he dropped way..way back ther rest of the trip....I gess I greased up his winshield pretty good.


This nimrod who thought he owned the road was driving alone on a 15 mile stretch of road the is 100% HOV that time of the morning.....

If I was a cop I would have cited him for HOV violations...

Point is those self righteuos types don't all drive SUV's exclusively.....Some drive Lincoln Contenintals

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

My mom's car is smoking worse than ever before....I think it's because I keep accelerating fast and revving it high. Now I can honestly surround the car with smoke while I'm sitting at a traffic light...all I have to do is pump the gas pedal, and rev it to 2-2.5....hold it at those RPMs and the car is enshrouded in smoke after about 20 seconds.

__________________
1982 240D.
My name is Michael, and I am an 18 year old binge-drinkin', cigar-smokin', novel-writin', all around unsavory and unnattractive guy. I tell long-winded stories, and I only shave once a week, although I've had to do it every day since I was 16.

It's difficult for me to believe that EVERY person who drives a particular vehicle, drive in the same manner.

Have a great day,

Just the 240 drivers...slow and smokey

__________________
82 300D....went to MB heaven
90 350 SDL....excercising con rods

I agree...you don't see 240D drivers doing jackrabbit starts at every light....




hell they are incapible of doing them...and how would you know if they tried?


You could be racing every car you meet at a light.......and they would never know it

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

The 240 can break the tires loose.....on wet pavement...for about a 0.5 seconds.

__________________
1974 240D 3.0L 4(M) - 250K -OM617.910 + 300D FW + Rajay turbo power!
1977 6.9 3(A) - 84k

Oh boy.. I could write a BOOK on the things I've seen here in NJ. I swear, some of the worst drivers in the country, migrate here.

9 out of 10 people, never use their turn signals.. EVER. When they do, they turn in on approximately 2 seconds, while halfway into the other lane / mid-turn.

5 out of 10 people, see you with your blinker on (doing the safe thing).. and proceed to utterly stomp on the gas, to make sure you don't get in front of them. Because as we all know, getting to your destination 15 seconds earlier, is worth a 4-point, $5000 accident (or more.. or death).

8 out of 10 people, don't practice ANY sort of safe following distance. Granted, I don't abide by the "One car length for every 10mph" rule.. but at the same time, I don't travel 85 on a highway, and cut in front of people (who barely left 1 car length ahead of them, and are going 75). Cutting into someones "safe following distance" is ok, if you put your blinker on, and match speeds. SQUEEZING into a 1 1/2 car-length space, and slamming the brakes, is just plain stupid.

5 out of 10 people, will drive too fast, or too slow, depending on conditions. I love it when a granny sits in the left lane on the highway, at night, going 40 in a 65 zone. Unsafe as hell, and causes people to slam on their brakes / change lanes quickly. Or, how about the jackasses who think their 4x4 will perform perfectly in the snow, or heavy rain.. and proceed to go 80.

And finally, about 8 out of 10 that I've seen, have cars that are WAY to big for their driving abilities. Best yet, they also tend to be the people who go to the front of a crowded parking lot, and park ON THE LINES, rather than between them..

.. we need better / more police.

lol!!

-cadillac escalade: "i'm a 90 lb 40yr old PTA mom with two kids in junior high and a rich husband"

-ford excursion/epedition: "i couldn't afford the escalade"

__________________
1987 300E - champagne
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...-tiny-w124.gif

LarryB. This was surely meant in fun....and hope you found some fun in it....

as far as BrianC...I totally agree with all you say about $hitbox drivers....

just getting behind the wheel of one, 90% of the people start driving like idiots....

I just came out of Sears at the Mall...walked into the lot; and once I got off the curb a mindless lady on her cell phone in her giant $hitbox comes through the lot at 30 MPH, doesn't slow down for me and if I didn't stop she probably would have hit me ...and kept going.........Asswipe....

coming from NYC, when this happens I punch their window as they pass and almost run me over, to get their attention....usually scares the crap outof them.........

__________________
'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

I just wanted to requote this and add that it's entirely true and amusing anecdotal testimony. I agree with Brian, you are crystal clear and hit the nail on the head.

__________________
PagodaLOVER
1967 230SL, manual
1959 180D, manual

is the Crown Vic.

The original list is correct about the effect it has on many lousy drivers, in my experience. Just the sight of my all black PI slows people down.

I'd have to argue with the list on R-R, however. We aren't all fat cat corporate moguls. Some of us are just average enthusiasts who like old cars, and realize they can be bought very reasonably after a certain age...shows the problem with stereotypes...

Mark
'99 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (fun, but sidelined since gas got to $3)
'61 R-R Silver Cloud II (my business)
'93 300D 2.5 (transportation)

It seems as if most bad drivers are on the highways in the city. I drove to Lake Charles, LA on Tuesday, on the way back to Houston that night, I was near Orange, TX, and this car comes up behind me. I was in the left lane doing 80 which was pretty much the flow in that lane, he flashes his high beams, so I get over, let him around, and when it was safe, I got back over, and resumed my speed. He didn't tailgate like most people who want to go faster do, and I knew what he mean't when he flashed his high beams, unlike other people who take it as a sign of aggression. That was a good experience, but when I got back to Houston however, things changed.

The next day on the way to school, I'm going down the freeway, and I needed to get into the center lane from the right lane. I looked over, the lane was all clear, there was a late model Nissan pickup truck quite a ways behind me in the far left lane, so I turn my signal on, check the lane, the truck is little closer, but the center lane is still clear and I start to get over. When I have most of the W123 over in the center lane, I hear a horn blowing, I look back and see that the pickup is changing lanes, without signaling, and expects me to get out of the lane. Well, I keep on coming over, he speeds up, still leaning on the horn, I'm speeding up gradually like the 300Ds do with the pedal to the floor to get ahead of him since he's inches away from the left side of the car trying to overtake me and I'm trying to get a good smokescreen going, but my 300D doesn't smoke (this is one of the few times where you WANT carbon buildup) he keeps on getting on my bumper and side more. A big rig is coming up in front, if I speed up, I'll hit him, if I slow down, the pickup will hit me, danged if you do, danged if you don't type of situation, well, the right lane was still clear, and since the law in Texas states (anyone in the left lane has the right of way anyway, so if he hits you, even without signaling, it's your fault and he can shoot you dead legally... ok, maybe I overexaggerated), I reluctantly get back over. The guy speeds up, and proceeds to ride someone elses bumper, then does an abrupt, clumsuly executed lane change and exits the freeway for the Downtown Destinations exit. I guess he was late for work or something, well, maybe he got fired, a little part of me is thinking that.

I seriously think that in order to drive in the United States, ALL drivers must take comprehensive Driver's Ed courses. You must make a score of at least 80% to pass and earn your license. And every 5 years, you have to take the test again, and get at least 80% to keep your license. If you don't, then no license for you. I think this might take some of the bad drivers off of the road. I also think we need more Police Cars on the roads, and in addition to looking for speeders, they should crack down more on erratic drivers and those who don't signal.

__________________
'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.