I went out with some friends tonight, and i already had about 100lbs of particle board in the trunk. As the night went on I ended up with 3 guys and one girl in the car, needless to say i wasn't performing any acceleration records. I was driving around in citi driving with the a/c on full, going up and down bridges etc and the temp never rose about 95, and the car operated flawlessly. This is a big change from my old buick century, which always seemed to act up whenever i toted a bunch of people around. I can't beleive that a little 120hp engine can carry people better then my old gas 160hp engine. by the way the car is a 1983 300SD. Oh yea one more note, the car rode and handled JUST as good as with me only in it, another big change from my old buick. Well anyone looking for a commuter car-pool car this one is awesome! although i would much prefer be the one riding in it
later all
R

The thing that helped with regard to all the extra weight, was the large amount of torque produced by these 5 cyl diesels. The other thing I bet your gas Buick didn't get was 28-30 mpg for such a large car. Well at least that's what I have been averaging in my car, which is just a bit heavier and larger than yours, but same engine. Speaking of riding vs. driving, I would love to be driven around in an "L" be it SDL or SEL.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member