220D with ESP, Traction Control and ABS
 

Sorry to disappoint those who thought there would be a link here for a video of an actual 220 with all of those. :o

I was thinking..... after watching that video of what's his face from 5th gear in Arjeplog with a jaguar doing the ESP and ABS stuff and beside the fact that I hate really electrical cars but always impressed with how traction control can handle the 10% grade of pure slick ice, that I started thinking of a project 220 car that would have such things.

My idea would be, to get a 220 from a junkyard and clean it out, gut it out and retrofit it with the whole 9 yards of ABS, ESP and Traction conrtrol. I think that would be so amazingly cool. This is just an idea though, so I have to fine tune it down to costs and stuff and what would have to be custom and what would have to come off of other cars. But trying to keep it as original as possible.

Can you imagine braking with the 220 and feeling the pedal pulsate or being able to climb a slick sheet of ice no problem in an old ancient mercedes? Being able to handle tight turns on ice and still maintain traction and control. Fusion between old reliable mechanical with new technology. I imagine I will have to use some other cars traction system and fit it so it works on the 220. I know this is 100% possible it's just the money aspect that isn't 100% possible LOL But as I said it's just an idea. It's occured to me also, that each abs, esp and traction control system is made specifically for that vehicle's specs, so I'll have to either have one custom made or just see if I can hack one. Or test one. Ohhh damn guess i'll have to take the 220 to Arjeplog and test it out :rolleyes: :P :D

But yeah, that's my idea... Be a cool hobby project car on the side.

For the amount of effort that would require...if its even possible for a sane amount of money...I rather just buy a new one:


C220CDI
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....0cdi_002lo.jpg

Except for that little problem of being unable to buy it in the states....

Hat, for Jordaan it's the idea of doing a project.

Right now, you have the ideal project, the W115 you have resuscitated. Start to see how they are assembled and how you might improve them.

I put lots of improvements on my Citroens, especially the 2CVs in the past, because the cars were made as simply as possible.

The first one I bought (a 1956) had a stick in the tank as a fuel measurement device. :eek:

There are minor improvements to all 40s-70s Benz cars that people offer periodically, which is good for the group to know.

I'd like to assemble them all in one place, model by model.

One VERY interesting thing about the 1940-1970 cars is that you can pretty much ndo any non-major repair (like engine remopval) with the original tool kit.

The cars were assembled to be serviced by the driver, for the most part.

It would be pretty cool to have a car like that with all those features.



You may spend mega $$ building it though.

I just see this as a link between old and new. I feel as though that's why older cars aren't able to keep up, besides the fact that, yes they're old and don't compare at all with a 2009 E-class but still.

ESP, ABS and traction Control are the only things I wish the 220 had. I would like to integrate these into an older chassis to still be able to keep what I want with what I want in it. That would be beyond awesome making a video with this "Terminator 220" and having it slide and seeing the wheels with those old MB hubcaps individually braking for traction and stability.

Another reason is for actual safety! Especially since Mercedes tells us "There's always been something more important than anything else: Safety." It'll be a fun project car and i'll learn much from it. I know it's not going to be ANYWHERE near easy, but it'll be one step at a time and one 100$ bill at a time :)

Exactly! I'm taking great care of my 220 just actually finished waxing her :) I can't believe the '56 Citroen had a stick as a fuel measuring device. I really wish I would have been able to keep the AMI 8 :( It was such a neat car.

ABS would probably be the easiest to pull off. (And by easy I of course mean difficult) Perhaps just swap out W124 brakes? As for the other two i've no idea how to even approach them.

Instead of retro fitting maybe the easiest thing to do would be to swap out the entire drive train from a later model? (Engine, transmission, axles, brakes and all associated sensors.) Roncallo went through a lot of this with his R107 V12 project, the newer the equipment, the more trouble the computers will give you.

Yeah..... I know the w123's had ABS in 83 and on but if I wanted something like traction control and esp I might have to look into newer model units. I'll probably put a dieffernt engine in it. Perhaps newer that way the ESP and TC can work with the engine. Hmmmm

pass

onto a DeLorean! :P :D Ugh there is one downtown that stares at me in the face every time I pass it... ugghhhh Why can't I win lotto >_<