How fast will you drive your vintage mercedes at?

[Skid Row Joe]

Generally 55 to 60 mph. 65 to 70 mph if I have to keep up with the flow on an Interstate or Expressway.





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[Mark DiSilvestro]

In decades past, when I was younger, braver, and my vintage Benzes were much less vintage, I'd take one of them out once, 'just to see what she'll do'.
Max speeds as indicated on the speedometer -

1961 Ponton 180b - 87. It took a long time to get there. Max in owner's manual was 84.
1966 Fintail 230 Automatic - 95.
1972 W114 250 Automatic - 105.
1982 240D 4-speed - 84. Car was relatively rust-free, with a factory replacement engine. The noise was surprisingly tolerable at 84, and It felt like it would do more, but I chickened out.

Happy Motoring, Mark

[t walgamuth]

you were about there. at 85 the gov kicks in.

[Raptelan]

The fastest I ever got up to was around 130mph in a 1975 450SE, on a long straight lonely highway in the middle of the night when driving it home just after purchasing it. I had only driven diesels prior to that and wanted to see how fast it would go. It was a blast but I'm lucky the tires held up - although the tread looked good, they were far too old, and a cheap brand; which later led to the demise of the car in rainy conditions.

I discovered, by accumulating the maximum number of points on my driver license due to speeding tickets and having to go to court to not have it suspended, that diesels and paint colors other than red were indeed a better idea for me at the time.

[berfinroy]

Most European countries have long discouraged large displacement engines by invoking discouraging displacement tax penalties. European manufacturers responded by designing engines that relied on high revs to make the power needed to get the job done, and in the case of high performance cars like Mercedes (diesels excepted), cruise at triple digits on the Autobahn and similar unrestricted roads that were being built elsewhere in Europe and the United Kingdom in the 1950s and 60s. American manufactures had no such tax penalties to deal with and did the opposite with low reving large displacement engines, in consequence of which American drivers have long been apprehensive about operating Euro engines at the high speeds and high revs they were designed to tolerate. Once one realizes that these engines are generally happy running at 5,000 all day long, the apprehension disappears and the driving experience becomes more enjoyable.

[250seStyle]

The engine of my '68 250se revs very high. I know it should run at 80mph no problem but at 5,000rpm just sounds so foreign. I'm afraid to kill my M130. I need to change the differential.

[Bad Benzo]

My '63 220SE loves to rev to the moon, I've had it above 70mph several times, it felt so smooth, but I get the most enjoyment driving it between 25-50mph.

I just took my '77 280SE up to around 85mph last night, the fastest I've had it since I restored it and put it on the road. It will be doing laps at Watkins Glen International next weekend, and I'm hoping that I can hang with a good heat. Last year, some guy in a Shelby Cobra kit car thought he was in a school zone and wouldn't go above 30 the whole time, despite the official pace car going flat out in the straight.

Not sure what my 1986 300E AMG will do, but the engine is one of the nicest and smoothest I've encountered in a Benz. We'll know better later this summer after I finish what I want to do with it.

[rwd4evr]

My 64 220b loved 75 ish. It was a little loud and buzzy at 65 but would quiet down in a happy sewing machine scream at 75.

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[morrisone]

Originally Posted by Bad Benzo

My '63 220SE loves to rev to the moon, I've had it above 70mph several times, it felt so smooth, but I get the most enjoyment driving it between 25-50mph.

I just took my '77 280SE up to around 85mph last night, the fastest I've had it since I restored it and put it on the road. It will be doing laps at Watkins Glen International next weekend, and I'm hoping that I can hang with a good heat. Last year, some guy in a Shelby Cobra kit car thought he was in a school zone and wouldn't go above 30 the whole time, despite the official pace car going flat out in the straight.

Not sure what my 1986 300E AMG will do, but the engine is one of the nicest and smoothest I've encountered in a Benz. We'll know better later this summer after I finish what I want to do with it.

Watkins Glen sounds like a blast…enjoy! Getting The Hammer out there would be fun. I love those things.

[Bad Benzo]

Originally Posted by morrisone

Watkins Glen sounds like a blast…enjoy! Getting The Hammer out there would be fun. I love those things.

Thanks! It's definitely next on the list!


TL;DR: I got my W116 over 90mph on the track and it was glorious.

I just came back from a wonderful weekend away at the Glen and in NY's Finger Lakes region. While we were waiting for our turn, we had rain, snow, and sleet in a period of 25 minutes, but by the time we were ready to go, the sun was shining and all precipitation stopped. The first lap is always slow to familiarize everyone with the track. I had the 280SE up over 90 on the main straight on two of my laps, but I chickened out and braked a little earlier than I wanted too because I wasn't too sure how the guys ahead of me would take turn 1. Some of them would slam on the brakes in the middle of a turn because they were short on talent.

Anyway, for other W116 owners out there, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised with how my car handled. I was never a big Sonderklasse fan because I like smaller cars, but I've really changed my tune because of this one. My co-pilot girlfriend was possibly more impressed than I was. She always encourages me to play with my cars, but it is rare for her to express how much she loves them... and she really loved this one!

Having the opportunity to drive several different cars on this track since 2017, I can honestly say my W114 280 was objectively more fun, but it also had more body roll and was actually a little slower. The W116 was marginally faster, (K-Jet M110 vs Solex M110 on my W114), and I think the difference in the suspension setups helped keep the W116 stay flatter on the track, although it was certainly leaning like you would expect a 1970s car to do. Even with me driving at 9/10ths and the wet track conditions, I couldn't get it to break traction. Hard cornering was giving me some low oil pressure anxiety at times, but that seemed to resolve itself on the street at normal speeds. Despite a recent oil change, I suspect the pan has some sludge issues, as the car sat for 15+ years before I bought it.

Following the track, we did the 6.6 mile original road course through the town of Watkins Glen. My trip odometer rolled over to 500 miles just as we crossed the original start line, which was truly serendipitous. I reset it when I first got the car running last year, and we finished our weekend tour with just a hair under 700 miles on the odometer. Average MPG for this trip was around 14.

This week, I will look into my oil pressure issue once some parts from Pelican arrive, and then I'm putting the W124 in the garage for a suspension and electrical overhaul. It would be great to get that thing up and running so I can do a similar trip at the end of the Fall track season.

[Tomguy]

Wow, that sounds like a blast, something I'd love to do with my Charger, considering that's one of the reasons I bought it! I'll have to check if they have an open day any time this summer, or maybe see if Pocono does.

[Tony H]

[When I was in Germany I had a 250SE and I drove it for hours at a time full speed on the Autobahn. Did not seem to bother it.QUOTE=250seStyle;4226198]The engine of my '68 250se revs very high. I know it should run at 80mph no problem but at 5,000rpm just sounds so foreign. I'm afraid to kill my M130. I need to change the differential.[/QUOTE]

[patkealy53]

I tested my 1982 280E today since I thought it
was misfiring. Still got it up to 100Mph briefly
with more on tap. I think it's happiest at 80-85
though a bit screamy.


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[300decel]

My 76 300D will keep up with freeway traffic if necessary, but it sure sounds wound up while doing so.

[rwd4evr]

Just got a 1991 350SDL And while it is very borderline vintage with computers and plastic bumpers it's going to get me in trouble. I couldn't figure out why everyone was going so slow but I was doing 90. It feels like 55. 387,000 on the broken odometer too. So 400,000+ ? Pretty impressive for a "rod Bender".

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