123C

Why did you let someone make a snow pile in the middle of the road with your Subaru?

Peter

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Auto Zentral Ltd.

Ain't that the truth..

But seriously, it's a scary thought, who knows what failure modes could occur. Obviously it's not a common thing, least nothing drastic, but it sure is a thought.

Anyone actually check to see if there ABS in an older SD still works? I was afraid to test the SDL's when I brought it home..

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One more Radar Lover gone...
1982 VW Caddy diesel 406K 1.9L AAZ
1994 E320 195K

Autozen,

Those deep-dished steering wheels WERE a safety item. Ford introduced them as part of their 1956 safety package-developed in cooperation with Harvard University. It included the deep-dish, impact absorbing rim steering wheel, padded dash and visors, and new " bear hug" door locks-meant to keep the doors from opening in a crash.
The deep dish steering wheel was an improvemnt over the older types as the rim was designed to absorb impact and dissapate some of the energy in a crash before the driver hit the non-yielding hub and rigid column.
These were all definite safety advances for the time. But as Ford promoted safety, Chevrolet promoted performance, and sold more cars.

Point taken on my near miss with that lady. When I got home, the first thing I told my wife is I screwed up and blackie saved my ass. It was raining and I should have been going slower. As I got close to the oncoming car, I should have realized something was up. She was practically sitting on the cener line lights off without her turn blinker on. If I had been going slower, not been on the gas and had my foot hovering the break pedal, it would have been less dramatic. but without abs I probably still would have hit her. I'm pretty sure she was one of those insurance scammers who wrecks into you on purpose, claims you hurt their neck or whaterver, and sues you for whatever they can get. It was like she was trying to hit me. I think the unexpected manuver I pulled freaked her out and that's why she stopped aiming at me. All is know is without abs, it would have been a fairly serious wreck.

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Michael

1988 300 SL (5 Speed)
1994 E320 Wagon
1997 C230

I'm sure there are situations you can't avoid and I'm not going to tempt fate by saying I'll never be in one.

But- guess what- your brakes could fail, too. Maybe you need a few years on the road to realize you should have an exit strategy for that one too.

If you can't see how you will safely stop if the most unexpected thing happens, you are putting your fate in someone else's hands. These are usually people you don't want to have handling your stuff.

A few days ago I was on a dense freeway and noticed two deer browsing 200 feet from the roadway. Your margin of certainty is the time it would take them to cross that space.

Forget 'automatic' brakes, I want 'intelligent' brakes- controlled by a thinking human brain.

MS FOWLER

Thanks for the history lesson, and you are undoubtedly right about the Fords, but I seem to recall a different era and probably different brand. I recall seeing cars that had a steering hub shaped like a speer. They were probably Chrysler products which had that horrible super sensitive power steering. A sneeze could put you in a ditch and a touch on the brakes could put you through the windshield.

Any help on this from any of you guys in my age group and beyond?

Peter

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Auto Zentral Ltd.

Well, I don't know about spikes or spears but in the 1950s, Ford tried to sell safety with padding, dished steering wheels and seatbelts but lost sales to GM. Mid '50s Cadillacs had a plastic 'cone' sticking out of the center of the steering wheel. The story goes that Sammy Davis Jr. had a wreck in one of these cars and lost an eye because of that steering wheel and the next year, Cadillac eliminated the cone.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

in case of accident the padding would "compress" and become a denser surface with less "give" than sheet metal. Remember Chevy commercials from early '60s showing where you could find "eyes" in the floor behind the back seat which would anchor seat belts...then an option.

Interesting things about dash padding - years ago where I used to work, we had a company vehicle, a '76 Ford Econoline 150 van. The Ford dash was hard plastic. A fellow employee got a little too agitated one day and punched a jagged grapefruit sized hole in the passenger side. The replacement dash was padded. When Chryslers new K-cars were introduced in 1980, they had a hard edged dash top that looked like padded vinyl but was actually steel. Consumer Reports noticed and commented about it. After a year or so Chrysler replaced the steel with padding.

I've noticed many recent vehicles have replaced dash padding with what appears to be hard brittle plastic - the kind that breaks into sharp, jagged fragments in an accident.
I suppose it's because padding is more expensive and, with airbags, it's no longer needed. I still see plenty of dash padding in more expensive cars, including Mercedes, though.

On the vintage racer ('65 Sunbeam Tiger) I crew for, the driver has a fully padded safety cage. It uses a new type of foam that yields under much higher pressure than the soft stuff they used to use.

I'd still prefer hitting my head on padding to something hard or jagged!

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Most padded dashes become hard and brittle after many years of exposure to sunlight. I'd be afraid to hit my dash in my 300D with anything since I know it'll crack into sharp pieces.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

I've had the system in my Buick Roadmaster and didn't like it. I have it in my 1995 E300D and despise the ABS system. ABS covers up feel of the road, "how well the tires are gripping the road surface" especially in snow. Last winter I steered into a snowbank and destroyed the front bumper cover at our street intersection because I was not able to "test" with the brakes and determine how slippery the road surface was. Despise ABS!

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'96 C220 138,000mi, '95 E300D 239,000 mi., '87 300TD 214,000mi '88 6.2 Turbo Diesel Chevy Conversion Van 253,000 mi.

Reading through this old thread, it is noted that the W123 didn`t come with ABS brakes. this may be true for the U.S. imports. I came across a 1984 W123 230E Euro in PNP, that had the ABS brakes. it might have been a Euro thing only.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I do not have a 123 but hate ABS. I orderd My Ford Focus without it! (2000)

The only vehicle that I drive (sometimes) that has ABS is my Chevy Astro van. Quite honestly, I'm not impressed with it.

My 123 though has excellent brakes and coupled with good awareness and quick reflexes, I've managed to stay out of trouble in three countries so far. Malaysia, where everyone is a highly skilled driver (the unskilled ones or the ones with weak stomaches either got killed or maimed), Singapore, where very few are skilled drivers but the fines are so serious that everyone drives very carefully without speeding, and Canada, where drivers are actually mandated by law to take their eyes off the road and check their shoulders before changing lanes.

Seriously though, I find that I don't miss the ABS in my 123 at all! I find that its one of the most stable, predictable cars that I've ever had the privilege of driving. Yes, its my daily driver and yes, I feel extremely safe in it. I am often the first in the office regardless of weather conditions. Snow, ice, torrential rain...it tracks true and stops fine.

I'm not sure why one ever needs to steer around something at high-speed whilst giving the two-footed emergency brake thing. I guess one would need to if said obstacle dropped out of the sky, I guess. Everything else, well, its either coming from front, left, right or rear...all of which you have near-direct sight of. I never understood the oft-heard saying "it came out of nowhere". Nothing comes out of nowhere. You just happened to not be looking at the time it came out.

Unless you're talking about one-in-a-million scenarios like the taxi which got hit by a motorcycle going at upwards of 230 km/h. At that speed, when he looked, nothing was there. In the time he took to pull out of the junction, the motorcycle had covered the distance, hitting his taxi, killing the passenger and leaving half his torso within the taxi and other half a couple of hundred metres away. Now THAT...I bet you'd never see.

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1987 300TD
1984 300D
755,000 KM and going strong
BC Canada

I have a 1985 W123 wagon with ABS.

Its apparently a rare and expensive option for UK at the time. Its the Bosch ABS 2C I believe, same system as was on the W126 of the same age....

Trouble is, currently it doesn't work--So really I havent got ABS on a W123!

Never mind, The U.S. got the Turbo we got ABS--How boring can you get!

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http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...0TDnoplate.jpg

Alastair AKA H.C.II South Wales, U.K. based member

W123, 1985 300TD Wagon, 256K,
-Most recent M.B. purchase, Cost-a-plenty, Gulps BioDiesel extravagantly, and I love it like an old dog.

W114, 1975 280E Custard Yellow,
-Great above decks needs chassis welding--Really will do it this year....