According to the speedometer in my 220D, I reached the "brickwall in the sky" also known as 80 mph for the first time yesterday. And the more surprising part was that it was actually on a flat road. It was exhilarating. For those unfamiliar, my vehicle has a published top speed of about 83 mph, so I was basically at or very near the redline. It was an odd experience to be actually passing other cars on the freeway. I sometimes joke that the reason my car has no mirror on the passenger door is because you are never actually overtaking anyone.

My family and I are temporarily moving away from CA, so I am going to have to leave the Merc parked here until January. So I wanted to have some fun before I go. I thought someone out there might get a chuckle out of what passes for "high-speed" when you own one of these vehicles.

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).

At that speed a 220 sounds like you are flying!

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Nice one!

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

a tail wind will help on those high speed runs!

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

LOL @ bit about mirror.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

This summer, I looked up my 240D's top speed... 90MPH.

I noted that while passing a semi, (on a level road) my glanced at my speedo, and it was reporting 90MPH! Ack! It was very stable, and although the Tach showed me at redline, the engine seemed perfectly happy!

Later, I checked my GPS, and it said my top speed was 84.8MPH. I think my speedo is a little off.

Anyway, I just enjoy this car. It's great.

Sincerely,

Packman

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83 240D - 4 speed manual - Manilla Beige
189K miles, Tachometer mod, cool wooden shift knob from PeachParts, CocoMats, Original factory paint, manual windows, manual sunroof. Starting to add AudioWrap to this car too!

My 240 had about the same speedo error until I went to 195/75/14 tires. The speedo still reads slightly fast at highway speeds however.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

Hey, you guys are bringing me down! Are you trying to take away my major accomplishment?

haha. I suspect my speedo reads high as well, but without a smartphone or odometer, it is hard to know for sure. So I pretend it is dead-on accurate when it comes to freeway driving.

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).

Going a few MPH under "5 miles over", wont ever get you a ticket around here, anyway

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

I cruise at 90 on my morning commute 8-). Up hill and through traffic!

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1984 300TD Turbodiesel - 272k
- Daily Duty
1985 300D Turbodiesel - 315k
- "Recommended for competition events only"

Heck, I could barely get to 80 in my 240D going downhill with a tailwind and riding the slipstream of an 18 wheeler.

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Codifex
1981 240D ChinaBlue (Got her running with a donor engine.)
1983 300DTurbo w/sunroof.
1984 300TD manual sunroof. (Electrical Gremlins)

I ran the car against a calibrated distance at a car rally this summer. Odo is slightly off. Speedo is off by around 4-5 mph per GPS. How about you guys?

Packman

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83 240D - 4 speed manual - Manilla Beige
189K miles, Tachometer mod, cool wooden shift knob from PeachParts, CocoMats, Original factory paint, manual windows, manual sunroof. Starting to add AudioWrap to this car too!