[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Euan,
Catching up on digest - forgive if already covered.
I don't think that the estate engine was 'de-tuned' compared to the sedan.
True, the SLS pump would be a parasitic loss that the sedan wouldn't have
unless it had the SLS option. I think the bigger difference is the weight and
the wind resistance. I would imagine that the wind resistance for the wagon is
higher?
During my highspeed run, I was quite suprised at the smoke trail, and feared
that my oil consumption rate was too high at that speed for me to continue more
than about 10 minutes. With wife, luggage and full tank, I've been able to
easily cruise at 90 mph and touch 95 occasionally, but the car is much more
stable and well behaved at ~85. I would suspect that your car is not
performing at full potential - should be able to reach top speed with two souls
on-board, full liquid load and a small amount of luggage (i.e. ready-to-drive
condition). Did you have the AC cranking? Head wind would definitely have a
large affect at high speed - most of the power required is going into
overcoming wind resistance.
Don,
Yes, 4th gear has a higher top speed than 5th, officially noted in the 1985
TDM. It's a small difference - something like 5 KPH, and due to the engines
power band which puts the HP peak close to the max. RPM (4800 RPM HP peak IIRC,
max. RPM 5050).
The 123 wagon has lower drag/wind resistance than the sedan, but weighs
120 kg (264 lb) more. The two vehicles had exactly the same rated top
speed (but the wagon's 0-62 mph acceleration time was more than a second
slower).
Marshall
--
Marshall Booth (who doesn't respond to unsigned questions)
"der Dieseling Doktor" [EMAIL PROTECTED]
'87 300TD 181Kmi,'87 190D 2.5 199Kmi, '84 190D 2.2 227Kmi, '85 190D 2.0
159Kmi, '87 190D 2.5 turbo 234kmi
Diesel Technical Advisor MBCA, member GWSection
http://www.dhc.net/~pmhack/mercedes/mbooth1.htm