What you just described is exactly why I'm against mods, what if I find myself
on a large grade in 110F heat with a trailer? I'm sure the lower horsepower car
would do it it'd just do it slower. I'm okay with slower and keeping my car
going as opposed to faster and throwing a rod.
-Curt
Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 10:47:12 -0700
From: tyler <casi...@usermail.com>
Subject: Re: [MBZ] Mercedes 240D Manual Turbocharged
To: Mercedes Discussion List <mercedes@okiebenz.com>
Message-ID: <4a201fa0.3070...@usermail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
There's no reason to have an inherent aversion to performance
modifications if they're done properly. As Marshall said, Mercedes
probably knows more about how to engineer a Mercedes than any of us, but
they didn't have hindsight, 30 years of technological advancement, or
specific knowledge of how the vehicle would be used. They had to make
specific tradeoffs to make a cheap, and general purpose vehicle.
I've seen plenty of highly customized vehicles which are certainly more
reliable than your average stock 30 year old car, especially if the
customizer has a lot of knowledge and experience.
Personally, I think Mercedes would have been better off using a
turbocharged and intercooled OM616 in place of the OM617. It would have
been lighter, smaller, more fuel efficient, and just as powerful. The
extra factory mods on a factory OM617 turbo are certainly worthwhile if
you're designing a turbo diesel from the ground up, but not absolutely
necessary to have a long lived motor.
The Volvo 740 Turbo (as mentioned before) is a good example of the
factory tradeoffs. Volvo chose to set up those cars very conservatively,
at about 165 horsepower, when with some slight tuning they would have
had a reliable 200-250 horsepower. But a stock 740 Turbo can pull a
5,000 pound trailer up a steep grade in 110F heat all day long on
"regular" gasoline, year in and year out and last for decades. If the
car were boosted to produce much more horsepower, it would probably
pre-detonate under those conditions and throw a rod. If the vehicle were
never used under those conditions, it would still last decades at the
higher horsepower level.
Tyler
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