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The joy of Christmas...

Started by adamb, 25 December 2006, 07:37 PM

adamb

...is empty roads because most of UK is getting stuffed on turkey and plenty of port. I did the Turkey but due to professional commitments had to stay off the port. I dined with friends 60-70 miles from home and took the 6.9er for the sprint. Oh, if roads were only always this empty! The mile long straights were demolished in a few seconds each with 4500 rpm in top gear. At the slow corners the 6.9 fishtailed as always. On the fast corners (above 50mph) I am more conservative as there's rarely enough space to correct any errors.

No ditches were encountered unlike our friend Big R. Plenty of other cars did though! Victims of the ditch from the night before were all around - counted 3 ditched cars including a Ford Escort on its side with no other visible damage  ???

michaeld

Adamb,
Merry Christmas to you as well!  And a Happy New Year to go along with it!

If I am hijacking your thread, let me know with a good scolding.

But your "joy of driving an empty stretch of road" in your 6.9 leads me to a question.

I've never so much as sat in a 6.9 before.  Certainly never driven one on a challenging stretch of road.  So let me ask those who've driven both suspension-types (standard and hydropneumatic): how do they compare?  I've heard that the main advantage of the pneumatic is that it goes over major potholes easier.  But I've also heard it's "more floaty" in demanding driving.  When you take a hard turn, does it more or less feel the same on a 6.9 as it would on a 450SEL, or is it quite a bit different?

Just curious.
Mike

adamb

Hi Mike,

I can't speak for 450SELs but I did have a 280SE. That car was much more agile - something to do with being over 300 kg lighter. When driving the 280SE fast I had to maximise the speed around corners because regaining speed took longer. Good weight distribution on the 280 makes it more "sporty". The suspension was stiffer but it did ride worse than a 6.9 over bad roads. The 6.9 does float a bit but I never found that to be a distraction from fast driving. With the 6.9 the style is much more point'n'squirt. Make sure that you enter the corner slow and pile on the gas on exit. Weight distribution towards the front makes the 6.9 very tail happy. I also find it a little scarey when braking and turning - without ABS it's so easy to lock the front tyres and understeer.

Cheers,
Adam



Quote from: michaeld on 25 December 2006, 09:18 PM
Adamb,
Merry Christmas to you as well!  And a Happy New Year to go along with it!

If I am hijacking your thread, let me know with a good scolding.

But your "joy of driving an empty stretch of road" in your 6.9 leads me to a question.

I've never so much as sat in a 6.9 before.  Certainly never driven one on a challenging stretch of road.  So let me ask those who've driven both suspension-types (standard and hydropneumatic): how do they compare?  I've heard that the main advantage of the pneumatic is that it goes over major potholes easier.  But I've also heard it's "more floaty" in demanding driving.  When you take a hard turn, does it more or less feel the same on a 6.9 as it would on a 450SEL, or is it quite a bit different?

Just curious.
Mike