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Would you take your 6.9 on a 1000 mile road trip?

Started by raueda1, 11 May 2018, 09:53 AM

raueda1

This is all very inspiring!  You guys have set a high bar.  I'm looking forward to posting some similar stuff in the near future.  Stay tuned!   ;D
-Dave
Now:  1976 6.9 Euro, 2015 GL550
Before that:  1966 230S, 1964 220SE coupe, 1977 Carrera 3.0

Squiggle Dog

Quote from: nathan on 15 May 2018, 09:14 AM
S-class, you note that was 2009 - almost a decade ago!! perhaps a re make of the w116.org badge will be made and distributed to those who have been posting over a decade!

Sounds good to me. I've been a member since 2008, so I'd qualify. I recently quietly celebrated my 10th anniversary in the Mercedes-Benz Club of America since my local chapter decided to stop recognizing people with membership anniversaries. I suppose I'll buy myself a 10 year MBCA anniversary pin.
Stop paying for animal cruelty and slaughter. Go vegan! [url="https://challenge22.com/"]https://challenge22.com/[/url]

1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

raueda1

Trip report: 1200 miles on Unit #923 in 3 days

Well, I did it.  I answered my own question by driving from Salt Lake City Utah to Phoenix Arizona and back.  It was about 1300 miles in 3 days, kind of a ridiculous thing to do but hey!  It's a road trip!  I got the car to do exactly this kind of thing, though you never know what will actually be possible or whether it's a distant dream cause of all the work that you discover needs to be done first.  Squiggle motivated me to make the trip in snearch of good interior stuff from his parted-out car.  I just finished a lot of work on little stuff like drips, sketchy hoses, some suspension stuff and similar odds and ends.  Sooner or later you gotta hit the road to see if it really works.   :-X

I'll be honest, I was nervous until I'd gotten about 300 miles, half expecting something to blow up.  I've done other 300 mile trips and nothing blew up, but who knows?  But Unit 923 just hummed.  My route was pretty much all high desert (4000-6000 ft) with a few high passes (8000 ft).  Most of the way down to Phoenix was on interstates or divided highways - fast.  I was probably averaging 85 or 90 mph on the interstates (speed limit in Utah is 80 mph!).  The return was entirely secondary roads through some astounding scenery.  I took a route through Sedona AZ (amazing!!) and then up the famous Oak Creek Canyon road to Flagstaff.  Except for the canyon road, the trip back was almost as fast.  Secondary roads were extremely smooth, had perfect visibility and totally devoid of traffic (see picture).  One slightly scary thing was the occasional "No services next 70 miles" sign.  This happened 3 or 4 times, and they mean it.  This part of the country is very, very isolated and desolate.  If something had happened I would have been pretty seriously screwed (though I carried a 5 gal container of gas, spare hoses and belts and lots of tools).  I guess that's what makes stuff like this an adventure.

The great news is that car ran like a champ.  High altitude can be hard and I was nervous about overheating.  Except at the highest altitudes the air was over 90 deg F and over 105 deg at lower elevation in Arizona.  The Oak Creek Road rises about 4000 ft in one long, constant grade.  Signs tell you to turn off your air conditioning (I didn't).  Not problem at all!  923 ran about 90 deg C on the flats until the air temp got over 100F or there was a long upgrade, when it climbed to about 100C.  The engine never got hotter than that.  At higher altitude where it's cooler it ran about 80C.  I did notice a little suspension drop overnight.  Never got the red light; I'm assuming that it was the HUGE overnight air temperature drop, it dropped from over 100F to 65 in the morning.  There was no fluid loss and good ole' 923 didn't burn a drop of oil (a bit surprising actually).

Something that really strikes me about this car (and presumably other 6.9s) is it's total ease.  Bumpy road?  No problem, you scarcely feel it.  Want to pass somebody on an up grade?  No problem, just do it.  Now I'm satisfied and have confidence in the car (knock wood).  Next is a trip to Santa Barbara in a few weeks.  I can't think of a more fitting vehicle to cruise the Santa Barbara scene. ;D 
-Dave
Now:  1976 6.9 Euro, 2015 GL550
Before that:  1966 230S, 1964 220SE coupe, 1977 Carrera 3.0

slfan

Congratulations!  Please continue the write-ups.  They are inspiring and motivate us to use these cars for what they were built for.
1978 - 450SEL 6.9 - 3170
1978 - 450SEL 6.9 "Parts Car" - 2973

Harv

Great experience. What kind of MPG did you get? 10?
1980 300SD
1983 240D
2000 E55 AMG
2002 G500

raueda1

Quote from: Harv on 31 May 2018, 10:51 PM
Great experience. What kind of MPG did you get? 10?
I didn't monitor that closely so as to avoid potentially negative vibrations. But if I had to guess I think that's about right.  $$$!  But I'm retired so I don't have commuting expenses.  ::)
-Dave
Now:  1976 6.9 Euro, 2015 GL550
Before that:  1966 230S, 1964 220SE coupe, 1977 Carrera 3.0

ptashek

Well done! Nothing beats driving those V8s (not just the 6.9) long distance.

To contrast, I did a round-trip from San Francisco to the Death Valley park a few years back in a brand new Chevrolet Cruze rental (~1500 miles on it!). It overheated once, and burned the front brake pads twice chauffeuring three people with luggage up and down a few grades.

Not everything that has four wheels desevers to be called a car :)
1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

Squiggle Dog

Quote from: ptashek on 04 June 2018, 01:19 PM
Well done! Nothing beats driving those V8s (not just the 6.9) long distance.

To contrast, I did a round-trip from San Francisco to the Death Valley park a few years back in a brand new Chevrolet Cruze rental (~1500 miles on it!). It overheated once, and burned the front brake pads twice chauffeuring three people with luggage up and down a few grades.

Not everything that has four wheels desevers to be called a car :)

Ugh--I rented a Chevy Cruze one summer when I made a trip to Utah, because my roommate and my dogs came with and my car doesn't have working air conditioning. It was a painful experience. I could not keep that car straight on the road--it kept wanting to pull to the left or right and the steering was too sensitive, which caused fast driving fatigue. It was also SO SLOW. I'd punch the accelerator and the engine would wind up high but the car wouldn't accelerate much. It made passing dangerous. There were lots of blind spots, too many distractions on the dashboard--I could go on and on. Driving my W116 is SO much better--I feel relaxed, the steering feels natural, and it actually GOES when I put my foot down. I'll be making a trip to Utah in August and I'm hoping I'll have my air conditioning repaired by then so I can drive my W116.
Stop paying for animal cruelty and slaughter. Go vegan! [url="https://challenge22.com/"]https://challenge22.com/[/url]

1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

raueda1

Quote from: Squiggle Dog on 04 June 2018, 01:47 PM
Quote from: ptashek on 04 June 2018, 01:19 PM
Well done! Nothing beats driving those V8s (not just the 6.9) long distance.

To contrast, I did a round-trip from San Francisco to the Death Valley park a few years back in a brand new Chevrolet Cruze rental (~1500 miles on it!). It overheated once, and burned the front brake pads twice chauffeuring three people with luggage up and down a few grades.

Not everything that has four wheels desevers to be called a car :)

Ugh--I rented a Chevy Cruze one summer when I made a trip to Utah, because my roommate and my dogs came with and my car doesn't have working air conditioning. It was a painful experience. I could not keep that car straight on the road--it kept wanting to pull to the left or right and the steering was too sensitive, which caused fast driving fatigue. It was also SO SLOW. I'd punch the accelerator and the engine would wind up high but the car wouldn't accelerate much. It made passing dangerous. There were lots of blind spots, too many distractions on the dashboard--I could go on and on. Driving my W116 is SO much better--I feel relaxed, the steering feels natural, and it actually GOES when I put my foot down. I'll be making a trip to Utah in August and I'm hoping I'll have my air conditioning repaired by then so I can drive my W116.
LOL, brings back memories.  Back in 1973 or so I drove a Datsun from San Francisco to Chicago for my cousin.  It was an automatic, 2 speed if I remember right (is that possible?).  Driving over the numerous high passes I just keep it floored.  It would downshift with a slam to low gear and slowly accelerate to maybe 45 or 50 mph tops and upshift with a slam.  Then, in high gear, it would gradually slow down cause it just didn't have the muscle to maintain speed.  At about 35 it would then downshift with another slam.  Rinse, repeat.  I don't think it went faster than 70 downhill.  Certainly no AC.  And absolutely NOT a V8 experience, and certainly not a 6.9 experience!
-Dave
Now:  1976 6.9 Euro, 2015 GL550
Before that:  1966 230S, 1964 220SE coupe, 1977 Carrera 3.0