YouTube on 230SL

[Merc_Girl]

Not sure if anyone has seen/posted this before, apologies if so

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GDvDK7UmwfU

Would be interested in folks thoughts ☺️

[mdsalemi]

Nicely done video. Note he says "it comes alive between 3K and 4K RPM"
...that's exactly what so many people are trying to reduce...the RPM.
Good script. Sharp, high resolution video.

[H. Keith Henry]

Nice to hear the story behind the car.

[MikeSimon]

RPM - When I came to the U.S. for the first time in 1980 and drove here, I recognized one significant difference in driving habits/attitude. The U.S. drivers did not like rpm. Their car engines hovered around 2500-3000 rpm and made big torque there and racing from red light to the next red light was the demonstration of performance.
It was always the main difference in engine technology. European car manufacturers made horsepower from rpm and U.S. manufacturers made it from torque (displacement).
Small displacement/high rpm vs high displacement/low rpm.
Right now, there is the big change going on. The arrival of the 4-cyl 2.0L turbo engine and the disappearance of the 8-cyl 350cuin motor.

[zak]

A fun video. Thanks for sharing.
Mike, you are so right about American vs Euro cars historically.
But today most small/mid new cars are 4 cyl turbos whose rpms never reach 3000.
They are able to create the torque at low rpms.

jz

[Garry]

MB C200

[thelews]

Obviously coming from a point of view in which he finds areas to criticize.  The 113, in my opinion, was not built for speed, racing, hard cornering or anything of the like.  It was built as a sporty, comfortable, reliable boulevard cruiser with the MB cache to garner significant sales.  In that respect, it well succeeded.  IMO, that era of MB cars were some of the best engineered and best built cars they ever produced.  It is a sporty car I will still be able to comfortably drive when I'm old and crotchety. 

While he did cover some of the differences in the 230,250, 280 model progression, he missed the nuances of the 250 transition and the significant (he lightly touched on them) cosmetic changes from the 230 to the 280 for US safety regulations.

I regularly shift gears in the 3500-4500 area.  It feels like the "right" place for me.  The car will move past 4500 if desired, but seems to convey a message that it'd rather not, unlike my vintage Porsches and Jaguar which freely wind to higher revs.  My 190 SL feels the same as the 113 in terms of willingness of the engine to rev.  Too many vintage MB drivers, IMO, seem afraid to take their revs higher than 2500.

[Jordan]

Great video, thanks for sharing.

My question to John is; at what age does one transition from young and crotchety to old and crotchety?  Trying to determine which group I fall into. 

[thelews]

Great video, thanks for sharing.

My question to John is; at what age does one transition from young and crotchety to old and crotchety?  Trying to determine which group I fall into. 

More a state of health than age.

[mdsalemi]

Great video, thanks for sharing.

My question to John is; at what age does one transition from young and crotchety to old and crotchety?  Trying to determine which group I fall into. 

I too thought it was a great video, and thanks for sharing. Thankfully nobody has started picking apart the car's "diversions from original" for the specific model. One must understand the target audience for such videos. I don't think that MotoMan, who produces apparently, videos about all kinds of cars (maybe more, who knows...) had the model experts here as the target. Rather, for someone who doesn't know much about the models or marque, it surely ticks the box as a well done piece. I don't think any kind of introductory video (or even a written article) should bother to go into the subtle details of USA vs Euro spec; trim details throughout production, rear end gearing, cam specifications, etc. That's beyond the scope of an intro piece. Enjoy it for what it is.

MotoMan is one George J. Notaras of Manhattan Beach, CA. Aside from being MotoMan, he says he's a "Storyteller, Car Guy, and Raconteur". He also lists comedy writing and stand up comedy in his CV. Unlike a lot of drivel on YouTube, his productions seem well done.

If anyone can do better, rise to the challenge! (hint: it's not so easy)

Jordan, you asked about age. Well, take a look here: https://youtu.be/q82aKgoHF6Q

[Merc_Girl]

Great video, thanks for sharing.

My question to John is; at what age does one transition from young and crotchety to old and crotchety?  Trying to determine which group I fall into. 

When you are old and crotchety  you get away with a lot more then when you’re you and crotchety 😁. People just write it down to being a ‘feature’ of old age 🤣