as good as it gets......

[paulr]

today has been almost perfect, save for me finding a beautiful French lover...I have an ongoing project in the SW of France and if I find time I book a ferry and come over. I have a free week so here I am. En route, I met some friends for lunch on their way to Le Mans (24hr race) which was nice and then set off through the most wonderful French countryside along blemishless roads and often under the canopy of tall plane trees with the sunlight dappling the road ahead. Driving through France is as good as it gets for me and I attach a snap for you to share.
The 3.69 (?) axle that I now have has made this journey far less frantic than it has been in the past and for anyone dithering, don't delay, it's a fantastic modification.
Today, I think my car is perfect.
a beintot.

Download Attachment: sl 0047.jpg
227.65 KB

[Cees Klumper]

Good for you Paul. Today my Pagoda experience consisted of a quick top-down trip to the carwash so that she'll be bright and shiny for our coffee-table book photoshoot tomorrow; Peter van Es, myself and a friend of ours, setting off at 8 AM for the photo-friendly light.
Beautiful French lover eh? Belgian would probably do as well ...

[jameshoward]

Lucky bugger. We're about 4 days from heading off to Bordeauz in the car, but 2 wrong water pumps later and things are starting to get a little tight. (If only I'd bothered to look more closely at the SLS webpage...) Do you ever take the autoroute, or do you stick to the A roads, which pretty much parallel anyway I think?

Not sure about the Belgians though, Cees...Good luck with the weather tomorrow morning.

[scoot]

quote:Originally posted by cees klumper

...Today my Pagoda experience consisted of a quick top-down trip to the carwash so ...

Hmmmm.   Call me crazy, but with the rust problems in Pagodas I just don't see the top-down trip through the car wash as being a good idea.  I think you should re-think this...  

[paulr]

I take the A roads most of the time but if I'm late or just in a hurry I will do the motorway. I often ask my sat nav ( gps ) to find an alternate route via somewhere out of my way as I am rarely in too much of a rush. I hope you get yourself sorted out and enjoy your trip. Bordeaux is so pretty.

 

quote:Originally posted by jameshoward

Lucky bugger. We're about 4 days from heading off to Bordeauz in the car, but 2 wrong water pumps later and things are starting to get a little tight. (If only I'd bothered to look more closely at the SLS webpage...) Do you ever take the autoroute, or do you stick to the A roads, which pretty much parallel anyway I think?

Not sure about the Belgians though, Cees...Good luck with the weather tomorrow morning.

[philmas]

Aaaah! I love these little french roads with trees...a rarity nowadays, as many of them have disappeared ,victims of security regulations in the 70's  

For those driving to Bordeaux, don't forget to visit Perigord, one of the best trips I ever made with my Pagoda

[rob walker]

Paul, what did Roger Edwards charge for the axle switch. Mine is going in to them next week for front crank seal and a few other bits, but as they have it for the whole week I may ask them if they have a 3.69 ratio diff.

[paulr]

they charged a £1000 roughly. I'm always having bits done when it's in and I don't really ask for a breakdown, but I think that's the figure including rebuilt axle.

good luck.

quote:Originally posted by rob walker

Paul, what did Roger Edwards charge for the axle switch. Mine is going in to them next week for front crank seal and a few other bits, but as they have it for the whole week I may ask them if they have a 3.69 ratio diff.

[Cees Klumper]

Not THROUGH but TO the carwash! I put the top up for the job ... came out really nice too.

quote:Originally posted by scoot

quote:Originally posted by cees klumper

...Today my Pagoda experience consisted of a quick top-down trip to the carwash so ...

Hmmmm.   Call me crazy, but with the rust problems in Pagodas I just don't see the top-down trip through the car wash as being a good idea.  I think you should re-think this...  

[TheEngineer]

I installed a 3.27 axle many years ago. My car has an automatic and the axle ratio makes such a big improvement. The car is a real pleasure to drive now on the freeways and in town as well. It's much more quiet but still has all the get-up and go. I'll never understand why Mercedes originally installed the 4.08 ratio. It would turn almost 4000 RPM on the freeway before and it felt as if I needed to shift up. Now, it turns a little over 3000 RPM and I'm cruising! My E320 is even better, it feels like it has more power, even though the car weighs 800 lbs more and cruises at 2800 RPM. It has an even lower rear axle ratio and the same engine. This confirms to me that I did the right thing even though I destroyed the "originality" of my car.

[rob walker]

Paul spoke to RE, they dont have an axle at present but can locate one given a few weeks notice, but GBP 1,000 for the rebuilt axle and GBP 480 for fitment....[:0], may have to rethink that.

[Naj ✝︎]

quote:Originally posted by rob walker

Paul spoke to RE, they dont have an axle at present but can locate one given a few weeks notice, but GBP 1,000 for the rebuilt axle and GBP 480 for fitment....[:0], may have to rethink that.

Rob,
here's one you could buy!

http://cgi.ebay.de/Hinterachse-mit-Scheibenbremse-1-3-69-fuer-Pagode-W108_W0QQitemZ120274035317QQihZ002QQcategoryZ42479QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

naj

[rob walker]

Paul, did you only consider the 3.69 axle and not the 3.46. I am just getting RE to source an axle for me for fitment and just having reread some of the posts I wonder whether I should consider the 3.46 or does this reduce the acceleration too much?

[DavidBrough]

Hi Rob,

I fitted a 3.46 axle to my car recently and whilst it is a little more sluggish off the line than the original 3.92 I just press the throttle a bit harder and all is fine. I'm sure drag starts would be slower but I'm not bothered about that, once underway I don't notice any difference in acceleration I just wallow in the piece and quiet of lower revs.

The advantage of the 3.69 is that it is a standard 113 item with no breather issues however when going to the trouble of making a change I think the 3.46 is best.

[rob walker]

David, what revs is your car doing at 70mph...Paul can you advise the same for yours.
Naj you probably have a table that shows or can calculate this ?

Any other forum members advice on this would be great, I dont want to make a mistake as its a pretty expensive conversion.

[rob walker]

Stopped being lazy and done some searching.
From what I can find the following would be expected rpms at 70 mph
3.92 @ 70 mph = 4000 rpm
3.69 @ 70 mph = 3770 rpm
3.46 @ 70 mph = 3400rpm

Does that look correct? If so I think I will go for the 3.46!

[DavidBrough]

With standard wheels and tyres the calculated RPM's at 70mph are as follows:-

3.92    3,600
3.69    3,400
3.46    3,175

On this basis the car is theoretically capable of 126mph at 6,500rpm with the standard 3.92 axle. This speed would be attainable at 5,700rpm with a 3.46 axle.

[thelews]

With standard wheels and tyres the calculated RPM's at 70mph are as follows:-

3.92    3,600
3.69    3,400
3.46    3,175

On this basis the car is theoretically capable of 126mph at 6,500rpm with the standard 3.92 axle. This speed would be attainable at 5,700rpm with a 3.46 axle.

Maybe I'm full of it, but it seems like an awful lot of work and expense for a 2-400 rpm drop.  Certainly the cars were designed to run at these rpms without issue, so it's really a subjective benefit, and to me, rather small.  If you're going on a big, long haul, why not just put larger diameter tires on some wheels for the rear to accomplish the same thing with less pain and $$$?  Flame away!

[DavidBrough]

It really is surprising what a difference even a few 100 rpm makes and the 400+ drop to a 3.46 axle is really astounding in terms of noise and overall smoothness. In addition you also get the bonus of about 15% better fuel mileage.

[Garry]

Having also done a 3.46 axle change from a 4.08 in a manual car, it really is a major change in noise, vibration for the better and whilst expensive to change over, I feel it has been worth every penny/cent. I was looking for a 5 speed gearbox, and this has been a much much cheaper interim outcome. I notice that my speedo reads 52 mph when I am doing 60 mph by the GPS and about 2800rpm.

[rob walker]

Maybe I'm full of it, but it seems like an awful lot of work and expense for a 2-400 rpm drop.  Certainly the cars were designed to run at these rpms without issue, so it's really a subjective benefit, and to me, rather small.  If you're going on a big, long haul, why not just put larger diameter tires on some wheels for the rear to accomplish the same thing with less pain and $$$?  Flame away!

John, the work will be done by Roger Edwards who has done many of these so no real effort on my part except getting the car to him. Yes the costs is quite high, but so is the cost of a nice set of 15" Bundt's and tyres to replace my current 14" which are all as new. I tend to do quite a lot of motorway (highway) driving to and from events and the car will soon be travelling between our houses in the UK and Spain so having this reduced engine speed will be a great benefit. It has always been the one part of the car that has dissapointed me so I feel its worth the effort and costs. Also as a $ earner, now having this work done in UK Sterling makes it cheaper with the $ strength

[rob walker]

Having also done a 3.46 axle change from a 4.08 in a manual car, it really is a major change in noise, vibration for the better and whilst expensive to change over, I feel it has been worth every penny/cent. I was looking for a 5 speed gearbox, and this has been a much much cheaper interim outcome. I notice that my speedo reads 52 mph when I am doing 60 mph by the GPS and about 2800rpm.

My car was doing about 68 mph on the GPS at 4,000, so with your calculations 70 mph will be 3266 rpm.
That sounds great have instructed RE to start a search for a 3.46.

[rob walker]

With standard wheels and tyres the calculated RPM's at 70mph are as follows:-

3.92    3,600
3.69    3,400
3.46    3,175

On this basis the car is theoretically capable of 126mph at 6,500rpm with the standard 3.92 axle. This speed would be attainable at 5,700rpm with a 3.46 axle.

David is that 70 on the speedo or on GPS?

[DavidBrough]

My figures are calculated from wheel diameter rpm and axle ratio and are close to my instrument readings, I've had my speedo recalibrated so it reads spot on. to the GPS.

[rob walker]

My figures are calculated from wheel diameter rpm and axle ratio and are close to my instrument readings, I've had my speedo recalibrated so it reads spot on. to the GPS.

Wow David up early on the board