I hate it! [:0]. Fifst time i drove my 107 i thought it was a boat and not a car! Then i opened up the trunk, and to my surprise it was the previous owners wife inside bound with duct tape. I pulled over to the side of the road, threw her out (left the tape on though), and kept driving. It helped the problem somewhat, but it still squats a little bit at takeoff.[:0]
Don't forget why these were built. In their day, they were NOT made to be rocketships; they were the luxury sports cars of their era, built for driving all day long at 130mph on the autobahns of Germany.
I definetely wouldn't want to try and drive a 380sl to one thirty and if I did it wouldn't be for longer than a minute. If you push the smaller mercedes to go that fast either know your car in and out nut and bolt, or get ready to fix it, because a lot of parts are going to pop, it's hard on 'em to drive that fast, at least for my car. I always see adds for rebuilt 380's with less miles than my '78 280slc, now ask yourself if you want to join that group and then go and drive 130, good luck!
I'm not saying you SHOULD drive one a that speed now, but 25 to 30 years ago, they were built for that purpose. Did you ever wonder why a $30K (in 1975 to 1980 dollars) luxury sports car doesn't have a cup holder? It's because they were built for the European market (originally) and drinking or eating anything while driving, over there, is something they do not do. When they drive, that's all they are concerned with.
Even Andretti thinks eating in the car is disgusting. I have read reviews of new model mercedes and they still don't have the cup holder down.
I wouldn't want to push one of these smaller engines to the outer realm. If you got a big old V8, like my friends '79 560 SEL with a 6.3L engine then maybe 130 isn't that far away. One of my dads friends had an emblem in the car that says not to roll down the windows at speeds in excess of 130mph, so they are made to go fast, but if your car is 20 years old, you might want to take it easy.
Just one example, about five or six years ago my old man pushed the car past 100 and kaboom went a front end flex disk. It pretty much was beaten apart. I have never had the balls to push it because what's next. Well enough of the rambling and good luck with the 380!
Daryn's right. You have to have an awful lot of trust in people and things you don't know to drive a car (ANY CAR) that fast, especially one that old. Best of luck
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