my W140 handles damned good with radial 235/50/18 tires. better than my vintage past Pontiac GTO, Firebird, and much better than a full size Grand Prix. that's saying a LOT because a Pontiac was the best all around road performance car GM made in many ways during the DeLorean design engineer years 1960-74. the W140 has a better ride, and faster top end than the old Pontiacs. and I really like my old Pontiacs. but they hit 120 mph then level off and slowly climb from there, where the W140 V12 it headed for 160mph+ in a flash, nad definitely corners better than a Pontiac at speed. yet the W140 weighs 1000-1200 lbs. MORE than the Pontiacs with me in it. like I said previous post,high 13's from a car that weighs 5000 lbs. plus, is STUNNING. with a 2.65 rear gear yet, that gets 18mpg highway on a 12 mile trip. you can put it in 3rd for performance back road driving. these cars were and are amazing, just had some quality issues from Benz cheaping out on wiring, and using plastic where they shoulda used METAL, and putting components in places you can't get at them easily. this form of OBD1 is really prototype OBD2 and the only downside is the many large ECM's and special plug in to diagnose/scan them. but it can all be done easily with any old Snap On red brick scanner. and some silly options that were just dumb fluff here and there, like trunk and door soft close, window close. if this Benz was put on a diet for some serious competition, it would drop times even faster. knock 1000 lbs. off and it drops 1 second into the high 12's in the 1/4 mile. here's the kicker, that is with STOCK HEADS, STOCK CAMS, STOCK HEADERS, STOCK MAFS, STOCK INTAKE MANIFOLD/THROTTLE BODIES. amazing. the heads on the V12 flow equal to standard heads on a Pontiac 7 liter 428 or 7.4 liters 455. and only slightly less than the vaunted Pontiac Pontiac Ram Air IV and Ram Air V heads at corresponding valve lift under .500". Keep in mind the Benz still has 2 DISTRIBUTORS for ignition which is ancient tech now !! I flow tested them all. the Benz heads flow quite well for a 6 liter, 4 valve head. Perfect street heads. I'm not easily impressed by European or Japanese cars, unless they're a vintage Lambo, Ferrari, or Maserati pre-1974. but this Benz did impress me, and that's saying a lot believe me...I've bashed these cars for decades as overpriced, overweight POS's but the W140 changed my mind once I ironed out the defects. having said that, take away the cubic inches from 6 liter to 5 liter and below, you lose ALL OF THE ABOVE. a 4.2 in such a heavy car would and must be a heavy snail slug. there's 4 cylinder and V6 Toyotas, Hondas, Chevys, Fords that would eat it alive with only a 4.2 liter. I'm sorry to say the W140 is a V12 or nothing prospect. a V8 car maybe for the wife, but even then only if it was a 5.0 liter. as it is now, when I'm on the highway interstate and anyone wants to mess with me, I drop the hammer and walk away from the big Hemi and LS V8 trucks and SUV's like they're standing still. they are little flies in my rear view mirror pulling back into the slow lane, realizing no way they can mess with me. it would have to be a newer blown Caddy or new blown Challenger, Mustang, or rear engine Vette to really hang with and beat a well tuned W140 V12. even then the W140 would give those cars a run for their money on the open highway. when the speedo gets past 100 it is whipping to the right faster than you can follow it to keep your eye on the road at the same time. you will be at 160 like now man hang on. it's a machine. I grew up on 400-500HP musclecars and there's nothing lost here with the W140. where the musclecars are all done at 120mph the W140 is just getting started, believe me...