Impressive!

I had my 560SEC over 140 mph once...decided after that event that I preferred airplanes at those speeds. The SEC was ready to fly anyway given all the lift under that car...

What is the blinking light (like a police car's) reflecting off the speedometer near the end? Did you have an escort or were you being pulled over :smile

 

Thanks, actually the car is quite stable at such speeds but I wouldn't dream of doing this one handed haha.

No those are actually light poles, I had to slow down to avoid the speed camera.

 

Okay, well you must not be a Prince because I've heard they just blow through those cameras and have their assistants pay the fines when the ticket arrives...sort of like the tolls on the motorways

(I have to admit my knowledge is from UAE, not Kuwait as your location indicates)

 

My USA delivered '98 SL500 topped out at 153.8 mph (per a GPS, 156 or so indicated) when the US DOT mandated speed limiter kicked in--I wondered if I could sue Mercedes, because it's not supposed to kick in until 155... :wink

 

Haha maybe you should

Actually this car is faster than we think it is. I know for a fact that I can beat a second generation Dodge Charger R / T. For some reason the charger loses steam at around 230KPH. I also had a go at a second gen SRT8 out of curiosity and he was ahead of me by one car's length, which isn't that bad really.

 

This is very cool, any mods to the car? And any info on stock 0-60 of the SL. Was it underrated perhaps? Pretty impressive if it's getting over 270 stock.

 

It's 270 kph--kilometres per hour--around 168 mph, or about what any SL500 could possiby do "pedal-to-the-metal" if the speed limiter is defeated...

 

The 0-100 time you averaged is bang on target for what was claimed when the car was launched they claimed 5.9 . They changed this when the upgrade arrived to I think 6.3 not wanting to make the older cars look faster. With the non cat engine you have more bhp ,you had the option to delete the cats on some markets GB was one of them my 90 model doesn't have them either. However I've put both my 90 and 99 model to the test (not a very accurate one ) and my 99 one appears to be quicker because of the 5 speed gear box :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

The 0-100 time you averaged is bang on target for what was claimed when the car was launched they claimed 5.9 . They changed this when the upgrade arrived to I think 6.3 not wanting to make the older cars look faster.<snip>

If the 0 to 100 kph performance went from 5.9 s to 6.3 s then the older cars were faster.

FWIW I have seen 0-60 mph (a bit lower terminal velocity) for the '96 to '98 SL500s with M119.982 engine stated as 5.9 s. Extending that proportionally (which is most likely not even a little bit accurate) would place 0-100 kph at 6.1 s...

 

My car is stock, however it has straight pipes and no rev limiter. 275 kph is 170 miles as stated, the fastest I got was around 283 kph which is 175 mph. I realistically think it can get close to 290-300 kph.

I'm 95% happy with my 4 speed auto after numerous adjustments. However, I never tried the 5 speed in the R129 or the V12 for that matter. I would love to try them, actually if I were to buy another R129 in the future that's not an AMG, it would have to be a 01 or 02 SL600 with all the bells and whistles.

 

Got my CLK 320 up to 235 kph (GPS read out) and chickened out for fear of a speed camera. The SL 320 maxed out at 220 kpm at 6000 ft asl (rpm @ 5000).

Merc engines sure are impressive, age is irrelevant:laugh

 

I think the limiters on our cars are self-imposed by the factory. Most R129 V8s and V12s are limited to 155 - mine is limited to 149 and I think it all has to do with the tires that are installed at the factory. Years ago the W140 people were complaining that the interval and expense of replacing the V-rated tires - it was about then that the factory started limiting the cars to 130 and installing H rated tires. Other than AMG all Mercedes other than the SL are limited to 130 - in fact I think even the new SL (non-AMG) has that limit.

I think too that the 155 limit was an arbitrary "gentlemans agreement" with Daimer and BMW - too many crazy things going on on the Autobahn.

Porsches I think just go until they can't - a standard Boxster is about 165 mph.

At least that is my take on it.