Trip Report

[Joe]

I finally took my 230SL out of the city limits. The wife and I drove it from Colorado Springs to Santa Fe, New Mexico late last week. The car ran well, and we had no breakdowns. I think we were lucky, considering the extent of the work I've put into it.
The trip was 1787 km, including city driving, and I tried both 86 octane regular and 91 octane super (highest available). Almost all of the trip was at 6000 feet or more above sea level, but I did make one short trip to Albuquerque, which is only 5000' ASL. At one point, we got to about 10,500'.
With premium gas, the overall mileage was 16.1 MPG, and with regular, it was 17.0. I could tell no difference in performance with either grade. Normal highway speed was 60 - 65 mph.
On the (business) trip to Albuquerque, taken while the wife was still asleep in the hotel, I took the car up to 170 kph, about 105 mph. It was very steady and I felt totally in control. I couldn't stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong, however, and throttled back to 75. This was with the soft top up.
This is not a road car, by any means. It is noisy as all heck, and the seats are very uncomfortable. We stopped soon after the trip started to buy bath towels to sit on, both for cushioning and to absorb the sweat the vinyl seatcovers caused. The wife was a good sport about it, thankfully, but we were both relieved to get home. Technology in seat comfort has improved considerably in the last 39 years.
The car used about a pint of coolant and 3/4 of a quart of oil. I guess that is average for these cars.
It was hot as blazes, and we kept the top up for comfort. We did take it down a couple of times, when the weather cooled off. It was very nice to have the panoramic views available with the soft top down, particularly as we were tooling around Georgia O'Keeffe's ranch.
No other 113s were spotted on the trip. I took a couple of scenic pictures with the car and the landscapes, and will post them soon.
I really appreciate all the good advice I've received here, and also the recalibration of the fuel injection pump performed by Dan's buddy.

Joe2
1965 Euro, 4-speed, no a/c

[Dick M]

Joe ..
Thanks for relating your experience.  I've made similar trips around northern California .. hot, top up, wife wondering why she ever agreed to make the trip.
Look forward to the pictures..

Dick M
1970 280SL

[hauser]

Joe I am very happy for you! It sounds like it was a fantastic trip. You must very excitated how well the Pagoda performed. I know I would be. Isn't it great when you have all that confidence of a well cared for car! Don't forget the pics.

1969 280sl 5 spd        1999 ML320          Gainesville,Fl.

[Cees Klumper]

I've made many long-distance trips and although the seat pads are a bit worn, I still find them very comfortable and don't get overly tired from driving. I found that my driver's seat was broken after I first got the car: on the right side, the 'rack-and-pinion' seat back adjusting mechanism had come undone, which made for uncomfortable driving. Something like this may be the case in your car as well, or the seat pads/cushions are very worn out.
Then in the beginning of my ownership I found some air leaks between the engine and passenger compartments. Eliminating these, AND replacing some of the rubber profiles alongside the windows on the soft and hard tops, made for a very much quieter ride. Noise is tiresome after a while and at highway speeds, you can have (and find ways to eliminate) lots of wind and engine bay noise.
I don't think your car should consume any coolant at all. I never have to top mine up - could there be a leak to the outside or, worse, to the inside of the engine? Don't mean to scare you! The oil consumption is pretty low, so no problems there.
I found that these cars are highly reliable once they are in proper condition. It's getting some of these cars in that condition that can be a long journey ...

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Naj ✝︎]

My trip this year was to Norway and Sweden to see the midnight sun (mentioned earlier by Per).
North from London to Newcastle. Ferry to Kristiansand in Norway (Per's home town). North to the arctic circle, then east to Kiruna in Sweden and back south to Stockholm (to meet Hans Strom) and Gottenberg for ferry back to the UK. Also met Fredrik (another Pagoda owner - red one in the pictures) just south of Gottenberg.
Covered about 4000 miles in three weeks. Fuel consumption around 16mpg US when cruising around 80mph and around 20 mpg @ around 60mph. Oil consumption: 1 litre / 300 miles at 80mph, somewhat better at around 60. No faults or breakdowns.

Here's a link to some pictures

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/welcome?i=EeAMmLdu0bMWrnI&sm=0&sl=0

naj

65 230SL
68 280SL

[Ben]

Sounds like a great trip !

To be honest I do quite a lot of driving in my car and I find it one of the most comfortable cars I've ever travelled in ! Every one of my passengers has commented similarly. My drivers seat is a little bit flattened  :oops:  but still very supportive !

I havent really made any roadtrips but I regulalry do 300 miles in one day, the most I travelled in one day was 750 miles and the most I've driven non stop, save for fuel, is 400 miles !!

One problem I do currently have is wind noise. Both cables for tensioning the soft top are busted, so the edges flap around quite a bit !  Actually one of the little threaded bolts with the hole that the cable slides through sheared off (any ideas of a fix? ) and the other side snapped at the eyelet when I tried to tension it up.

Whats the correct procedure for this ?

Regards,
Ben in Ireland.
'64 230SL 4sp.
'03 CLK Kompressor

[George Davis]

My wife and I have done a few road trips in the Pagoda, ranging from 400 to 1600 miles.  Our experiences:

Driving soft top up is very noisy, we won't do that for long trips any more.  It's terrifically noisy if the windows are open, as on a hot day.
Driving with hard top on is noisy but bearable, unless it's hot and the windows are open.  Not as bad as with the soft top, but still pretty unpleasant.
Driving with no top is actually quieter and more comfortable than either of the above.  We equipped ourselves with wide-brim hats (with chin straps to keep them on) and lightweight clothing with long-sleeve shirts to protect from the sun.  We made a 1600 mile trip that way, and it was pretty nice all in all.  A small wind blocker was very helpful, too.  To be honest, though, the weather was warm to very warm, but never blistering hot; it might have been a different story in that case.

All of the above convinced me to install air conditioning.  Now we cruise with the hard top on, windows closed, a/c on, and it's pretty nice.  It's not quiet like a modern car, but it's bearable and the ride is pleasant.

As to the seats, I installed a repro (made in Mexico) seat pad a couple years ago and it's hard as a rock and is not simply uncomfortable, it's actually painful.  The passenger seat has the original pad and is comfortable.  I now have the official MB seat pad for the driver's seat and will put it in tomorrow.  I'll report on it next week.  If your seats hurt, check the bottom of the seat.  If the horsehair is green, you probably have the repro pads, and if you see a Made in Mexico tag, for sure you do.

And last but not least, my wife loves the car.  Throughout all of this, she has been supportive and enthusiastic, and when we suffered, she held up better than I did!

George Davis
'69 280 SL Euro manual

[Tom]

I can vouch for the benefits of the wind blocker with the top down.  With the wind screen and the windows up, it is pretty quiet in the cock pit.

On long trips, I also bring along ear plugs.  You can still hear ambient noise and horns, but it dulls the road noise to a humm.

Best,

Tom


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1971 280sl Tunis Beige Metallic (restored & enhanced)
1971 280sl Tobacco Brown (low mileage stock)
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