SL/R129: R0ad Trippin in the 129!
for the last 4 weeks, every weekend my pal and i have been taking road trips in my SL. i am truly amazes at the ride comfort of the R129. even with Bilistine sport shocks and a costom lowering job, the ride is amazing.
our fist trip was down to south san deago (about 2 mi. from the border). we went there just to hang out.
our second trip was to my other house in the desert, again just to hang out and play a round of golf.
our 3rd trip was to santa Barbara, we went up there to say hi to my old friends from Boarding school. and it was very fun driving on san Marcos pass with the top down!
and the last trip we went on was last sunday, we went up to Big Bear mtn. to go fishing and just to check out the mountain. man was that fun. i have never gotten to rilly feel what the goose could do. and i was being very safe (btw). teh place was EMPTY! there were only about 10 people on big bear lake! and then we drove to arrow head lake and visited Oktober fest that was going on. oh, and the best part was, is that we made it down the mountain in 28 minutes. i was amazed! and i am thankfull for banked turns, 275 -45- 18 tires, and ASR.
so, some of you might be thiking "why are you driving so much Mark?" sence i just turned 18 (oct. 12th) i have not had too much long driving under my belt, and i am driving going up to SF in march to look at several coledges up there with my friend. so i want to get usto paying attention for 7 hours in a row. and he has familarised him self with papper maps (he has navi. in is M3)
but we are taking his 05 M3 up to SF. not the Goose. (ive put wayyy to many on her in a year and 1/2. about 50K!! and she sat for three years befor i got her. soooo, there is potential for old things to crack and break)
next stop.... the desert house again!!
sorry if there are spelling mistakes, im typin on a very very old mac. in school.
Mark
I just noticed you have 275/45/18 and I assume they are rears..
On 18" alloys,the rear profile on an SL should be 35 and not 45..
you sould have 275/35/18 and 40 profile on fronts...
It will affect your top speed and acceleration with the wrong profile tires.
ah and the preformance...... outstanding!!! i love how fat and meen they look. and there is a huge diffrence in preformance. i drive very fast, and i had terrable traction problems with the stock setup. i hardly ever lose traction on acc. unless i launch the car. and with turns, it holds 100 percent better than stock. and the 129s are known for understeer (54/46 body weight) so with the fatter rear and front tires it makes it much easter to take hairpin turns and tight corners.
Mark
Sounds like you're having a blast with your R129. That's quite a few miles you drove. I've had my mine for about a year, but I've driven only about 4000 miles. But I've really enjoyed those miles! How did you like San Diego? Where did you hang out?
Santa Barbara is a beautiiful town. We spent a week there a few years back before I got the SL. I would love to make that drive again with the R129. I won't go on a Friday though. Traffic was bumper-to-bumper from LA to SB.
You are one lucky guy to enjoy your SL while so young. Post some pics!
At your age,I could only afford a VW Golf with a 1.2 engine...Living in Europe and all that..High insurance and maintenance cost..I moved to fast cars,namely Alfa's and LAncia's when I was 24...Merc ownership didn't come into play till I got the 129 ,2 years ago at 40!!!
I always believed mercs are for old fart till I owned the SL which replaced a
BMW M3 CAbrio 1994...2 completely diff.cars...


