AKWroclaw's Mercedes 190E modding, mending and bending

[akwroclaw]

cited:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...and-15491.html

1984 Mercedes 2 liter gas, manual transmission 190E

I have changed tyres from 195/60 R 15 to Michelin economy 175/50 R15 rear and 175/55 R15 front which made the car swinging lighter [ligther steering wheel action and whole vechicle lighter mobility].

I engineered it due to the long gear changes [my gearbox is manual].
With bigger [brand numbers'] tyres I couldn't change to the next gear earlier:

3rd could propel the car only from 50km/h upward
4th could propel the car only from 70 km/h upward

so I had to ride the vechicle with 2nd gear in curved streets
and ride 3rd in long lines..

very reeeving.. not pleasant.
Big torque - yes, but what it was for in easy driving?

so.. the the solution was not m'em bigger, but smaller
to make next gear go earlier.

tyre calculator was my friend and workshop guys were
openly distrustful and unwilling to confide what am doing [and cooperate also ].


And now:

3rd can propel the car from 40km/h
4th can propel the car from 60 km/h

Have I modified the gearbox?

in functionnal manner - yes i have modified the transmission factor.

I have not increased the revs, i've leaped them down.

> It's worth doing if you don't need higher speeds. BTW, is your transmission a 4- or 5-speed? Have you found any information on other forums about swapping the gearbox for one with more gears and/or better gear ratios?


Lazyiness is another factor [LF] in my FE equation - box swap has big LF in FE, so runs uneco-friendly on extreme margins.

But LF has big impact on Velocity Increase [LFoVI], but in negative value! LF big, V small FE fair.
So LF helps LFoVD [LFoV Decrease] and FEI.

[ChazInMT]

Hi AK, My wife is from Wroclaw!! I'm coming there probably this summer. We have a mishkanie (sp?) behind Piotr i Pawel on Swieradowska near south central Wroclaw. I love Wroclaw!!

[Piwoslaw]

Oh, the Lazy Factor But that's easier to overcome than the WAF (Wife Approval Factor)... I like the "I'm so lazy I don't want to go faster" attitude. I can see it as an excuse for engine off coasting: "My engine is so lazy it doesn't want to idle".

So, since you keep your speed down, how do other drivers react? I try to keep my speed less than 10km/h above the legal limit, which (as you know) is very slow by Polish standards, and drivers make sure I know about that

As for the engine blanket you should be cautious, since a gasser runs hotter than a diesel. Of course, when hypermiling (pulse & glide, EO(ff)C, engine braking, etc.) your efficiency rises, so engine temperatures may slightly drop. The engine blanket does keep the engine warmer after parking the car, though.

[akwroclaw]

ChazInMT:

greetings! Call me when in Wroclaw!
Now your loved Wro is heavily snowy and jammed, waiting for majour highway detour around the city.

Pivo:

Wife Approval Factor [WAFfen - in German ]

> since you keep your speed down, how do other drivers react?

How do I react? - better to ask. After a trip from Kłodzko to Wrocław [120km] by old bus with stable 50 km/h I can drive on legal limits without guilt

The key for me is not the speed but fluency of transition - how drive to make it more fluent, making nedded changes in advance for example if slowing - have the car do it by itself. in a slow traffic - have a cushion rolling on, not aligning with stop-start manner.


i thought 'bout engine blanket. The front openings close makes the same [thermically to the entire engine compartment], but block the radiator cooling power. I expect the blanket can heat the engine making cooling possible - giving more heat range [more stable temperature], especially cherishing the "small routine" of engine coolant [with thermostat closed].

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by akwroclaw

ChazInMT:

greetings! Call me when in Wroclaw!
Now your loved Wro is heavily snowy and jammed, waiting for majour highway detour around the city.

Maybe I could also drive by? Depends on our summer plans, but we'll see.

Originally Posted by akwroclaw

i thought 'bout engine blanket. The front openings close makes the same [thermically to the entire engine compartment], but block the radiator cooling power.

Mount your grille block so that it slopes down from the top of the grille to the front of the bumper, with the sides open. That way it blocks air from being forced into the engine bay, but still allows it to be pulled in through the sides when the fan turns on.



And get rid of the Merc star, unless you use it for targeting

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

From the side, this sure looks like a good candidate for an air dam with additional tyre deflectors

[akwroclaw]

sure, grille block can be a curve and can go downward also, uncut, making a wing profile-like rounded leading edge.