Depends on the person....

To me tech is the chassis stiffness/material, engine and it's controls/injection/induction/active features, trans and control strat as well as hard parts configuration, driveline, diffs being active or not, suspension link configuration and angles, if the struts are active, if the sway bars are active, steering system being variable or not, rear steer or not, and hydro with variable force or EPS, brake type and design, and then I start looking at things like HVAC, forward lighting, comfort items etc.

Things like CarPlay, assists, etc are just things that don't ultimately matter in terms of what a car is in my mind.

They are cool, useful, and nice to have but if you put two cars in front of me with one having all the latest expected tech (up to and including limited autonomy) but a 200hp hybrid 4 CVT FWD with steering column EPS, struts, steel body under 25k nm/*, simple slider brakes in the 250mm class, small tires on heavy rims, etc

VS

A car without any tech past ABS but has a 35k nm/*+ chassis, 400hp V8 with true AWD or an active diff RWD, a manual trans or ZF8/DCT, double A arm and multi link suspension, fixed caliper 360+mm brakes, unassisted steering or variable hydraulic for the same price as the above car there is zero question what I will pick every single time.

If I can get the actual tech/hard items first then yes I'll try and get as much "tech" as possible, but I would never say....trade a variable steering ratio system for CarPlay.


Now if the question is if I'm buying an appliance to get somewhere it's different, but I like driving.

 

Those are great pics, both beauties but I still like the W140 better. It just looks way more Mercedes.

W140 plenty loved, just a bunch of certain-minded individuals --mainly not even in the United States-- hated its weight and excessiveness... Americans don't mind it, and they DEFINTIELY didn't in the early 1990s fresh out of the 80s.

WADR to your articles, they're just opinion pieces... this was back when C&D was really, truly C&D. They loved every single thing about it. They called it the best car in the world.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...s-benz-600sel/

The Verdict: If any car is worth $143,333, this is it.

 

Power sunroof?

 

Of course.

Non negotiable.

-> Please add backup camera. I like it.

 

wow, i could swear when you were considering one you thought it looked good and had 'presence' (which to me just means it's huge, lol).

now you write that it's garish too, haha.

exactly... almost no styling really ages well. as you know, part of that is because of the evolution of manufacturing sophistication. you simply couldn't sculpt metal back then the way you can today, didn't have the vast array of materials, fasteners, etc., and body rigidity (not to mention every aspect of safety) is WORLDS better.

 

Yeah except now they are not using much metal at all on front ends and very simplistic forms for doors and hoods.

The majority of front ends are now all injection molded and metal parts are softer with much less definition and they use through cuts for the door handles with trunk lids no longer using any complex presswork in favor of large plastic facias. So many cars look soft/blobby and once you learn about the technique differences and relative costs to work metal in various ways you can't help but see how much they are saving on costs with the last generation of cars. I wish they would leverage modern metal press tech to make more impressive linework and larger panels but nah, that's too expensive

 

The G70 7 series has grown on me a bit, seeing them at work every day.

Got my new PCV valve and replacemment control board for my flex fuel sensor. Swapped em in and the car seems to run fine. I think it was still burning off a bit of the oil so my garage still stinks. Hoping it clears up over the next week or so. No codes, tons of power.

Having the flex fuel enabled is something for sure. I went and put 4 gallons of "E85" in my tank from the nearby gas station. According to my sensor that brought me up to about E20, so they're definitely watering down the ethanol content there. Tune adjusted for that and it was a riot. I'm almost terrified of this car. Tried to get a datalog by doing a WOT pull from 2500 RPM in 3rd gear and it damn near did a 180 on the freeway. I haven't even flashed Stage 2+ yet......

 

Nice nice, that power to only 2 wheels is why a lot of guys use the X-drive versions lol!

 

Welcome to the dark side!!

🌽⛽️

 

Thats the thing. When you live with a car day to day as your driver its also different than viewing a car only as a toy to be enjoyed. In my daily live all of that tech makes the car much more enjoyable and useful.

I don't even think of them the same way. When I look at old cars I don't compare them to new cars because they just aren't something I would want to live with day to day. "Thats a great looking old car" and then I look at whats new and what I would actually buy.

Thats just not the case. The economy was really rough in the early 90s, and there was a shift in our culture away from showing signs of excess and being more careful with what you showed. That is what my Dad's concept of not looking "too successful" came from. You didn't see those W140s at a country club etc like you did the W126 and you did 7 Series and Lincolns and LS400s, they were "vulgar" because they were so expensive and excessive. All of that is why they went SO different with the W220 and made it smaller and much cheaper. If Americans had loved and embraced the big over the top W140 they would have kept on making that.

Those articles I posted said the same thing, and C&D is also just an opinion piece. It can be both the best car in the world and also way too big and ostentatious and complicated for the market it entered into.

Remember, that car wasn't $143,000...thats what my car cost...adjusted for inflation that was $335,000. Not something that any normal person can aspire to...thats Bentley money today.

I truly ALMOST got one. I actually don't mind how it looks in certain trims and colors, it really is an incredible car....BUT in the end the styling I just couldn't do it. I just didn't want to pay that much money to drive around in something a ton of people thought was hideous.

And even old cars that look amazing still look like old cars. I'd like to have one for a fun car, like AJT's Sl500 or an old LS400 but I would never want only an old car, I want a modern car to drive every day

You realize there are reasons for this right beyond just being cheaper? Safety for pedestrians and aerodynamics.

At the end of the day though, do I care about that or having the technology I want in a tool I use day to day? I want the technology.

 

To each its own, I could care less of public perception of what I drive.

I’ve had a beater (mileage dumper/bad weather) vehicle since I was 18. It’s actually less stressful driving them.

 

Everybody cares about what other people think on some level, spending the better part of $2,000 a month to drive something ugly and try and convince myself its not ugly doesn't appeal to me lol. Thats different than driving a beater...the beater isn't that kind of cost.

I don't stress about driving my nice car every day, its just a car. I pay for it so I can enjoy it. Right now its absolutely filthy covered in salt...

 

<cough>prius</cough> no doubt. do you have a lot of stickers on yours?

 

Duly noted, I've known that since I've known you. You don't seem to get that others desire something you don't and vice versa. I love the S-Class, but don't want one anymore because I don't want a hybrid car.

Ok, sure, but that's your Father. On the contrary, my father when he lived in Boca they only (his partners, etc.) had S-Classes, each one from the 320 to the 600. They wouldn't even consider a Lexus LS400. It just had to be Mercedes. They also had a 740iL and 750iL but the Mercedes were their preferences overall.

Lol what are you talking about, a $143,000 Mercedes (in 1992 dollars) is vulgar with a V12? It is a fact that the car had a blank check budget hence the cost of entry. W220 was cost cut--- let me count the ways. They started on the W140 in 1981 lol.

W220 is the worst S-Class of all time. And it wasn't really cheaper, an S500 was about $90k, not far off from a W140 S500. The car was cost cut.. doors didn't slam nor open the same, buttons inside were hollow, the leather was just okay.. Still a really, really nice car but it just wasn't built the way old Mercedes were.

Enter LS430 which was a copy of the W140 and 1000% success. People still wanted the big boxy sedan type.

Americans liked W140s, I really don't know what you're talking about.

I trust classic C&D over some guy in his Mom's basement. Did Hagarty drive the car and spend at least a week with it brand new (like car mags do)? Did he road test it? 5.7 seconds is seriously fast for that era and the car's weight, IMO at least.

Okay, but those who liked it and bought it thought the former I'm guessing

My point exactly. A $335,000 Mercedes. To me that's awesomely ridiculous, to others it's excessive. Yes it was Bentley/Rolls money but a W140 S600 was superior in 1992 to anything from them except cachet and image.

Again, I know this. I just don't think you think I know or something.

Again, I know. Me personally, I don't need all that tech. Though I'll gladly admit it's very nice in the Yukon, the pano roof, the fast interface. But a big thing I also like about it is it has buttons and you don't have to rely on a screen.

 

You can just have other systems to protect idiot pedestrians who don't cross roads where they shouldn't and are too idiotic to understand the car has the right of way via the rules of physics....

The cheap *** plastic front ends that are so rounded and formless are not worth safety for some idiots


As far as tech for a day to day drive I guess I'm very easy to please. All I "need" is a manual trans and a simple engine in a normal car if my goal is to just get somewhere. I do prefer driving a better car sure but the extra care due to my job is overhead that I need to plan around that can be annoying so the car is not damaged/dirty from work.

Extreme 1st world problem I know but it does take me an extra step that I don't "need" to do even if every time I do take said effort I really enjoy taking one of the nice cars for the drive there and back.


IDK, it's weird. I have expensive tastes and high standards but at the same time I don't actually mind driving my old Jeep or Jetta and they don't have **** for comfort or features. It's a different type of experience sorta like intentionally camping vs staying at a nice resort in my mind. I'm not yet at the point in my life where I've gotten the "I'm sick of this ****" with the older cars to care, it's happened like 3 times when they've acted up over the last 5-7 years but normally it's fine.

The only thing that really made me switch cars was the cash two years back with my family, that's why I use a Volvo now as a work SUV as it passes small overlap and all modern crash expectations even with a 2003 chassis lol! Plus it's not nice enough I have to care, nicer than the jeep as well.

Another way to put it I guess would be to say I'm entertained by an old beater being pushed to the absolute limit as an ultra lux car just effortlessly gliding along. I'm sure I'll get to the point the experience contrast of the old cars will not liter amuse me or start to annoy to the point even the work SUVs start to become nice cars.


EDIT: this is specifically only with cars because of how different they are from each other and said differences all entertain me and even my old ones are above the "baseline" of function needed to get me somewhere. The fact I am a master of all things related to them also is a major factor so an issue that would otherwise drive people insane is just a fun little mini game for me.

Other things in my life I have ZERO patience for any level of BS and very much only use top tier stuff because I don't have interest in the low end or annoyances in any way. Guns for example, I can't remember the last time I used a gun for something that cost less than $5k unless I was showing someone else how to use theirs. Reloading as well, I use a Dillion 1050 with al the fancy add ons even though I could objectively do what I need with a 550 or 650, I just prefer the experience of the luxury item. Same with armor, if a new plate set comes out that is .7lb lighter than what I have and costs $2-3k I buy it the week it drops.

Water quality is also something that sets me off in a big way, I hate that aspect of traveling because all hotels have **** tier water and it's bothersome to no end.