RE: Stiffy

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

On Wed, 10 Apr 1996, Peter Henriksen wrote:

> No creaking when cornering in my 200 Avant. However, there are a number
> of other creaks and groans, mostly from the seats and dash, that I
> wouldn't expect in a $48,000-when-new car. Don't get me wrong - I love
> the car and it doesn't really bother me, but I don't think they should
> be there, is all.

remember that your car was originally made with light weight as one of its
top priorities, since it was to be powered by nothing more extravagant
than a 2.2 liter normally aspirated 5.  the original aero-5000 (what is
the internal name?  b3? b4?) had great handling, good performance for the
standards of its time, good economy, excellent crashworthiness.  in a lot
of ways it was an excellent car, a lot of it brought about by its light
weight.

as you can guess by now, light weight does have its downside.  the
200Q20V and v8 had substantial structural reinforcements but it was
still basically the same lightweight original 5000.  a drive in the
newer 100 or S4 will reveal quite a difference in structural rigidity.
the newer cars also seemed to have better rigidity per pound of car.

if you want to feel better, go take a drive in a 5 year old lexus or
infiniti Q45.  my v8 feels brand new compared to those even though i
have stiff shocks and sidewalls.  dunno about benzes tho...

:)

eliot