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230G NEEDS MORE POWER

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rrahbar

230G NEEDS MORE POWER

Post#1 » Thu May 14, 2009 4:53 am

Recently bought a 230G Cabrio. I love driving it, but it never goes greater than 55 mph on the highway(even flat roads or downhill). I don't expect the truck to go fast considering the engine size, but the specs for the vehicle say that it should have a top speed of 135 km/hr. I know the 230G have 90hp or 120hp(mine must be 90hp) The engine seems pretty sound, but I feel like I must be missing something. Anyway, I'd be happy if this truck would go just a little faster (65-70mph). Any thoughts out there on what might be wrong or how I can get this thing to a little faster (outside of putting in a larger engine).

THANKS

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Gelande
Posts: 5327

Re: 230G NEEDS MORE POWER

Post#2 » Thu May 14, 2009 5:36 am

Move up to 32" or 33" diameter tires 7% increase in speed per inch

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Dai C
Posts: 786

Re: 230G NEEDS MORE POWER

Post#3 » Thu May 14, 2009 7:21 am

The down side of increased tire size is even slower acceleration and loss of usable torque and power.
I think there may be a problem related to the carb or the motor is worn. Do a compression check and make sure the valves are in adjustment. Check the timing, distributor cap, points, condenser and sparkplug condition. The condition of the carb might be the big contributor to poor performance. Wear on the main jet could be causing over fueling and a rich condition, that will reduce power and top speed. The state of tune of that motor will have a significant influence on the power of that motor in such a heavy truck.

I drove a 230GD with a carb in good shape. It had a similar level of performance to my 300GD. Decent acceleration, and top speed of around 65 or so. If it is related to the carb consider changing that out to a Weber. Those carbs are easy to set up and tune. The rebuild parts for the stock carb is close to the cost of a Weber.

-Dai

rrahbar

Re: 230G NEEDS MORE POWER

Post#4 » Thu May 14, 2009 11:21 am

Thanks for the advice. I was wondering if i needed to change the gear ratio? I do need to place a carb. So you recommend a weber carb... I 'll start there...

rrahbar

Re: 230G NEEDS MORE POWER

Post#5 » Wed May 20, 2009 4:38 pm

How fast should I expect a 230g cabrio to go? Mine tops out at 55mph. Is that normal???

schuhe
Posts: 1949

Re: 230G NEEDS MORE POWER

Post#6 » Wed May 20, 2009 7:19 pm

Hi rrahbar,

Have you had a recent tune up? That seems too slow to me, even with that 2300cc four cylinder. Have you actually taken it down the freeway and timed your travel between milemarkers to check speedometer accuracy?

I have owned W114/115 sedans with that engine and carb. I like the idea of changing to a Weber Carb, but make certain you are fully tuned and adjusted before concluding you need to change carbs.

Tires make a huge difference. The smaller, the more torgue, just as Dai noted. My first 300GD had stock tires (29 inch), and I thought it would be cool to put on 32 inch tires. That lasted one day, and I exchanged them for new 29.5 inch tires. I was happy again, even though I never drove faster than 100 kph. I was a happy owner. It is all about the mental state that we bring to these vehicles. Tires and cars are a lot like dogs and purpose, and a happy little miniture Schnauzer is going to be a major league hunting bird dog. But, that is just fine with me.

Best wishes,

Tom

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