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I haven't done the conversion, but I insist that there are some crappy cars that just pull away from the 240 in traffic.
My car is perhaps one of the better-maintained cars out there. In fact, they all are. But nothing can overcome a massive shortcoming in the raw horsepower that the 240 needs to get by.
I have found that the automatic is more palatable to drive in the majority of conditions. The M47, with it's half-ton flywheel, is ridiculous to try to shift without losing half your momentum while the engine putt-putts down to permissable speeds before just dumping the clutch in. It WILL pull hard on the highway, though, so long as you keep 2450 on the tach (or more).
That means riding in 5th gear at about 80mph before the thing has any power. A gust of wind or a 1% hill will knock the thing down a few mph if I'm traveling at 70 or 75. Downshifting is a very frequent occurrance.
Also, I have to haul around 100# of horse feed under the rear floor, because when I don't, I'm lucky to see traction on wet pavement or in snow. The rear will burn/break out in no time. I'm sure the weight doesn't help matters. But otherwise I'm constantly ripping out from lights and getting ABS stops over slick, dry pavement.
I recall my Diesel-powered 240 as having a far superior ride to the gas versions. That's what a couple of hundred extra pounds in the front of the car gets you. And a heavy tank of fuel in the rear. The thing rode like a dream, and I mean that. It didn't have the jarring that the normal 240 has, although yours sounds like it rides much better!
Naturally the diesel sucked at moving it's fat ass from a dead stop. But it could've made a nice V8 transplant car :)
Don't get me wrong. The 240 is a fantastic car. I wouldn't own one (yet ANOTHER one) if it wasn't. There's just one major shortfall, and in my opinion, power is it. It does fine in day-to-day driving, and is a wonderful highway car. My car feels a lot like a late eighties Mercedes 300SE on the highway (except the live axle part).
I said it before... (no offense taken on MY part, for the record) but I'd take a Turbo if I could find one that was owned by someone who had a clue of what they were driving. most of them are trashed, blow oil, etc., by the time I see them. Or they're gone the second they hit the market.
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