help w208 or w209

[daveuj]

Hi just after a bit of help looking for a clk cab what would be the best to get, a late 208 good spec: or a 2003ish 209 think I can just push the buget to about £13000ish.do the 230k and 320s have to run on supper unleded?
Any help would be great.
Thanks Dave
Is rust a big problem on 208s what should i look for?

 

[SilverSaloon]

Hi just after a bit of help looking for a clk cab what would be the best to get, a late 208 good spec: or a 2003ish 209 think I can just push the buget to about £13000ish.do the 230k and 320s have to run on supper unleded?
Any help would be great.
Thanks Dave
Is rust a big problem on 208s what should i look for?

IMO a nice W208 cabrio is one of the best looking modern-ish mercs. the 209 doesnt look as nice.

however the 209 is a much more "modern" merc and obviously will look newer etc if you care about that sort of thing.

i just ran my W208 CLK320 on standard unleaded - was fine.

 

[st4]

Aye a merc seems to run fine with normal fuels. MB advise (with the moderns) to run normal grade fuel and not super. With beemers the converse is true where ROn95 petrol should only be used when RON98 couldn't be used.

IIRC you need to find out what the engines compression ratio is, a 9.5:1 means 95 octane fuel is okay, and above this is futile, a 10.5:1 ration means you need fuel with a 105 octane rating. I will stand corrected if what I wrote was wrong.

An early 209 may not be as "sound" a car as a late 208 in terms of mechanical reliability (valeo rads) and if your budget won't stretch to a facelifted 209 a late 208 would get my vote.

 

[Dryce]

IIRC you need to find out what the engines compression ratio is, a 9.5:1 means 95 octane fuel is okay, and above this is futile, a 10.5:1 ration means you need fuel with a 105 octane rating. I will stand corrected if what I wrote was wrong.

That's not the way it works.

Yes - typically a higher compression ratio engine requires a higher octane rated fuel.

But the RON numbers don't have any numeric relationship to the compression ratios.

It's a more complex relationship that also depends on other factors such as the operating speed/workload of the engine and the control system as well as the fuel.

 

[st4]

That's not the way it works.

Yes - typically a higher compression ratio engine requires a higher octane rated fuel.

But the RON numbers don't have any numeric relationship to the compression ratios.

It's a more complex relationship that also depends on other factors such as the operating speed/workload of the engine and the control system as well as the fuel.

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[daveuj]

Thanks for the help

 

[x332race]

I have had both a 208 and a 209. Both are good cars to own and drive. On balance, the 209 is the better drivers car.....it is stiffer and handles better.

I did not experience any rust issues on the 208 and do not expect to do so on the 209. No reliability issues either