Mercedes was the more successful racing marque back then, and more experienced. However, 1955 was the year of the disaster at LeMans, so bad that Mercedes swore off racing for decades.
The 1955 300SL was only 2900 pounds and 215 hp.
In 1952, the original 300SL (model Mercedes-Benz W194) scored overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in Berne-Bremgarten, in the sportscar race of the Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring, and in Mexico’s Carrera Panamericana. It also managed second and fourth places at its first outing, the Mille Miglia in 1952.
These successes, especially those on the high speed open road races, were rather surprising as the engine then was fitted only with carburetors, producing 175 hp (130 kW), which was not only less than the competing cars by Ferrari and Jaguar, but also less than the road car of 1954. Low weight and low aerodynamic drag made the 300SL fast enough to be competitive, while reliability improved its chances of winning.
Fitch land speed record attempt
In 2005, a 300SL coupe driven by 87 year old John Fitch, who had been a Mercedes-Benz factory racing driver in 1955, attempted to set a new land speed record for the F/GT class at Bonneville Speedway, but was thwarted by a balky fuel pump that limited top speed to 150 mph (240 km/h). After the run, the team vowed to return for a second attempt the next year. Fitch noted that he had driven these cars faster than that at night, in the rain, on the road with 60 other cars. The attempt is documented in the film Gullwing at Twilight: The Bonneville Ride of John Fitch, which was aired on PBS.
I’m not so sure about the speedster, but it probably had 1/2 the hp and 70% of the weight, so the 300 would be doing better in that regard.
Porsche 356s had their share of racing success, but no overall victory at LeMans until 1970 with the 917.
It probably depends on the type of race you’re thinking about…
The 300SL gullwing was an expensive car, but by no stretch of the imagination was it a luxury car. Nor was the Speedster, being a stripped and decontented version of the 356. While an effective endurance racer, the 300SL was a brutal car to drive on the road. It had no luxury features whatsoever, unless you count a redundant heater and the option of fitted luggage. In fact, the gullwing was so uncomfortable that it was replaced by the 300SL roadster, which allowed the driver to put down the top to minimize the agony of being cooked by the physically huge limo engine. The roadster also had the luxury of doors that came down close to floor height so that driver and passenger could actually get in and out of the car without injury. Very few Mercedes of the ’50 were luxury cars in any capacity, the large 300 sedans, coupes, and convertibles being something of an exception. The greatest Mercedes engineer, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, was quoted as saying that if someone was so inept that they couldn’t roll down their own window, they had no business behind the wheel of one of his cars. What you paid for when you bought a Mercedes was exceptional durability, attention to safety, and performance that didn’t fade with the miles. It wasn’t until the Japanese started competing with the top Germans that the German cars became the gadget laden unreliable junk that they are today.
The Zune concentrates on being a Portable Media Player. Not a web browser. Not a game machine. Maybe in the future it’ll do even better in those areas, but for now it’s a fantastic way to organize and listen to your music and videos, and is without peer in that regard. The iPod’s strengths are its web browsing and apps. If those sound more compelling, perhaps it is your best choice.
I’ll gear this review to 2 types of people: current Zune owners who are considering an upgrade, and people trying to decide between a Zune and an iPod. (There are other players worth considering out there, like the Sony Walkman X, but I hope this gives you enough info to make an informed decision of the Zune vs players other than the iPod line as well.)
This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like ‘Mixview’ that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you’re listening to. Clicking on one of those will center on that item, and another set of “neighbors” will come into view, allowing you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune “Social” is also great fun, letting you find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with them. You then can listen to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose.
This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like ‘Mixview’ that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you’re listening to. Clicking on one of those will center on that item, and another set of “neighbors” will come into view, allowing you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune “Social” is also great fun, letting you find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with them. You then can listen to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose.
The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod’s. It works well, but isn’t as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that’s not an issue, but if you’re planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod’s larger screen and better browser may be important.
Zune and iPod: Most people compare the Zune to the Touch, but after seeing how slim and surprisingly small and light it is, I consider it to be a rather unique hybrid that combines qualities of both the Touch and the Nano. It’s very colorful and lovely OLED screen is slightly smaller than the touch screen, but the player itself feels quite a bit smaller and lighter. It weighs about 2/3 as much, and is noticeably smaller in width and height, while being just a hair thicker.
The Porsche was more of a sportscar back then and Mercedes was all about luxury.
But it is a good comparison.
I would go with the Porsche.
Mercedes was the more successful racing marque back then, and more experienced. However, 1955 was the year of the disaster at LeMans, so bad that Mercedes swore off racing for decades.
The 1955 300SL was only 2900 pounds and 215 hp.
In 1952, the original 300SL (model Mercedes-Benz W194) scored overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in Berne-Bremgarten, in the sportscar race of the Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring, and in Mexico’s Carrera Panamericana. It also managed second and fourth places at its first outing, the Mille Miglia in 1952.
These successes, especially those on the high speed open road races, were rather surprising as the engine then was fitted only with carburetors, producing 175 hp (130 kW), which was not only less than the competing cars by Ferrari and Jaguar, but also less than the road car of 1954. Low weight and low aerodynamic drag made the 300SL fast enough to be competitive, while reliability improved its chances of winning.
Fitch land speed record attempt
In 2005, a 300SL coupe driven by 87 year old John Fitch, who had been a Mercedes-Benz factory racing driver in 1955, attempted to set a new land speed record for the F/GT class at Bonneville Speedway, but was thwarted by a balky fuel pump that limited top speed to 150 mph (240 km/h). After the run, the team vowed to return for a second attempt the next year. Fitch noted that he had driven these cars faster than that at night, in the rain, on the road with 60 other cars. The attempt is documented in the film Gullwing at Twilight: The Bonneville Ride of John Fitch, which was aired on PBS.
I’m not so sure about the speedster, but it probably had 1/2 the hp and 70% of the weight, so the 300 would be doing better in that regard.
Porsche 356s had their share of racing success, but no overall victory at LeMans until 1970 with the 917.
It probably depends on the type of race you’re thinking about…
The 300SL gullwing was an expensive car, but by no stretch of the imagination was it a luxury car. Nor was the Speedster, being a stripped and decontented version of the 356. While an effective endurance racer, the 300SL was a brutal car to drive on the road. It had no luxury features whatsoever, unless you count a redundant heater and the option of fitted luggage. In fact, the gullwing was so uncomfortable that it was replaced by the 300SL roadster, which allowed the driver to put down the top to minimize the agony of being cooked by the physically huge limo engine. The roadster also had the luxury of doors that came down close to floor height so that driver and passenger could actually get in and out of the car without injury. Very few Mercedes of the ’50 were luxury cars in any capacity, the large 300 sedans, coupes, and convertibles being something of an exception. The greatest Mercedes engineer, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, was quoted as saying that if someone was so inept that they couldn’t roll down their own window, they had no business behind the wheel of one of his cars. What you paid for when you bought a Mercedes was exceptional durability, attention to safety, and performance that didn’t fade with the miles. It wasn’t until the Japanese started competing with the top Germans that the German cars became the gadget laden unreliable junk that they are today.
I know that the gullwing was the fastest production car in a straight line, so that means the porsche would eat his dust.
Very nice site! is it yours too
Very nice site! is it yours too
The Zune concentrates on being a Portable Media Player. Not a web browser. Not a game machine. Maybe in the future it’ll do even better in those areas, but for now it’s a fantastic way to organize and listen to your music and videos, and is without peer in that regard. The iPod’s strengths are its web browsing and apps. If those sound more compelling, perhaps it is your best choice.
I’ll gear this review to 2 types of people: current Zune owners who are considering an upgrade, and people trying to decide between a Zune and an iPod. (There are other players worth considering out there, like the Sony Walkman X, but I hope this gives you enough info to make an informed decision of the Zune vs players other than the iPod line as well.)
i didnt know that, is there another article like that? because i really wanna know more about it
This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like ‘Mixview’ that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you’re listening to. Clicking on one of those will center on that item, and another set of “neighbors” will come into view, allowing you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune “Social” is also great fun, letting you find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with them. You then can listen to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose.
This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like ‘Mixview’ that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you’re listening to. Clicking on one of those will center on that item, and another set of “neighbors” will come into view, allowing you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune “Social” is also great fun, letting you find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with them. You then can listen to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose.
The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod’s. It works well, but isn’t as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that’s not an issue, but if you’re planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod’s larger screen and better browser may be important.
Zune and iPod: Most people compare the Zune to the Touch, but after seeing how slim and surprisingly small and light it is, I consider it to be a rather unique hybrid that combines qualities of both the Touch and the Nano. It’s very colorful and lovely OLED screen is slightly smaller than the touch screen, but the player itself feels quite a bit smaller and lighter. It weighs about 2/3 as much, and is noticeably smaller in width and height, while being just a hair thicker.
Very nice site! is it yours too