A guy is building a ‘97 S300 Turbodiesel for SEMA and aiming to roughly double its factory power.
Stumbled on this build and I kind of love the idea of it.

A W140 S-Class that still looks like a comfy, understated ’90s Benz, but with way more power than anyone would expect.

It’s Kanan Gubins’ 1997 S300 Turbodiesel, and stock, the OM606 3.0 inline six made around 175 hp and 243 lb-ft. He’s not swapping anything in either, since the goal is 350~400 hp out of the same engine.

The plan so far is a bigger HX35 turbo, custom piping, and exhaust work, but obviously a bigger turbo alone won’t get you there. It’ll need enough fuel, the cooling has to keep up, and the trans has to actually survive it. Nothing’s been dyno’d yet, so 350~400 is the target, not a result yet.

It’s also getting fresh paint and rust protection. Honestly, I hope they keep the stock W140 look as much as possible. That’s the whole appeal for me: a Mercedes that still looks like a comfortable sedan but has a lot more power than you’d expect.

The backstory is the best part though. Kanan found the car in Latvia, where his dad was born, drove it about 1,200 km to Vienna, then shipped it to LA as a birthday surprise. Apparently they’d been talking about this exact model for years, and it even shipped out of the same German port his dad left from when he emigrated to the US in 1950, and it showed up the day before his dad’s birthday.

Now it’s getting built for an unveiling at SEMA 2026 in Vegas. What’s been shown so far looks promising. Really curious what it ends up making and how much of the classic S-Class look survives.

If anyone’s going to SEMA 2026, keep an eye out for it. Would love to hear what it’s like in person.

​

Put a set in my daily driver last October after seeing a bunch of forum threads praising the coverage... figured I'd share how they've held up after four full seasons of commuting 😅

They've been pretty solid overall. The raised sides have done a good job keeping melting snow, muddy water and gravel off the carpet, and they still stay put on the factory retention posts. After a full winter, the carpet underneath has stayed alot cleaner than it used to with regular mats 👍

The textured channels can hold onto dried dirt tho, so every now and then I have to hit them with a brush instead of just rinsing them off... There's also a slightly smoother spot where my right heel rests, but nothing has cracked, warped or worn through...

After a year of daily use, I honestly don't have much to complain about... they definitely look used at this point, but they've held up better than I expected considering the amount of snow, salt and gravel they see 💀

Curious how other people's 3W mats are looking after a year or two... anyone else noticed similar wear, or are yours holding up even better?? 👀

There's a massive engineering work to make it real.

Last summer I tried using cheap universal rubber mats to keep mud off the driver's floor, but they kept shifting around and dirt still worked its way underneath the edges.

By the time I finally cleaned the carpet, I'd probably spent more time and money on cleaner than the mats were worth.

I'm trying to avoid doing the same thing again this summer, but I also don't want to jump straight to an expensive fitted set if the cheaper option can do the job.

For people who've used both, what actually matters more in day-to-day use: having higher edges that contain the mess, or having a mat that grips the floor well enough that it never shifts?

I'm mostly trying to protect the carpet without buying twice.

I’m looking for a first car and stumbled upon a Micra that’s $4k. Needs a new battery and new rear wheels, but besides that it’s pretty good condition and has had its oil changed every 5K km. Is there any issues that Micras have that I should know about?

Hallo zusammen,
ich stehe kurz davor, mir ein neues Auto zu kaufen. Modell (Skoda Epiq) und Ausstattung steht schon fest, nur die Farbwahl macht mich verrückt.
Wie geht ihr damit um, wie wählt ihr eure Farbe aus? Nach Wiederverkaufspreis, Pflegeaufwand, etc.?

Mich würde interessieren, ob ihr hilfreiche Tipps habt.

Aktuell schwanke ich zwischen rot und einem mintgrün, aber dann seh ich wieder eine weitere Farbe und mein Kopf überzeugt mich davon, dass das auch cool sein kann.

My younger brother is looking for his first car in NSW and has about $15k all up, but the insurance quotes are making some of the obvious choices look pretty ordinary. He’s mainly considering a Yaris, Corolla or i30 around 100,000 km, and wants something cheap to service rather than just the lowest purchase price. Which one would you pick for a new driver, and are there any models that look cheap until the insurance comes through?

Hallo,

ich suche ein Auto und habe momentan ein Jaguar XE im Auge hat schon jemand Erfahrung mit Jaguars gemacht?

I’m looking for one that I can plug into the cigarette lighter, and get next to no static if possible. The one I have right now is almost dead and I’m looking for a good replacement, does anybody recommend any?

[915x1643]

In love with the Alfa Romeo concept

Hallo zusammen, in den letzten 2 bis 3 Jahren hab ich festgestellt, dass oftmals das Angebot, dass man online angezeigt bekommt bei Versicherungsanbietern, niedriger ist, als auf dem Versicherungsschein dann angegeben. Früher kannte ich das nicht.

Ist euch das auch schon aufgefallen? Vor 2 Jahren hab ich dann widerrufen und einen günstigeren Versicherer gesucht, dieses Jahr gibt es keinen günstigeren.

Viele Grüße

I’m trying to attend next year‘s event in 2027. But I’m struggling to figure out transportation.

The previous year’s guides reference parking at Larson Field and taking a shuttle to Carmel Plaza. From there, you can take a shuttle to Pebble Beach.

But I searched up Larson Field and it’s a cramped baseball field that would definitely not support the amount of people trying to go to the concours + the quail.

I’m expecting downtown Carmel to be complete gridlock with zero parking

So…where do I park? How do I get to the events? Help…

Endless Summer Cruisin' just ended. We put down roughly 400 miles. Had a blast.

The ole red 2012 Camry is damn near at 300k now. The only problem is the torque converter clutch release didn’t release one time and we had to let the car cool down before it was completely fine again. No idea why. That and a mysterious oil consumption. Doesn’t burn any oil and it doesn’t leak.even fully loaded w 5 passengers it doesn’t burn a drop. Have to add oil regularly tho. Drives great and has plenty of power! Everything works!

Opinions?

Hallo zusammen,

der Titel sagt es eigentlich fast schon. Ich habe meinen BMW 118i wegen eines defekten Turboladers in eine freie Werkstatt gegeben. Dass es wirklich am Turbolader liegt habe ich mir zuvor auch durch BMW selbst bestätigen lassen.

Nachdem ich den Wagen heute abgeholt habe, hat dieser nach ca. 3km begonnen Öl zu verlieren. Habe ich erst nicht gemerkt. Dann gab es ein leises Knallgeräusch, der Wagen zog nur noch ruckhaft und begann daraufhin Geräusche von sich zu geben. Alles endete dann mit dunklen Abgasen und der roten Motorölleuchte, die anzeigte, dass der Öldruck zu niedrig ist. Werkstatt kontaktiert, Wagen dorthin abgeschleppt und warte jetzt darauf, dass sie sich das Ganze anschauen.

Es liegt ganz offensichtlich an einem fahrlässigen Verschulden der Werkstatt. Ich werde morgen dort anrufen und denen nochmal den ganzen Ablauf detailliert schildern.

Meine Frage ist im Grunde folgende: Wie gehe ich in dem Gespräch morgen am besten vor? Was kann ich verlangen? Welche Rechte habe ich hier? Ich bräuchte tatsächlich auch einen Ersatzwagen, da ich ansonsten nächste Woche ziemlich aufgeschmissen bin.

Danke für Eure Hilfe. :)

These are screenshots from a video I took. I ran into it by chance after bike ride

Leute ich hab nicht wirklich Ahnung von Autos, hab meinen Wagen gebraucht seit 2 Jahren und jetzt erstes mal tüv und Inspektion, komplett schockiert raus gegangen weil hat 1150€ gekostet obwohl nix wirklich kaputt war außer warnblinkleuchte oder so und dann guck ich auf die Rechnung und alleine das Öl für den Ölwechsel hat über 300€ gekostet???😂😭 also das doch nicht normal oder? Wurde ich da verarscht oder bin ich lost?

I used to have a 2013 Elantra, and I had it rustproofed every year. Recently, I bought a 2016 B250 in perfect condition with no rust, and I was wondering if it also needs rustproofing or if it’s not necessary.

By the way, I’m in Canada.