When we think back about DTM racing in the 80s, it's easy to remember the BMW E30 M3’s success, & it definitely helps that BMW still makes the M3. It’s very easy to forget that there were other cars at the time that were homologated, that did kick ass, but for one reason or another, didn’t find the success the M3 has had.
â–´2 One of those cars is the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16V Evo II.
â–´3 Already having success with the 190E 2.3-16V during the late 80s, Mercedes faced stiff competition in 1989 with the E30 M3 Sport Evolution & decided to homologate the 2.5-16V Evo I, which had a 202hp motor, wider fenders, an adjustable rear wing, & an optional 18,000 Deutschmark mark Power Pack by AMG giving you 30 extra horsepower utilizing a different camshaft, a larger throttle body, & a different fuel management system.
â–´4 - â–´5 Having only produced the minimum units for homologation, Mercedes followed up the Evo I with another 502 units in the Evo II. Mercedes claimed that since they had reached the potential in chassis stiffness, lightness, & power, all that could be improved was the chassis, brakes, & aerodynamics.
▴6 Mercedes did tune the motor further allowing the motor to rev to 7850rpm vs. the Evo I’s 7250rpm. This time around the Power Pack was a standard feature. The fenders were exaggerated further & the wing was even bigger reducing drag to 0.29g & adding down force.
▴7 BMW executive chief joked about Mercedes’ new wing at the time saying that aerodynamics must be different in Stuttgart & BMW would have to redesign their wind tunnel if Mercedes’ wing worked. Long story short, BMW had to eat their words and redesigned their wind tunnel.
â–´8 -â–´9 With all this, Mercedes went on to dominate the 1992 DTM season & brought home the title.
With the introduction of the W202 C class, the W201, which the 190E was based on, slowly faded away. DTM also changed to become the ITCC & these legends went out to pasture.
▴10 But let’s not forget that for a sweet glorious moment, Mercedes made some of the most badass road legal cars in the 190E 2.3-16V, the 190E 2.5-16V Evo I, & the baddest of them all, the 190E 2.5-16V Evo II.
📸Sources: | @MercedesBenz | wikipedia |