Homologation Specials: 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II

ever since the dawn of the motor car in the late 19th century manufacturers have sought for ways to publicize the merits of their products over the others direct competition has always worked with racing and rallying proving to be the most popular with this in mind in the early 1980s mercedes benz in a quest for rally superiority designed a whole new rally car armed with its cosworth engineering four-cylinder 2.3 liter twin overhead cam 16-valve motor it was to be called the 190e 2.3 16. the mercedes-benz would have to build some 500 of these cars to legitimize it for competition well of course that was what homologation was all about sadly when it was realized that the 190e wouldn't stand much of a chance against the new audi quattro four-wheel drive rally cast mercedes-benz had to think again so the decision was taken to abandon rallies in favor of track racing targeting in particular the german touring car championship also known as the dtm the cosworth mercedes certainly established the brand as a force to be reckoned with in touring car racing the bmw responded with their own homologation special the m3 if munich versus stucco on a football field with some game then on a racetrack it was way better the 190e 2.5 16 evo 2 is the spectacular car that they came up with button make no mistake about it these evo 2 cars are a total joy to drive they've got a really fine-tuned hydro pneumatic suspension and great feature a three position height adjustment that's all set up by this little button on the left of me here well obviously when you're on a race track you have it as low as you can get it but if you want to go over some bumpy terrain and not clout your air down on the front you can bring it up on the button nice feature and the brakes nothing wrong with those pull you up in a straight line definitely man enough for the job his looks may be an acquired taste but the evo ii meant business just look at this rear wing for instance looked like something out of the future at the time but mercedes had to try everything possible if they were going to stand a chance against the m3 under here is an improved 2.5 liter version of cosworth's mercedes engine giving some 235 horsepower in street trim and over 350 horsepower in the races if mercedes had struggled against bmw audi and ford in the dtm it all came right in 1972 when klaus ludwig won the dtm title for them outright in an evo2 but this car on the racetrack didn't just win it set records ellen ler in 1992 won outright at the hockenheim ring beating keckie rosberg remaining the only woman to date to have won a dtm race cars like this are obviously at their best when you're really using all you've got revving the engine using the power using the speed i guess it's then that it's somewhat outrageous looks coming to their own because you do need that dam on the front to hold your nose down and you do need a bit of wing at the back to keep download on the rear wheel so you can get all your power down when you're chucking it round a corner what is so nice about these homologation cars is that whilst they were built in quantity purely to get themselves legitimized for racing they do make the most wonderful road cars as well i can see why they're so popular people sometimes ask me what i think might make a great iconic car in the future as if i'd know but this car has already achieved that status there's no doubt about that and i suppose it's a reasonable bet that any other purpose-built car in the same category could well qualify to become a future icon but they have to go some to do much better than this [Music] you know driving this machine around and thinking about that engine in there reminds me of a great story in 1914 mercedes won the french grand prix well it was the only grand prix at the time anyway and to celebrate they sent the winning car to their showrooms in mayfair in england well world war one breaks out and so the ministry of defense sequester the car send it to rolls royce they take it to pieces to see if they can learn anything what do they discover four valves per cylinder overhead camshaft and from there on every aviation engine built by rolls royce had four valves per cylinder overhead cam right up to and including the merlin engine that was used in spitfires and hurricanes so strange old world isn't it that over 65 years after that grand prix mercedes come back to the brits to get advice on how to make their engine more powerful and it gets a 16 valve head and overhead counts but in any case here we have a definite and wonderful homologation special and i see the uh yeah the custodian of the car hasn't shown up yet so i think i'll grab a quick ride in it before he shows strange world isn't it [Music] you

Channel: Petrolicious

Views: 175,738

Rating: 4.9309602 out of 5

Keywords: classic cars, vintage cars, petrolicious, top gear, drive

Id: YG9uB1FXeq4

Length: 7min 47sec (467 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 22 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/PioneerDingus]

I nearly had a heart attack when one of these showed up to a local cars and coffee.

[u/maverickmonkmetal]

Good god that’s such a gorgeous car. They just don’t make cars like this anymore. Closest we have is probably the s209 and the not-for-America Prius.

[u/neospecv]

One of my top 5 favorite cars of all time.

[u/Zenki2zenki]

This car changed my perception of Mercedes-Benz. I once perceived MB as a brand for old rich people who are stuck in their old rich ways until i saw this car....and it looked so sinister.

[u/Gargenville]

I saw a pristine one of these at a dealership in like 2000 when they were relatively cheap (they wanted 35 grand iirc) and even as a dumbass 15 year old I knew a car that outrageous, rare and significant with such presence would only get more expensive.

[u/rctothefuture]

A car that Martin Brundle said was "one of the best chassis he had ever driven."