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190 E 2.3 16V and 2.5 16V Cosworth
In 1979 Mercedes Benz had decided to taking part in motor sport again,
this time Mercedes wanted to go rally racing. They needed to get the
most out of there little engine and car so that it would be able to
compete against the more established names so they turned to Cosworth
Engineering. Cosworth came up with a 2.3 litre 16 valve engine and in
1983 the 2.3 16V was launched. The original car produced 177 bhp which
was 55 bhp more then the standard car. The top speed of this car was 141
mph, the car came as a rear wheel drive. The plans for rally racing were
abandoned by Mercedes as four wheel drive was the norm now. In 1988 the
2.5 litre version was launched costing £38, 272. Although Mercedes did
not take part in rally racing they did enter the cars in DTM racing
which is the German equivalent to the British touring cars, the cars
were entered under the AMG name of Mercedes who now controlled the
engineering of the 190 E 2.5 16V. In total the 190 E won 50 races in
DTM racing and with this winning numerous DTM titles. The 190 E was
designed to increase sales with a small car without compromising quality
or image of the Mercedes Benz brand. The 190 E was a very successful
car. Mercedes also developed limited edition homologated version of the
2. 5 16V, it was known as the Evo 2. Mercedes only made 502 Evo 2. The
main difference between the standard Cosworth 2. 5 model and the Evo 2
is the flared wheel arches and huge rear spoiler.
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