Mercedes-Benz 190 Evolution II 2.5 16v,
a smoking-hot car...
...until you drive it.
... How am I supposed to tell the 190 Evo II doesn't drive as good as it looks?
Ok, I'll try to explain why I'm disconcerted by this car:
to feel a bit of thrust (and it's not much),
you have to wait to reach 5000/6000 rpm even in 2nd gear
and the engine redlines at 7500.
It doesn't climb as you might expect by her face and muscles.
The reason this car was designed like this is obvious:
it was made to homologate the DTM car and the rules required
the road cars to be as wide, long etc... as the race cars (spoilers included).
So if they wanted to exploit aerodynamics in races,
the road car had to have the same spoilers and splitters:
so the car is marvelous, extremely evil to look at, but since it's not a racecar,
it doesn't keep promises when you drive it...
For instance, these were 7000 rpm:
I don't even feel pushed forward if I have to be honest.
It's odd if we think the year is 1990 and BMW M3, Sierra Cosworth,
not to mention the Omega Lotus... were cars that produced
great power and torque figures, maybe too much for road cars:
on the Evo II this thing is completely missing.
The engine managed to push the car to 250 kph
which was supercar's territory at the time; 0-60 in 7.1 seconds if I'm not wrong...
Aside from the not-so-high numbers, I don't even think they can be trusted much...
the fact is that it doesn't feel that fast when you drive it.
The thrust is not substantial as you might expect.
The engine is a square 4-cylinders: the bore and stroke ratio is 1:1 (same length)
and should give a linear behavior to the engine...
and it does feel linear, but not in a satisfying way.
It's TOO linear, it takes... a while to get where it should, in the fun area.
The fun area is between 5500 to 7000 but it runs out quickly,
so it's not particularly "fun"
But as we know power is not everything, maybe a good steering, a nice set-up, brakes...
a general feeling that makes you forget about the lack of power...
... but this is not the case.
The steering is exactly the same one used on the regular 190
and this is obviously not a compliment, unless you like driving slowly on the highway.
This is not helped by the driving position, which is...
... a disaster: the steering wheel is huge, my knee barely fits between the wheel and the center console,
when I turn right I hit my leg with my hand: something I've never experienced, not even on the Miura.
It's a bit strange for a comfortable car.
The wheel is really too big and the steering itself was already light
so you didn't need such a wide diameter.
It feels like...
... a regular Mercedes with a livelier engine, but not too much.
It doesn't handle like a sports car...
It's strange, really strange
Everything that is good on this car doesn't interest me:
it's linear, soft, comfortable...
The suspensions are set to favor comfort rather than handling and
the driving pleasure is nonexistent, or at least the driving pleasure I'm interested in.
The roll is...
... the same of a regular Mercedes, why?
Let's clarify: I’m talking about these things because they are the first ones I noticed.
It's impossible to find an honest guy that after a minute driving this car would say:
"It's a nice fun sports car". It's not, it is not...
The choice to make it like this is understandable (to a certain extent, in my opinion):
these were "homologation specials", cars that were made just to homologate the racecar
and maybe the company didn't put much effort into them.
It was something forced for companies, they had to...
my question is: since you had to, why didn't you make it with a bit more care?
If I had bought a car that looked like this in 1990,
I would have expected a monster at least.
Here... there's no monster.
I always read spectacular things (and I'm now amazed by them) about the 190 Evo II,
but the truth is you just needed a Sierra Cosworth to destroy this car.
Maybe it could win on the last 20 kph because the gears are long, highway-friendly...
but if you took this, the Sierra Cosworth and the M3 (not even the Evolution),
this would end minutes, not seconds, after those two.
The gearbox is good, it also brakes well.
The sound is gorgeous, especially the intake one.
I'm trying to kick the tail out: the differential is nice, but
is badly managed by everything else, so you can't do anything with it.
After a bit of understeer, the rear helps to straighten up.
The behavior near oversteer is probably violent,
but with these soft suspensions and this roll you can’t do much
Why did it turn into a legend then?
Because luckily racecars exist. And racecars, as the Delta, the Audi Quattro tells us,
are a whole different planet.
Thank goodness the homologation specials exist, one of, if not THE most fascinating category of cars ever made:
spoilers, wide arches, splitters... these things (that look extremely good on camera)
are enough to create a myth, but to be honest, there are many less-worshiped cars
that drive way better than this.
You feel like Klaus Ludwig when you look at it and sit inside,
but unfortunately it doesn't keep promises.
And it's very heavy.
The steering angle too: look how much I have to turn the steering wheel to make a normal turn
It's not nice, why?
What I asked myself after all this was: "So, is this it?".
These cars are not driven much, maybe it was left in the garage and now it's not in good shape...
but I don't think so because (I cut that part) I stopped and searched for some videos
both from the 90s and also (rare) tests made today
and on every single video you can see the car roll... A LOT,
it's soft and doesn't accelerate... why?!
I waited so long to drive a Mercedes because I wanted my favorite one...
Black, angry... but then... it's not
2nd gear, downhill and it doesn't accelerate...
You guys know I'm kind: I like to find the good any car has to offer
and there's plenty here too. The fact I drove it today and I didn't like it doesn't mean anything:
it's still a myth to me because this car represents the racecar.
The road car is a beautiful object, wonderful to look at...
I will always considered it as my favorite Mercedes together with the CLK GTR, but
if you are in love with the 190 Evo II do NOT drive one.
I support everything I said until now, but what I want to be clear is the fact
it's a matter of choices.
Few modifications would turn this 190 into a monstrous car,
but I have to talk about the stock road car, therefore if this was it,
it would not have been what I expected.
Still, it's a great car, you can change all the suspensions;
if you want to drive, you have to change steering and seat:
even if it's electronically adjustable, it's useless for the purposes of sports driving
because the steering wheel is fixed and huge as I said, the seat doesn't move up or down...
you can just move the seatback and go forward and backwards.
I didn't expect 235 horses to pull as a Porsche 959 do,
but neither I thought it had a weaker pull than a Sierra Cosworth.
I'm very happy, I want it to be clear,
VERY happy to have driven the 190 Evo II, I loved it and still do,
but I don't understand...
You don't know how much I'm annoyed to tell you these things about the 190 Evo II.
I feel like a dad that has to tell their kids Santa does not exist
It's the first time in Drive Experience history, I don't know the words to use...
I'm very sad, believe me, and I know somebody won't like me telling the truth about the 190 Evo II,
but I want to be honest in any case
... It's not a sports car. It has the face of a sports car, it's wonderful,
but not the behavior
Evo II, I still love you.
Today was a very formative experience for me with no doubt,
I've never changed idea on a car this radically
Every lesson is important and once again I understood I shouldn't judge a book by its cover
(despite this cover is gorgeous), especially if this book tells you about races,
where looks can often be deceiving
On my incredible journey among incredible cars, today was something truly new
and it's encouraging to know there's more to know and the secrets of the cars we love most
will never end
So I'm very happy and my love for the 190 Evo II actually got bigger today because
I discovered her true self, her behaviour,
her own unique way to be among the big names in the Olympus of cars
Written and directed by Davide Cironi
Filmed by Francesco Colantoni
Aerial shots by Mattia Nardis
Translated by Elia Pozzani
What happened in the life of that guy that made him so angry?
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