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What do you do when your Ferrari gets parked by a 1987 Mercedes Benz 190E? That's the question Norwegian auto magazine Drive opens this article with. This car started its life in Germany, when a man bought it new in 1987. The man, however, wasn't the least interested in its original specs, and sent the car straight to Roland Asch. Described as a known DTM-racer and supposably also engineer of God's mercy. He constructed and monted a modified DTM-rear suspension from a 2,5-16 EVO2.   After
this he sent the car to engine constructor Suhe Motorsport, who on
the owners commands,ditched the original motor and replaced it with
a Cosworth engine. At this point the dream of an anonymous speed machine
was realised.At least on paper. The car had at this stage cost the owner his shirt, but he didn't get the expected payment for all his spending. At first the engine got problems with overheating, which the engine constructor never managed to solve. Then the car got ran into from behind and was so on reduced from a speed devil to a parked manikin of which the owner wanted to get rid of.  It was later bought by a Norwegian, Vidar Hansen, whom already on
his way home discovered the solution to its overheating problem; Bugs!
Top half of the radiator was covered with them. A quick exchange of
the grill, and the problem was fixed. Unforunately that wasn't all.
They had also mounted the sump wrong way and forgot to move the oil pick
up. The result was an overheated engine with bad lubrication. It ain't
always pretty what a professional engine builder gets paid for!These things doesn't stop Hansen however. You see, Hansen is an enthusiast, or even beyond that; a nutter! He sent the car to an english engine builder, Michael Lowman with Lowman-Jones. Among their specialties, Cossie-engines. Michael milled and grinded the intakes, and also added a Garrett-turbo, high caliber.   The air in the compression chamber expands with help from water injection,
which means higher pressure in the cylinder. This results in an even
larger and more refined explosion. There are also two steel tanks
in the boot, one for secret fuel-mixtures, the other is dry sump.
The last one is there to collect every drop of oil and then send it
straight back where it belongs; the engine.A look under the car reveals the exhaust system, three inches in diameter, stainless steel and made by an exhaustguru who has dedicated his life to all the right bends for optimum backpressure. The car has also got an anti-lag function, activated by a button
inside it. This device maintains turbopressure when the throttle is
released.
The gearbox isn't quite up there with the rest of the car though. At least not yet. After dropping one already, he had installed a 300D gearbox. A tip from the journalist immediately makes him call a friend who has a spare BMW M3 six speed gearbox. After a few quick measurings he discovers that it fits and voila, he's got himself an M3 gearbox! All in all this makes the car able to do 0-100 km/h in four seconds and has a top speed of about 300 km/h. Quite respectable for a Mercedes Benz W201, a car that isn't excactly God's gift to aerodynamics.  One would be quite stupid to get into this car without knowing that it stops as fast as it accelerates you might say. Well, Hansen also thought about that. The EVO 2 comes standard with 285 mm ventilated discs and huge one pot calipers. This ought to be more than enough according to most standards, but the Mercedes is no light car. Hansen has therefor installed Brembo 330 mm ventilated and drilled discs with four pot calipers à la Ferrari F40. He has also installed a 2 meter in diameter dragrace brakeparachute. Oh, and do you take the hint on the license plate? 16 valves - 450 hp. Hansen was selling the car at the time this article was written (December 1999). The price was NOK 350.000.
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