Karim, the wiring and ECU expert, is driving down to tune the car on the dyno in just a few days. With another quickly approaching deadline, Nate and the team are on the hook again to deliver a significant ask in a less-than-ideal timeframe. As we all know, rushing can lead to mistakes. Will the 190E make it to its dyno session, and if it does, will the untested junkyard AMG M133 engine make it through its first torture test? Find out right here on episode seven of the Golden Era Project.
Will It Hold Together? Hitting The Dyno With Our Junkyard-AMG-Powered 190E
The late 1980s into the early 1990s were a great time to be a racing fan in Europe thanks to the emergence of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), a grand touring series that featured some truly iconic vehicles. Those machines were truly cutting edge in terms of their technology and the engineering that went into them, the competition was quite fierce, and the cars looked much like the ones we could buy right off the showroom floor, minus the liveries and lack of amenities, of course. And that’s precisely what inspired the folks at FCP Euro to transform this W201 Mercedes 190E that came from Facebook Marketplace into a proper DTM-inspired golden era racer.
When it came time to pick a powerplant for this tribute car, the team at FCP sourced a turbocharged 2.0 L M133 inline-four cylinder powerplant from a GLA45 AMG, a job that isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. FCP had to fabricate its own engine mounts and then changed the engine’s layout from transverse to longitudinal before adding a custom wiring harness, Volvo C30 air-to-air intercooler, and a Motec M141 ECU to the mix, which resulted in an output of 400 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque.
That power flows to the wheels via a 716.6 six-speed manual transmission fitted with a custom flywheel and Tilton twin-disc clutch, as well as a Driveshaft Shop custom carbon fiber driveshaft and an OS Giken Super Lock limited-slip differential fitted with 3.46 gears and custom axles. Suspension wise, FCP went with Bilstein Clubsport coilovers, C63 AMG front knuckles, Ground Control rear links, and a BMW E46 M3 steering rack, while braking is handled by C63 AMG Brembo six-piston calipers up front and four-pistons in the rear.
Of course, this Mercedes 190E DTM tribute also has to look the part, and it certainly does, thanks to the addition of a Vuik Motorsport EVO II widebody kit, Rotiform R113 18×9-inch wheels, Kumho Ecsta V730 tires, and the piece de resistance – Schaeffler livery applied via a vinyl wrap. This amazing machine is truly stunning in every regard, and as we can see in this video, also quite the monster on the track. For those of us that grew up watching these incredible cars do battle on the track, it also conjures up some fond memories of that particular bygone era of motorsport, too.
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