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190e 2.3 16 V Cosworth Evo 1 Track Car Build

40K views 37 replies 9 participants last post by  GT3 guy 
#1 ·
190e 2.3 16 V Cosworth Evo 1 Track Car Build

Just thought I'd put together a thread for the work I've been having done on my 16V the past year and a half.

I bought a 1986 16V "barn find" for a reasonable price. The odometer read 144k and it ran far from perfect, but ran. Ive always wanted an older Merc and was going to just get a standard 190 when I talked myself into doing it right and getting the 16v. Originally I wanted to put it on air ride, get some nice wheels for it and get the engine back in good shape. But the more I thought about the possibilities the more I wanted to go bigger. Then my easy build slowly became a track car/evo 1/dtm kind of thing. Its been a long process but thanks to the guys at the shop building the car for me, its coming together quite nicely. Here is how it started

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Luxury vehicle Mercedes-benz w201


We have done so much to the car I will undoubtedly forget some things. I will do my best to include everything and update this as I remember, and as the build continues.

We sourced the Evo kit from Hedgehog Motorsports in Thailand. It's extremely hard to find a well made Evo kit for a 16v, and I was very skeptical to buy one overseas from a small shop in Thailand. It took a long time to get here due to the fact that it was shipped on a boat and hd to go through customs but I must say that I'm happy with the quality of what I received. Like any custom fiberglass parts there will be some imperfections but since there is practically no one who makes these kits, you kind of have to deal with those imperfections. I have the Evo 1 wing as well but decided I like the look of the original one more.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Luxury vehicle Mercedes-benz w201


Land vehicle Vehicle Car Mercedes-benz w201 Sedan


The coilovers are Yellow Speed Racing, who build a kit specifically for the W201. I haven't had any road time in them to tell you how they perform but they have a good deal of adjustability and aren't too pricey. The rear strut towers were rebuilt into a rasied location in order have the car sit right and have full function of the suspension.

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The front and rear rear wells were tubbed so that I could run wider tires without it posing a problem. The front was substantially more work but the result was well worth it. It looks much cleaner and much simpler. The shaved bay also adds to the cleanliness.

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We ditched the archaic stock fuel injection system for EFI. Specifically VEMS. This was an obviously necessary upgrade and I know is a very popular one for these engines. The whole intake manifold, as well as the wiring harness, and many other misc parts are custom made. The exhaust has been rebuilt.

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A Howe radiator has been fitted.

The brakes have been upgraded to 4 piston calipers and 300mm ATE power slots and Akebono ceramics.



The interior will be stripped and cleaned up. I will probably end up bed lining all of the exposed metal. A half cage is going in. The old worn out front seats were replaced with brand new Recaros. I picked up a fairly new dash on the internet and will be replacing the old faded and cracked one. I plan to remove the old warped wood and replace it with new inserts wrapped in carbon fiber. I also got some newer looking door cards but am tempted to get some carbon fiber ones. The steering wheel is from Renown

I wanted a style of wheel that would look like it was era correct but also had a more modern design to it. I ended up getting the Fifteen52 Evo Classics in 18x9.5 which I think fit the car perfectly. The experience with Fifteen52 wasn't one I'd recommend to someone else, but in the end after a LONG time they figured it out. Im happy with the result.



Masking off the engine bay and then sprayed with satin black for now

I plan to eventually install a turbo on this engine, but for now this setup will still be a blast. Im also going to have it painted in the original color all Evos came with from the factory which I believe is called Blue Schwartz. For the time being I may get it wrapped though.

Again, I'll update the post and add in pictures as the build continues.

A big thanks to Das Auto in Portsmouth NH for all of the amazing work and dedication to turning this car into what it was meant to be!
 

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#5 ·
Nice project......at what point do you tune the engine? Does it get rebuilt first, or do you just tune what you got.
At 144K do you pull the head...replace the chain and timing gears?
Just curious cause pulling hard in fifth gear in the Pocono banking got to be exciting!
 
#6 ·
For now we are tuning what we have. The car has been in the shop for a while so I'd like to get some road time in it this season. Then during next winter the plan is to take apart the engine and put in new internals and turbo it. We'll also replace anything worn out. After that It'll be retuned obviously.
 
#10 ·
Great to see another 16v being built for track work. I've been racing one for a few seasons now. Maybe I can make a few suggestions?

These cars are already geared WAY too tall for track work. Going up from 15" to 18" will make that problem much worse. Try to keep the overall diameter under 24" at most.

There are no off-the-shelf race pads for those calipers. Unless you're willing to pay $300 per axle set for custom-made pads, you'll be frustrated. I went down that road with Carbotech.

After spending so much money on the chassis, it seems like a shame to run Yellow Speed coilovers. The dampers are junk. You'd be much better off with regular Bilstein Sports and H&R springs. Or, spend a bit more for Ground Control. Totally worth the money.

I didn't see you mention anything about the rear diff. On a track car with such big tires, you'll want the diff to lock up tightly. See if you can get the diff rebuilt and have them add more lock-up.

If you insist on running such oversized wheels and tires, consider swapping in a Nissan R200 diff with a ratio in the neighborhood of 4:1. You'll need custom half-shafts and a driveshaft, but that not too big of a deal in the scheme of things.
 
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#11 ·
Great to see another 16v being built for track work. I've been racing one for a few seasons now. Maybe I can make a few suggestions?



These cars are already geared WAY too tall for track work. Going up from 15" to 18" will make that problem much worse. Try to keep the overall diameter under 24" at most.



There are no off-the-shelf race pads for those calipers. Unless you're willing to pay $300 per axle set for custom-made pads, you'll be frustrated. I went down that road with Carbotech.



After spending so much money on the chassis, it seems like a shame to run Yellow Speed coilovers. The dampers are junk. You'd be much better off with regular Bilstein Sports and H&R springs. Or, spend a bit more for Ground Control. Totally worth the money.



I didn't see you mention anything about the rear diff. On a track car with such big tires, you'll want the diff to lock up tightly. See if you can get the diff rebuilt and have them add more lock-up.



If you insist on running such oversized wheels and tires, consider swapping in a Nissan R200 diff with a ratio in the neighborhood of 4:1. You'll need custom half-shafts and a driveshaft, but that not too big of a deal in the scheme of things.

Glad you found this! Thanks for all the suggestions. I found your thread on bimmerpost a couple months ago and it gave me a some good knowledge on stuff I hadn't thought about. I like what you've done with your car a lot. I'm definitely new to track thing so I'm kind of learning as I go.

I have a few questions,

-What do you suggest for calipers?
-What did you do about the gearing problem?
-What kind of adjustments can you do on the ground control suspension?

As for the diff, I haven't decided what I want to do yet. Im tempted to get a race diff from Team Stadler but they're pricey. If not then I'll go the nissan route.

If you have anymore ideas or suggestions I'd love to hear them
 
#14 ·
Since you've worked with Ake from Hedgehog, I would check with him. He's one of the pioneers of the Nissan R200 swap. I think he's using an R32 Skyline GTS-T diff. Here in the US, it makes more sense to use an S14 or S14 chassis 240SX as a donor.
 
#23 ·
That wrap it turning out very well, great job. Do you mind if I ask where you purchased the wrap from? Thanks for the help, I would like to do this on another project I am working on. The car looks amazing, keep the pictures coming and a video of it running would be amazing.
 
#24 ·
Sorry for a second post, but I had another question. With the injection system you went with does it eliminate all of the factory under hood harness that seems to just fall apart? I am in desperate need of a complete under hood rewire, and would really like to go with a whole new intake system. So if I could kill two birds with one stone this would be a great route.
The tire and wheel package is amazing, I really like having the white lettering like that. Is that something you did yourself? Or do they have one side black and the other white? I am currently working on my old Air cooled Porsche, but as soon as I am done with this money pit I am starting on the 16v. I don't know why, but driving the benz is so much more enjoyable for me than driving my Porsche. If I had to only pick one I would take the 190e all day long, I have had an E30 M3 and the Merc is so much more fun to drive than that car was as well. They are the total package, at least for me. I am sure many will not agree with me on that, but I fell in love with the first base 190e 8v that I drove and I have not been without one sense. Can't wait for the finishing details and hopefully a video of a drive in the car.
I had one thought on your wheel and tire package, you might think about getting some track wheels in a smaller size if you don't want to gear it, just to help with getting out of the corners. But personally I would go with the gearing option, the car wouldn't look near as nice with a small set of wheels in those huge wheel wells. Have a great night, and thanks for giving me hope that I can get my car even close to something as nice as this.
 
#33 ·
Yes I still have the car. We rebuilt the engine after bending a rod with the stock internals. Now we are running a precision turbo, cat cams, and wiseco pistons, just to name a few of the changes. I had a turbo manifold and all the hot parts built by Jacob Rodgers. We just recently had the car tuned conservatively on 14psi of boost, which was good for for about 340 whp until we work out some kinks. After that and the motor actually has miles on it, we will give it some more boost.










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