The more things change..

..the more they get.. worse? That’s what comes to mind when we look at these photos.

As a one-off project, the mad scientists over at Mercedes-Benz’s labs have taken a manual gearbox-equipped 190 and proceeded to shoehorn a modern C250 CDI BlueEfficiency oil burner into it, cranking out 204 hp and a massive 368 lb-ft of torque (“torques”) between 1600 and 1800 rpm in the process.

With that kind of power-to-weight, its 6.2 second 0-60 trumps other blue chip challengers of its time, including the E30 M3 (7.5 seconds) and its own star quarterback sibling, the 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II (7.1 seconds). In fact, the only other diesel-powered German saloon car to best that sort of time might be the ungodly E90 335d.

Now, does anyone still hanker for that C250?

Thanks to Mike A. for the tip.

(via Carscoop)

~ by velofinds on December 9, 2009.

Posted in Mods, Still images
Tags: 190, 190d, 190e, benz, c250, cdi, diesel, mercedes, mercedes-benz, w201

2 Responses to “The more things change..”

Thanks, by the way, for these. The new Car & Driver has a two-page story on this but they managed NOT TO HAVE A PHOTO. I would take the 190E in a heartbeat over a stinking C-class.

dt said this on December 10, 2009 at 10:32 am
yup! saw that too. and wholeheartedly agree about the 190.

bulgogibrothers said this on December 10, 2009 at 10:37 am