I just drove this car a few days and God, it was comfortable and surprisingly nimble. It also felt as solid or even better than newer cars costing RM80,000. The car in question is a 1987 190e 2.3 8valve with a 2.3-16 bodykit with a front AMG bumper. The wheels are original 8.75in x 17 Mercedes Evo 2 wheels plucked from the utterly mad 190e 2.5-16 Evo 2. It makes 134hp and 205Nm in stock form.
This car was just purchased by serial car buyer and car enthusiast Adlis K. Those that follow this site would remember him as the owner of the pretty fabulous W124 Mercedes 200E equipped with a 500e bodykit.
Upon taking the steering wheel from Adlis K and driving the 190e 2.3 I first noticed that the ride is sublime even with its slightly modded suspension setup. It rides on a lowered spring mounts coupled with 17 inch EVO 2 wheels on 215/45/17 tyres. You notice that it soaks up uneven road surfaces with ease It is slightly firmer than a W124 of the same era but you can throw the 190e into corners with more abandon if you wanted to. I suppose this is because of its size as both share a similar front and rear suspension setup. In fact the rear multi-link suspension was first used in this W201 190e before being adopted in the W124. How good you say the ride is? It is even better than a current model w204 c-class (I should know as I own one).
The 2.3liter 8 valve was the base engine on which the legendary 16 valve variant was built on. That car had the same bottom-end (pistons, conrods and block) but a totally new Cosworth designed head. Adlis K was actually on the hunt for one but it never seems to be on sale locally. There was one a few weeks ago but that was snapped up even faster than one could say "Mercedes Benz 2.3-16". People are jumping at these old Mercedes'!
Anyway, this 190e 2.3 is not a slouch. It may not be lighting fast in its acceleration (0-100km in about 10secs when new and 200km/h max speed) but the torque makes it a better drive than any 2.0liter Mercedes of the same era. The four speed automatic is a good match for the car's demeanor and shifts quite smoothly. Kickdown on the automatic is pretty good too. If you drive this car fast round a bend it surprisingly grips with the usual tinge of Mercedes understeer before going neutral mid corner. Not enough power to throw out its tail in the dry however. There is some wind noise at higher speeds as well as some road noise compared to newer Mercedes Benzes. But everything feels solid as heck. There are very little sqeaks and rattles for something that was fresh in 1987. Both Adlis K and I give full credit to the previous owner for keeping this car in immaculate condition.
We shall be regularly featuring this car in months (and years to come). It will be in our garage of project cars where we try make this car slightly better. This will start with renewing the car's fabric seats and re-wraping the original AMG steering wheel as well as some performance mods to try give this old girl a little more Ooomph.
Old skool rocks. This car proves that older cars are still a heckuva fun to hustle about in. And if there ever was an argument against the scrapping of older cars, this car is it.
Adlis K enjoying the old gal
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