 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The History of the Mercedes 2.5-16s EVOII |
|
|
|
The Mercedes-Benz 2.5-16 Evolution II was unveiled in March 1990 at the Geneva Motor Show. Mercedes-Benz and AMG had reached the limit with the EVOI and simply couldn't improve it anymore. In order to stay on top, they needed to have a new competitive car in order to compete in the DTM championship against BMW, Ford, Opel and Alfa-Romeo.
|
|
|
|
In order to introduce an evolution model of the 2.5-16 valve racer, Mercedes had to build at least 500 models of the "new car" and make it available to the public. The street version had to be as close as possible to the race version and that is why the EVOII has such an outrageous look. The EVOII is virtually a racecar. The chassis is very stiff and the handling + road holding pushes the limit very fare for a rear wheel drive car.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
The EVOII was only available in left hand drive and in a blue-black metallic paint. It is believed that out of the 502 number made, 2 of them were painted in silver. Mercedes-Benz kept one and so as AMG. Because of the very short number of EVO model available, the supply didn't meet the demand and many of the potential buyers were left disappointed. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
In order to underline the exclusivity of each car, a small plate containing the word "EVOLUTION" was placed on both side of the front "wing". Inside the car, on the shift knob was the number of the car. Numbers were written in the following way: 001/500 up to 500/500. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Most people think that only 500 Mercedes EVOII were made. However, this is wrong: exactly 502 were build. 500 of them were sold to customers and 2 of them were kept by Mercedes-Benz. All of them were sold even before the EVO was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show! |
|
|
|
Back in 1990, this car costed approximately 120'000 Swiss francs.(around 71'000 US dollars which is about 50'000 pounds) This Mercedes could be sold with every possible equipment available at that time. This included: Leather and heated seat, electric seat and electric sunroof, hydraulic suspension, power steering, air conditioning, ABS, ASD, etc.
However, on the downside, all these equipments added a lot of weight to a car that could be around 1200 kg. (The EVO II = 1340kg) That would have enabled this car to be much quicker.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Brakes: Brakes: Brembo 4 piston caliper, front 300mm discs; rear 278mm. Both the Mercedes Sport EVO & the EVOII have the brakes from the 500 SL. The only difference is that the EVOII brakes are made from a lighter alloy... The dimensions are the same.
No. Produced: 502 => Mercedes-Benz kept one and so did AMG. The rumors are that both these cars were "test cars" that were used to develop the road version of the EVOII.
Transmission: Getrag 5 speed-manual with short gears. The gears are inverted.
Suspensions: Hydro-pneumatic height adjustment system (3 positions: rough roads, highway, track)
The EVOII automatically lowers itself, first at 30mph and at 55mph. |
|
|
|
Go Back |
|