mb 190E 16v

[m33mcg]

I have a chance to buy a friend of mine mb 190e 16v that he use to run in ITE in midiv about 6 or7 years ago. I am thinking about running it in ITS. My question is, Is there anyone running the mb 190e in ITS and how are they doing. On paper it looks good. Hoping for some input from about the mb 190e or to talk with those who are running this car.
Thanks, Mike

[JohnRW]

http://www.rc-imports.com/

Talk to Rick.

[titanium]

Let's not forget the king of MB 190 racing in Florida.
Mike Flynn
http://www.irishmikes.com/imracing.htm

[anthony1k]

The car will be badly outclassed in ITE unless it is an ex-DTM car. I think it will fit nicely in ITR if you can get SCCA to classify it there.

[Chris Wire]

Rodney is right. Irish Mike was the king in his Benz. That car was a flat out rocket. Track records at Daytona and Sebring that I know of.

No need for ITR, the car is a great one for ITS. I'm sure it's not cheap to run though.

[cherokee]

I think I remember that car....was it black? If it was the one that I am thinking of it was a very nice car.

[m33mcg]

yes, black with green graphics and green tape over the head lamps.

Found a pic.[attachmentid=1156]

[cherokee]

Thats it, I remember it seemed HUGE next to the little MR2. It always ran very well, good luck with it. Are you going to keep it in the area?

[m33mcg]

yes, I live in topeka.

mr2, what color? I used to race against a mr2 in ita. I drove a blue rx3. There was a mr2 that was, I believe, blue or black. That would of been in 2002.

I am going over this weekend an kick the tires.

[cherokee]

Mine is silver, I know the car you are taking about, I forget that guys name as I have not kept up with the MR2 guys...I think he is in St. Louis.

[Knestis]

I have a chance to buy a friend of mine mb 190e 16v that he use to run in ITE in midiv about 6 or7 years ago. I am thinking about running it in ITS. ...[/b]

I'm going to pull this back up based on your rear door glass question and wave a big warning flag, that someone should have thought about earlier: This car is very likely modified in ways that will make it illegal in ITS.

ITE rules are region-specific, so they differ a lot from place to place. However, what they seem to have in common is that they allow cars built to rules OTHER THAN THE IT specs to compete - even though the first two letters of the class designation are "I" and "T."

I would just hate to see you get dinked.

K

[m33mcg]

Knestis, thanks for the concern. The only items that are not ITS legal are the tirers and wheel size, rear window, rear door windows and I need to up date cage door bars and belts. Everthing else is legal (engine, trans, rear end, body and suspension).The stock wing was put back on. Oh I have to put the heater core back in.

I have read the GCR several times, the reason I asked about back window door glass was to confirm there was no up dates that I might have missed. I have been away from road racing with scca for about 5 years now and the gcr seems to change as much as nascar's rule book does. Any way I value the input and interperation of others here on this forum.

[Knestis]

That's great news - best wishes on the new project! I was a huge fan of the 190 2.3-16 in Group A trim, as a rally or road race car.

K

[Ron Earp]

Is this Alain Vanhollebeke's 190E? He is a GT40 enthusiast and has posted about that car on www.gt40s.com. I thought it was fairly modified for ITE based on what I remember but that was a few years ago and my brain is rusty. There is a picture of that car on his website, if it is the one, if not it is another cool 190E.

http://www.freewebs.com/ksgt40/aboutus.htm

Those are cool cars, good luck with it!!!

Ron

[m33mcg]

Yes it is Alain old car. The car is pretty much stock, he started putting it back to ITS specs, becuase his dad built a stroker motor for his 2.6 car (190e ITE) so Alain desided to drop down to ITS. He was going to run in ITS but his dad sold his 190e 2.6 and with the GT40 business taken off he doesn't have time to race. The engine is stock as with the rest of the drive train. These cars had all the go fast parts on them from the factory. We are going to rebuild the engine for next year as it is showing signs of blow by, but after five years of racing its time. There is not a lot of legal IT mods that can be done to the engine, the 20% increase is not there. Alain spent most of his efforts working on the suspension getting it to handle. I think with a fresh engine it will be in the ball park, now as far as the driver is concerned thats a different story. If I didn't know Alain and his car (I never thought he would sale it or that it was for sale) I would of never even looked at it, I was going DSR. I sure am glad I stop in his shop the other day.

[Alain V.]

hi all, Alain here, the owner of the mercedes 190e being asked about.

Yes, I originally ran the car in ITE back in the mid 90s, & won a couple of championships with it. A few years later my dad got the bug so we built him a 190 2.6 car. After hechased me for a couple of seasons, he built a high hp powerplant for his and I decided to slowly start putting my 16v into ITS trim.

I had nearly completed converting it into ITS when I started my own shop a couple of years ago,,,,and have just been buried with work since then.

The poor 16v has been collecting dust in my garage for a few years now, and I see no spare time in my future to run it.

IF "m33mcg" does go ahead & buy the car, I will be there to advise & assist him in getting the car back on track again, as I would love to see it giving the BMWs a hard time once again.

I really miss being able to race myself, but with a booming mercedes repair shop and currently building 6 cobra replicas & a GT40 for customers,,,,,,,,,I hardly have time to rest at all.

[m33mcg]

I got the car home and to the shop today, the only problem is now I have to wait until spring to get the car on track. Its going to be a long winter. :026:

Want to to say thanks to Alain and all that have given feed back.