Mercedes Remembers the 190 E 2.3-16’s 1983 Nardò Reliability Records [w/Video]

The Mercedes-Benz 190E (codename W201) is one of the most important models in the history of the brand with the star, as it opened up a huge segment for the company – the premium compact sedan category. Italian automobile designer Bruno Sacco, who served as the head of styling at the company between 1975 and 1999, even went on to say the 190 is his favorite design, precisely because of the car’s significance for the company.

Like pretty much all Mercedes models of that era, the 190 was over-engineered, and that can be seen even today in the large number of 190s that are still up and running.

To demonstrate the car’s bulletproof reliability, Mercedes-Benz set a number of world records with the 190 E 2.3-16, the sporty model in the range. Between August 11 and 21 at the circular high-speed track in Nardò, Italy, three sports sedans covered a distance of 50,000 kilometers (31,068 miles) over the course of just 201 hours, 39 minutes and 43 seconds.

The cars also set two world records over a distance of 25,000 km (15,534 mi), one world record for 25,000 miles (40,233 km) and nine other records in their class. The cars ran full-throttle in fifth gear at 6,000 rpm, averaging 247.94 km/h (154.06 mph) and little over 22 liters/100 km (10.7 US mpg).

The record cars were largely identical to the series production version, which debuted a month later at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show. However, the injection and ignition system of the 182hp 2.3-liter engine was adapted to the special conditions.

The radiator was stripped of the fan and a shutter was added to ensure the engine’s operating temperature wouldn’t drop during the night, among other minor tweaks. The clutch and the five-speed manual gearbox were identical to the production version, but said 190E lacked power steering, as driving on the banked circular track didn’t produce any lateral forces.

You can watch how the records unfolded in the video below.

By Dan Mihalascu

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