Ironically, the head of R&D at BMW, Wolfgang Reitzle, ridiculed at the time that “the laws of aerodynamics must be different between Munich and Stuttgart; if that rear wing works, we’ll have to redesign our wind tunnel.” I guess that BMW did end up redesigning the wind tunnel they used, because Mercedes-Benz’s DTM race version of the Evo II beat BMW at many a race.
Besides the functional yet esthetic spoilers, the Mercedes 190E Evo II has a unique self-leveling suspension (SLS) hydraulic rear through which the height of the car can be adjusted simply by flicking a switch in the cabin. Finally, also the extra stiffened body and 17” alloy wheels were included into the build.
Under the Mercedes 190E Evo II’s hood
The Evo II is powered by a 232hp and 181lb-ft of torque producing naturally-aspirated 2.5-liter 16-valve straight-four engine tuned by Cosworth, while the DTM race versions pushed it all the way up to 367hp. In this, the Evo II comes with a power pack by AMG (which had been an optional pack for the Evo I) that allows it to redline at 7600rpm by cutting the crankshaft counterweights from 4 to 8, changing the camshaft to a simplex roller chain, lowering the weight of the connecting rod, and having 2 metal catalytic converters added.