Special News Bulletin

Hello Avid Readers-

On October 20th, 2007 the 1998 Mercedes C280 of which this site is dedicated to was officially saved. This blog is dedicated to this event with....

The Top 5 Reasons Why the W202 Mercedes Kicks Ass!

1. The Bloodline
The W202's bloodline is quite prestigious. Before the W202 came into fruitation, the car's predecessor was the 190E. This car is number 10 on a recent Top 10 Greatest Mercedes' List http://cars.uk.msn.com/News/Top_ten_article.aspx?cp-documentid=544788

190E 2.3-16 (1983)

Mercedes 190E 2.3-16

The W201 series was introduced in 1982 to sit below the E-Class range and was quickly dubbed the 'Baby Benz'. By Mercedes own admission the car was 'massively over-engineered', the company spent £600 million on its development. That hewn from solid quality did mean the car wasn’t a fireball however. To remedy this Mercedes called in the wizards from Cosworth to breathe on the basic 2.3-litre four cylinder engine. Thanks to double overhead camshafts and a light alloy, 16-valve cylinder head the engine produced 185bhp, 72 horses more than the stock motor. The car set three speed records at Nardo in August 1983, averaging 154mph over 50,000km.

Now, this was the W201. The C280 is the W202 , and is legendary in German DTM racing. Read the Race History portion of this site for more info!

2. The Race History of the W202
The Chart- DTM Champions (1987-1996)

Year	1st	2nd	3rd
1996 (ITC)	Manuel Reuter Joest Racing Opel Calibra	Bernd Schneider AMG RacingMercedes-Benz C-Class	Alessandro Nannini Alfa Corse Alfa Romeo 155
1995 (ITC)	Bernd Schneider AMG RacingMercedes-Benz C-Class	Jan Magnussen AMG RacingMercedes-Benz C-Class	Dario Franchitti AMG RacingMercedes-Benz C-Class
1995 (DTM)	Bernd Schneider AMG RacingMercedes-Benz C-Class	Jörg van Ommen ZakspeedMercedes-Benz C-Class	Klaus Ludwig Team Rosberg Opel Calibra
1994	Klaus Ludwig AMG RacingMercedes-Benz C-Class	Jörg van Ommen ZakspeedMercedes-Benz C-Class	Nicola Larini Alfa Corse Alfa Romeo 155
1993	Nicola Larini Alfa Corse Alfa Romeo 155	Roland Asch AMG RacingMercedes-Benz 190E	Bernd Schneider AMG RacingMercedes-Benz 190E
1992	Klaus Ludwig AMG RacingMercedes-Benz 190E	Kurt Thiim Zakspeed Mercedes-Benz 190E	Bernd Schneider AMG RacingMercedes-Benz 190E
1991	Frank Biela AZR Audi V8	Klaus Ludwig AMG RacingMercedes-Benz 190E	Hans-Joachim Stuck SMS Competition Audi V8
1990	Hans-Joachim Stuck SMS Competition Audi V8	Johnny Cecotto Schnitzer Motorsport BMW M3	Kurt Thiim AMG RacingMercedes-Benz 190E
1989	Roberto Ravaglia Schnitzer Motorsport BMW M3	Klaus Niedzwiedz Eggenberger Ford Sierra RS500	Fabien Giroix Schnitzer Motorsport BMW M3
1988	Klaus Ludwig Grab Racing Ford Sierra RS500	Roland Asch BMK Mercedes-Benz 190E	Armin Hahne Wolf Concept Ford Sierra RS500
1987	Eric van de Poele Zakspeed BMW M3	Manuel Reuter Ringshausen Ford Sierra RS500	Marc Hessel Zakspeed BMW M3

Note the 1-2-3 finish in 1995 for the W202, and the success of the 190E.
3. It is not a Volvo.
The Car to the left is not a volvo. Its a Mercedes-Benz. This is reason 3 why the C280 kicks ass. Volvo did not sweep DTM racing. They were too busy racing Yachts up each others asses.

4. Those Crazy Germans put a V8 into the Chassis
In 1998, AMG developed a new top model for the C-Class, the C 43 AMG. The Beast was powered by a smoother 4.3 L V8 which produced 302 hp at 5850 rpm, with a torque of 410 302 ft·lbf peaking at 3250 rpm. The C43 was also available as a station wagon, making it a pretty ballsy station wagon. 4200 AMG units were produced, with only 25 C 43 vehicles of the 2000 model year imported to the US. A C36 existed since 1996, but it wasn't nearly as nuts.

5. The Baby Benz Lives On
With its S-Class derived styling, various trims at various prices, the W202, which appeared in 1993, outsold the first generation W201 (190E) by 45%. The car dominated German Racing, spawned this website, and is now on a quest for High Mileage Certification. 155k is the goal!

Plus....its not a Volvo!

-RichManOfAction