--- title: "Homemade Mercedes 190E Evo II Has a Twin-Turbo Ford Raptor Engine" date: "2025-05-05" modified: "2025-05-05" authors: - name: "Nico DeMattia" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/nico-demattia" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/homemade-mercedes-190e-evo-ii-has-a-twin-turbo-ford-raptor-engine" categories: - "Builds" - "Culture" - "Mercedes-Benz News" - "News" - "News by Brand" tags: - "Mercedes-Benz" - "sedan" --- # Homemade Mercedes 190E Evo II Has a Twin-Turbo Ford Raptor Engine ![A Mercedes 190E Evo II tribute driving on a curvy road.]() *Top Gear \Top Gear via YouTub\* I want to make something clear from the start: the [Mercedes]() 190E you see in this *Top Gear* video is *not* an Evo II. The 1990 Mercedes-Benz [190E 2.5-16 Evo II ]()is one of the coolest sports sedans in history, a homologated DTM race car for the road that packed a 2.5-liter, Cosworth-tuned, 16-valve four-cylinder engine. It's a legend. But that legendary status makes it extraordinarily expensive nowadays, so tuner Dom Tucci decided to make a tribute car out of a bone-stock, $500 Mercedes 190E sedan. Now that it's almost finished, it's anything but an ordinary 190E. The car was stripped down to its bare chassis, given extensive custom bodywork to match the Evo II's, and had its entire interior upgraded. It has the same swoopy fender flares, the same massive rear wing, and similar wheels. If you saw it up close at a car meet, you'd probably be able to spot its differences from a real Evo II. However, if you saw it driving around, you'd think it was the real deal. ![]() **Top Gear** Inside, it's similar but not exact. Its black leather Recaros are similar to the Evo II's seats, and so are some of the auxiliary gauges. But the actual gauges are all new, it has a completely different shifter, and its Blaupunkt headunit is meant to look old-school but has newfangled tech like Bluetooth connectivity. But you don't want to hear about seats and gauges. You want to hear about its engine. Rather than the buzzy, motorsport-bred, Cosworth-tuned engine from the original, this tribute packs a rather blasphemous 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 from a [Ford F-150 Raptor](). It naturally required some extensive fabrication to fit the pickup truck engine in there, with custom mounting points and new plumbing for the turbos. According to Tucci, though, the Raptor engine was a fitting choice, as it's only two degrees away from [Cosworth]()'s original: It was built by Ford, and Ford has worked with Cosworth a bunch over the years. That's a stretch, but I see where he's going with it. ![]() **Top Gear** The stock Raptor engine makes 450 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque—significantly more than the old Cosworth four-cylinder's 232 horsepower and 181 lb-ft. In turn, this tribute would blow the doors off a real Evo II in a straight line. It sounds worse, though. Even with the exhaust work that's been done to it, it just sounds like a generic tuned V6, completely lacking the original's character. Tributes like this one are cool, and often necessary, as the original classics they're based on can be far too expensive for normal folks to buy. The most recent Evo II to sell on [Bring a Trailer]() required $328,000 to take it home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI8Gu1nGF_o&t=64s *Got tips? Send 'em to tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Nico is a writer and reviewer from New Jersey who probably thinks he’s a lot funnier than he actually is. His love of cars began when he was just a kid playing Gran Turismo 3, grinding out enough race wins with a Mazda Miata to save up for an in-game RUF 911. That passion for small, lightweight sports cars drove his desire to learn more about the industry, get his hands on as many cars as he could, and bring those experiences to life on the page. He cut his teeth writing about BMWs, Volkswagens, and Audis, mostly, and has owned far too many of each. He’s on his fourth 3 Series sedan, but all of his old, cheap German cars have forced him to learn more about car maintenance than his mechanical capability can handle. Too many late nights have been spent scrambling to get a car running by morning so he could get to work. For some reason, he never seems to learn that old Bimmers probably aren’t the best daily drivers. But he loves more than just old German cars. He’ll gladly drive and discuss anything with four (or even three) wheels. Cars aren’t his only passions, though. Nico is also a big nerd and loves movies, video games, comic books, and cares far too much about the New York Giants. So don’t be surprised if you see football references or dumb, obscure movie quotes in any of his car reviews. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()