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RobertFini · #1 10-19-2002, 12:16 AM

I am in the process of building a suspenion for our '84 190E to allow us to run the car in SCCA high-speed stage rallies. If you aren't familiar with this type of competition, you should try to check it out (SPEED channel broadcasts taped versions of all the events), but I include the follwing brief description to give you an idea of what we plan to do:

The SCCA events in which we plan to run are held on dirt and gravel roads that have been closed to the public, and each car is sent off one at a time at one-minute intervals to run balls-out through the stage. Each car has a driver and a navigator, and the navigator has a book of route instructions from which he barks out directions to the driver who is desparately trying to get through the stage as fast as possible while keeping the car off of its roof (which, as any rally fan knows, is the true steady-state for a rally car). A typical SCCA event will consist of eight to 15 stages and whoever has the lowest cumulative time for all the stages wins.

They say that a good rally suspension will enable the car to be repeatedly dropped from a height of one meter without damaging anything. The rule of thumb is to double the spring rates and the shock rates while maintaining full suspension travel. Finding a decent set of shocks was quite a challenge because the twin-tube Macpherson front suspension on the 190E is not re-valveable and all the "sport" 190E struts available in the US are for a lowered car, which has a shortened piston rod that reduces the amount of available suspension travel. Fortunately, we were able to import some Bilstein shocks from Germany for a W124 that has much stiffer compression and rebound with full-length piston rod travel, which will bolt right into our W201. It wasn't easy and I hope they work.

My next challenge is to locate springs that are much stiffer than stock but not lowered, and that is why I am seeking the collective wisdom of this forum. I can have custom springs made relatively inexpensively but in order to do this I need to know the dimensions of the stock 190E springs, including inner diameter, outer diameter and free length for both front and rear springs. Another (probably less expensive) option is to find a set of springs from another car, maybe a W124, that will have the desired characteristics. Can anyone help?

Thanks in advance and I appreciate your time.

Best Regards,
Rob