Mods for Restos now come and go so quickly that it’s simple to miss them. The German tuner’s new version of Mercedes‘s famous 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II is unique. It’s called the HWA EVO. HWA is racing the damn thing, even though it costs $800,000. The company also had to crash-test one of the cars before it could be sold or raced. Watch out for the rare and sad event of a famous homologation special being destroyed on purpose in a controlled setting. Each EVO starts with a source 190E that has been disassembled and reassembled using aluminum and steel parts. It comes with KW adjustable dampers and Brembo brakes on all four corners. HWA also adds a new driveshaft with a six-speed gearbox. Instead of the original Cosworth engine, a three-liter Merc M276 V6 engine with 444 horsepower and 405 lb-ft of torque is used. Thank goodness HWA takes this seriously, even though it’s a beautiful sports car to damage. The company talked about Prototype 07, the subject of its crashworthiness test, in an Instagram post. In line with the EVO’s history as a family car, HWA cared about more than just the driver’s health. HWA says that the tests included “detailed evaluations of seats and head restraints through static tests for both front and rear positions, as well as dynamic sled tests.” Protective steering systems and child-safety anchorages were also carefully reviewed. Extra safety measures were taken to ensure the highest level of safety in all cases. These included testing seatbelt load, whole-body acceleration, and rear-seat pressure. This knowledge is helpful for people who want to buy an HWA EVO and need to know how to fit car seats in the back. The fifth slide in the embed above shows the big event, the result of all of HWA’s work so far. A frontal crash at 30 mph with a barrier. This particular test was meant to see how much the steering column moved, and it looks like the pig did great. Despite some bent composite body panels and parts flying out of the engine bay, the EVO survives the crash as expected, with little structural damage to the passenger area. HWA says the test proved their models were accurate, and Prototype 07 now meets all safety standards for production.
