1990 Sauber Mercedes C11 Still Torching the Track
This Lightweight Group C Sauber Has a Twin-Turbo V8 Exhaust Note That Will Blow Your Mind
It’s not difficult to set fast laps in a 2,000-pound race car with 730 horsepower and 605 lb-ft of torque from a twin-turbo 5-liter V8. That is to say, it’s not difficult if you’re Mauro Baldi, Jean-Loius Schlesser, Jochen Mass, Karl Wendlinger, Heinz-Herald Frentzen, or Michael Schumacher. This sextet of racing drivers composed the Team Sauber Mercedes assault on the 1990 World Sportscar Championship. And they won a combined seven of nine rounds that year, winning the team championship in resoundingly-convincing fashion.
So the car was immensely successful in-period. Which is quite a feat, considering it went up against Jaguar’s XJR-11, Nissan’s R89 and R90, Toyota’s 89C and 90C, as well as various privateer Spice Engineering SE90Cs and privateer-entered Porsche 962s.
CHECK OUT: What Forum Members Are Saying About This Mean Mercedes Racer
Today, Merc’s old championship-winning racers can still be seen at the track. Up top is a recent video of the car competing at Le Mans — one place the car never actually won, ironically. The video below shows a sister car running at Monza. We always love it when old race cars continue to get out for some sunshine and exercise.
The Sauber-Mercedes’ V8 has a deep grumble. It sounds like it was stolen straight from a Penske or Ganassi NASCAR engine shop, then re-worked by the European might of Merc & Sauber with a pair of turbochargers. As the car accelerates away, you can just barely hear the whistle of the turbos over the whine of the gearbox, but it’s there. Both videos are short enough to warrant a gander, so sit back, turn up the speakers, and enjoy some pure Mercedes Turbo V8 endurance racing goodness.
