From the archive: Ruf Porsche 911 Turbo, a Callaway Corvette, a Brandenburger Lister Jaguar XJ-S, and a Lotec Design Mercedes. From the November 1988 issue of Car and Driver. If you're a wine connoisseur, you reach for your corkscrew every time the latest vintage of Château Intoxicant hits the shelves. If you're a modern-art lover, you make a beeline for the local museum whenever a collection of Campbell's soup cans hits town. As for us, well, this isn't Stamps and Driver, is it? Our passion is cars—fast cars. So when the opportunity arises to sample a new high-performance exotic, we grab our test gear and go.
We had to go a little farther than usual when our most recent opportunity arose. At the invitation of Germany's Sport Auto magazine, a Stuttgart-based monthly that concentrates on racing and high-performance street cars, we flew to Europe to participate in a high-speed comparison test that would make any car enthusiast drool. Our friends at the German publication had arranged to test an elite group of modified cars, each recognized as the best aftermarket version of its marque. Awaiting us in Deutschland were a Ruf Porsche 911 Turbo, a Callaway Corvette, a Brandenburger Lister Jaguar XJ-S, and an AMG Hammer Coupe. Comparison tests don't get any better.
Unfortunately, AMG withdrew its entry at the last minute, the demands of its European Group A racing operation having taken precedence over providing a Hammer test car for our outing. Undeterred, Sport Auto arranged for a fine eleventh-hour substitute: a Mercedes-Benz modified by a German tuner bearing the unlikely name Lotec Design. The Lotec Benz wasn't built to American specifications, but neither were any of the other cars in the group. The Callaway Corvette was a prototype of a future high-performance European model, the Lister Jaguar was a special German-bred edition, and the Ruf Porsche was free of catalytic converters. Each car promised an overdose of speed, speed, speed.
View Price on AmazonSince none of these cars will be sold in America—in the forms you see here—don't start saving up for your favorite. Instead, consider this review pure speed reading. If you love fast cars as much as we do, you won't be disappointed.
We begin our speedfest with an examination of what is probably the least familiar car in the group. Our Lotec Mercedes started out as a five-speed 300CE before Lotec's boss, German road-racing champion turned car tuner Kurt Lotterschmid, got his hands on it. Starting with the basic Mercedes 3.0-liter six, Lotterschmid added a Rayjay turbocharger, a large intercooler, and a sophisticated electronic control system. The black box prevents detonation by monitoring the boost pressure and the intake-manifold air temperature, and then regulating the ignition timing. It also varies the control pressure of the KE-Jetronic fuel injection to tailor the fuel flow to the boost pressure. The entire Lotec kit bolts on with no internal engine modifications. Delivering a maximum boost pressure of 10.9 psi, the blown engine produces 340 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 325 pound-feet of torque at 2800 rpm.
Lotterschmid left the rest of the driveline completely stock but modified the chassis, making it a bit stouter than normal. Koni shocks and a set of shorter, stiffer springs firm up the suspension, and Goodyear Eagle VR tires mounted on one-piece BBS wheels (7.5 inches wide in front and 8.5 at the rear) enhance the CE's grip on the pavement.
On the outside, the Lotec Benz features a fiberglass hood that incorporates a 560SL-like grille rather than the traditional big-Benz radiator shell. It also sports subtle, ground-hugging front and rear valance panels.
"Subtle" is certainly not a term that one would use to describe the Brandenburger Lister Jaguar XJ-S. This brawny Jag looks like Sylvester the cat on steroids, with its bulging fender flares and vented hood.
Source: caranddriver.com
