[kach22i]

Historic Mercedes-Benz W194 Measured in Wind Tunnel

The most important results: the 300 SL (W 194 series) racing car has a drag coefficient cD = 0.376. It is thus around 20 per cent better – that is, considerably better – than its contemporary comparison vehicle, the 300 S (W 188 series), for which a value of cD = 0.462 was obtained. This result underscores the efforts of the engineers and designers back then to attain a low drag coefficient as an important prerequisite for the SL’s racing success – which the car then went on to achieve in the course of the 1952 racing season at different international motorsport events, for example at Le Mans or in the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico. The 300 SL (W 198 I) series-production sports car returned a drag coefficient value of cD = 0.389.