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From what I have read, the 335 was very fast. It had a number of problems besides overheating. Landing gear, hydraulic systems, poor pilot visibility.
The 335 was essentially an intruder aircraft, similar to the Mossie.
There were many versions. Bomber, heavy fighter, night fighter, recon, ect.
As a heavy fighter, it could have been faster than Allied fighters, but not as nimble. But with good tactics, and in good numbers with good pilots, the 335 might have made a dent in the Allied bombing campaign.
My opinion, a big waste of resources that could have been used elsewhere.
The single biggest mistake the Germans made in the air was not pouring all they had into the Me-262 and their engines
You can abuse the aircraft to get more speed but it dosn't change a thing. The Do 335 is still faster in leval flight. It all has to do with drag and horsepower.
The Do 335 has the same if not more horsepower in one engine than the P-51D alone but the drag of the Do 335 is more than the P-51D not twice as much. (Do 335 max single engine speed was clocked at around 350 MPH)
The only thing that could keep the Do 335 speed down below that of the P-51d was the balls of the Do 335 pilot to push the aircrft.
As for the P-51D max speed. I read about it is 469 MPH by pilots but the Do 335 is still faster in commonly agreed upon top of 484 MPH to 487 MPH and that isn't likely it real max speed because rear engine wouldn't be at full power do to the overheating. Running both engines at full would have pushed over 500MPH in leval flight.
P-51H never made it out of the US of A by the fall or Germany and yet a Do 335 was almost in combat but for the pilot throttled up and left the attacking Hawker Tempests sucking on his exhaust.
The Do-335 was relegated to the 413 mph mark due to chronic engine overheating and very bad aerodynamics above that speed .... and again the Do-335 had a terrible aerodynamic effect above 420 mph. So, even in a dive, it was speed limited.
Where is that documented? Just interested.
Thank you. Eric Brown also describes the escape process in Wings On My Sleeve.
AsI recall, Captain Brown was mildly impressed with the Pfeil, thought it had a lot of potential especially in the night fighter role; I suspect that the porpoising could have been ironed out given time, but time was not on their side.