Brabus had, as usual, a very nice stand with almost the whole range on show.
Several of the cars were equipped with this engine, Brabus´
version of the twin-turbo V12 called SV12, first introduced in the
Maybach but also powering Mercedes´ 600-models. Brabus has increased
the displacement from 5,5 litres to 6,3 litres which is achieved through
the installation of a unique steel-billet crankshaft, larger diameter
lightweight alloy pistons and precision-balanced connecting-rods.
The engine is also fitted with sport camshafts, precision-machined
cylinder heads, a high-performance sport exhaust system and reprogrammed
engine electronics. The engine is amazingly powerful, 640 bhp at 5100
rpm and a maximum torque of 1026 NM from 1750 rpm. This engine is
available for the SL-, CL- and S600 and the upgrade costs 44900 EURO
plus an installation cost of 1980 EURO. But it is also available in
the E-class in a model called EV12. The EV12 is only available as
a complete car, built in exclusive small-series production, which
means that you can´t upgrade your standard E500 with the V12-engine,
you have to buy the EV12 directly from Brabus. It is one of the most
amazing 4-door cars ever built.
Here you can see the mighty V12-engine in the E-class. For those of you
who remember the old EV12, based on the W210 E-Class, it´s a
"familiar" sight. The old EV12 was powered by a 7,3 litre
V12 which produced 582 bhp. In October 1996 that car was awarded the
title of ´fastest four-door sedan in the world´ by the
Guinness Book of World Records. The top-speed was 330 km/h. With 640
bhp and a maximum torque of 1026 NM, the new EV12 is even faster.
0-100 km/h in 4,2 seconds, 0-200 km/h in 12,9 seconds and a top speed
of 340 km/h, electronically limited that is. It would be even faster
if the tires could handle higher speeds.
Just like on the AMG-engines there is a sign on the engine signed by the
person who built it.
The EV12 is very discrete. It could easily be mistaken for a standard
E-class with aftermarket wheels. If you look closer you will notice
that the EV12 has some changes made to it. It is very important that
the car offers exceptional stability at the very high speeds the EV12
is capable of so Brabus has fitted a new front bumper with intergrated
spoiler and a carbon lip.They have also fitted side skirts which has
a interesting feature; Pulling on the inside door handles or pushing
the button on the remote-control activates entrance lights located
in the underside of the skirts which illuminate the ground next to the car.
Here you get a better look of the spoiler lip on the trunk. Wasn´t
the E39 M5 the first car to have this kind of spoiler? I think so.
Brabus has also fitted a new rear apron. These subtle changes together
with the bigger wheels and the V12-badges makes the EV12 look much
more aggressive than a standard E-class but still very classy.
This picture show the front brakes. The discs measures 375 x 36 millimeters
and the aluminium calipers has, as you can read on the text, 12 pistons.
At rear it has 355 x 28 millimeter discs and 6 piston calipers. This
brake system is also available for the E55 AMG and costs 17900 EURO.
The EV12 comes standard equipped with a special interior made from a combination
of especially soft Brabus Mastik and Alcantara leathers. But of course,
you can custom-order the interior too.
Not many family saloons have speedos graded to 360 km/h. Also notice the
alcantara-covered dashboard.
Brabus door-loc pins in aluminium.
If you forget which car you drive, this text on the middle-console should remind you.
Even when you open the trunk you get reminded that you drive something special.
The boot floor matches the interior colour and can be ordered with colour-coded
edging. If you need more space in the trunk, you can order the EV12
as an estate!! The base price of the EV12 is 298000 EURO.
This particular S-class was one of the most well-equipped cars I´ve
ever seen. The Brabus-program for the W220 S-class is simply amazing.
They offer everything imaginable, well almost. The front bumper is unmistakeably
Brabus with four auxiliary headlights. A nice subtle touch is the small
Brabus sign under the right pair of headlights. You can see that this
car is based on the S600 bi-turbo because the front-spoiler has two
additional air inlets for the intercoolers.
The SV12-sign means that this car is equipped with the top-of-the-line engine,
the 640 bhp V12. But there are no less than 18 other performance kits
available. Brabus offers tuning for all S-class models except the S400
CDI. The SV12 accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 4,3 seconds and has a electronically
limited top-speed of 310 km/h. How about going 310 km/h while surfing
the internet? It is possible with the Brabus Business.
Leather everywhere. This interior really gives the S-Class an sense of occasion.
The Brabus Mastik leather is very soft and it looks really luxurious
with the piping and stitching in contrasting colours.
Even though the SV12 is very nice from the front seats, it is the rear that
is the most interesting in this car.
From here it is possible to surf the internet at 2*ISDN speed which is the
fastest connection available for a car at the moment. The electrically
deployed 12-inch TFT display is intergrated into the leather headliner
and serves as monitor for the PC as well as the DVD changer. The system
also features an intergrated MP3 player which offers storage capacity
for more than 5000 songs. There are also two 7-inch LCD monitors integrated
into the back of the front headrests as you can see. They are capable
of displaying the signal of the navigation system or the program of
the TV/DVD system. The wood-tables, which are intergrated into the backrests
of the front seats, folds down electronically by the push of a button.
They also contain retractable cup holders.
Care for a drink? This drink glass compartment replaces the upper
cushion between the rear seats.
Here is the heart of the multimedia system, an IBM notebook which is housed
safely in an electrically deployed drawer as you can see here. The
small plaque on the drawer says that this is the Brabus Business number
401.
Here is Brabus counterpart to the CL65 AMG. It uses the same V12-engine
as the cars described above. For the CL Brabus offers performance
kits ranging from 336 bhp, based on the CL500, to 640 bhp, based on
the CL600 Biturbo.
You can tell by the speedo that this car is very fast. The 360 km/h-speedo
is only available for the CL600 Biturbo or the CL55 AMG Kompressor.
This car is equipped with the Brabus Mastik/Alcantara trim. It costs EURO
6900. I would´t choose this interior but it feels really good
to sit in. The Brabus-logos on the door-sills are illuminated, a very
nice touch.
Here is a close-up of Brabus pedal pads made of aluminium. This picture
is from the CL but these pedals are available for almost all models.
Of course Brabus had a modified SL on display and as you can tell by
the SV12-designation this particular car is based on the SL600 and
has the 6,3-litre V12-engine with 640 bhp and 1026 Nm of torque. The
performance with this engine is amazing; 0-100 km/h in 4,3 seconds,
0-200 km/h in 12,8 seconds. The top-speed is electronically limited
to 310 km/h. Brabus thinks that approximately 350 km/h would be possible
if the tires could handle such high speeds. Brabus offers another
performance-kit, without increased displacement, for the SL600, the
T12-kit which delivers 570 bhp and a torque of 900 Nm.
This car has the multi-piece Brabus Monoblock VI wheels. The largest possible
wheel/tire combination available for the SL uses 9x20" in front
with 255/30-tires, and 10.5x20" at rear with 305/25-tires. As
you can see, this car also has upgraded brakes, the same system that
is used on the EV12. If you decide to upgrade your SL600-engine to
an SV12-engine, Brabus recommend that you upgrade the brakes too.
I wonder why...
This is the nicest interior I´ve ever seen in a SL. It has Brabus
Mastik leather, which feels very soft, everywhere. This interior costs
around 17000 EURO and it takes 25 days to finish. It really takes
the SL-interior to another level.
Speedometers with a 360 km/h scale are becoming more and more common in the car
industry. Brabus is no exception as you may have noticed. This speedo
is available for all SL-models. Note the black stitching, very nice.
The
SV12 is a very desirable car which for some reason made me want to
check out the stock-markets. Fortunately the SV12 was fitted with
a Internet system. Not like the system fitted to the Brabus Business,
this system is more like the system that BMW offers in the 7-series.
But it works just fine if you want to check out the weather, news
or the stock-markets for example. The system is operated via the standard
control set of the Comand system.
The K8-designation means that this car is based on the E55 AMG. The K8
performance kit increases the power to 530 bhp and the torque to 775
Nm for a cost of 15900 EURO plus an installation cost of 1490 EURO.
Brabus claims an E55 fitted with K8-kit can accelerate from 0-100
km/h in 4,3 seconds, 0-200 km/h in 13,6 seconds and has a electronically
limited top-speed of 320 km/h. The kit is available for both the E55
Saloon and the Estate. Brabus also offers a six percent shorter final
drive for the E55 and S55 for even better driving dynamics.
As you may have noticed on the last picture this car had six tailpipes!
Three on each side. I think this is overkill and prefer four. But
I do like the Carbon-lip above them.
Here
is an example of one of many interior appointments that Brabus offer.
This is the new E-Class estate with Brabus styling. Brabus offers the same
tuning-program for the estate as they do for the saloon.
This is the Brabus CV8S which is based on the C-class. It will be built
in small-series production and is powered by a tuned version of Mercedes´
5-litre V8 engine. The displacement is increased to 6,1-litres. Brabus
uses a custom engine block, a crankshaft with longer stroke, and larger
pistons for the displacement increase. In addition the cylinder heads
are re-machined and fitted with special camshafts. The engine now
develops 445 bhp and has 635 Nm of torque. The CV8 S accelerates from
0-100 km/h in 4,3 seconds and has a top speed of 305 km/h.
Say hello to the CLK K8. The fastest accelerating Brabus in the current
line-up. How about 0-100 km/h in 4,1 seconds, 0-200 km/h in 12,6 seconds
and a top speed of 325 km/h. At the heart of the CLK K8 is Brabus
version of AMG´s 5,5-litre supercharged V8-engine. This engine
delivers 550 bhp and has a torque of 780 Nm. Extensive handwork was
necessary to implant the compact engine together with a generous intercooler
– located behind the Brabus front fascia – and special
heat exchangers for water, motor oil, transmission fluid and air conditioning
in the engine bay of the CLK. The brakes and suspension is of course
modified to handle this kind of power. Note the hood with integrated
air vents.
There is a lot of interior changes made to the CLK K8. The sport seats are
upholstered with a combination of BRABUS Mastik leather and Alcantara.
There are a lot of carbon applications in the cockpit and on the foot
pedals, as well as an aluminum shift knob. And the speedo is scaled
to 360 km/h as usual.
If you have a CLK500 or CLK55 AMG Convertible, the Brabus 6,1 increased-displacement
engine might be of interest. The car on the picture is equipped with
that engine and it produces 426 bhp and a torque of 621 Nm. Brabus
claims it can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 4,8 seconds and on to
a top-speed of 300 km/h. Brabus program for the CLK Convertible is
just as impressive as for the other models with everything from wheels
to a digital DVB-T television tuner for the Comand system.
That´s it about Brabus for now. The models and options I´ve written
about here is only a small part of what Brabus offers. In fact, they
offer the world's most extensive engine program for Mercedes cars
with tuning for almost every engine that Mercedes offers at the moment.
I am really impressed by these cars and the Brabus staff who were
friendly and helpful.
