Who hasn’t had a day like this: You wake up, emerge from sheets spun from organically grown cotton, pour a cup of free-trade coffee, indulge in a breakfast of free-range eggs and hand milled oats, then, after taking care to separate your waste into the appropriate recycling bins, step outside and announce to no one in particular, “S**t! My Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6×6 needs more effin’ power!” Fear not, eco-conscious friends, Brabus has got your back with the B63S-700 6×6, which premiered at the Frankfurt auto show earlier today.
Rightly concerned that the ridiculous—as in ridiculously awesome—Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6×6 was on the verge of becoming just another underpowered wallflower in a sea of 544-hp 6×6 vehicles, Brabus reached into its bag of tricks and upped the “stock” G63 6X6’s 5.5-liter, twin turbo V-8 to 690 horsepower and 708 lb-ft of torque, 146 and 147 more than stock. So equipped, Brabus is claiming a 0-to-62 time of 7.4 seconds, not too shabby for a six-wheeled vehicle that weighs in just shy of four tons. In terms of sheer mechanical megalomania, that’s somewhere along the lines of prepping the Queen Mary for wake-jumping duty. Sadly, top speed is electronically limited to 100 mph due to the 37-inch off-road tires—but that oversight likely can be remedied with some new rubber and a quick reflash, right?
To coax the additional power from the V-8, Brabus replaced the production turbos with a pair of larger units of its own design capable of higher boost pressure, and then wrapped the intake and charge-air plumbing with the tuner’s “Gold Heat Reflection” sheathing to lower air temps. High-performance metal catalysts with 2.9-inch downpipes feed into a stainless-steel sport exhaust system with active control, allowing drivers to select between the rowdy “Sport” mode and the curiously named and presumably more mellow “Coming Home” setting (and who doesn’t love a good Jon Voight tearjerker flick?). Brabus also tweaked the engine mapping to make sure the high-po components exist in harmony, and also to meet Euro V emission-control standards. Power is channeled through AMG’s SpeedShift Plus seven-speed automatic transmission.
- Prototype Drive: Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6×6
- Instrumented Test: 2013 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG
- Comparo: 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon vs. 2012 Mercedes-Benz G550
Too make sure bystanders don’t mistake you for just another chump in a half-million-dollar, 6×6 off-road party machine, Brabus mounts a bespoke front spoiler below a signified grille, affixes a large carbon-fiber scoop on the hood, and slaps carbon-fiber covers on the fender-mounted turn signals. Inside, Brabus’s in-house upholstery shop crafted an exclusive treatment with topstitched leather accented by aluminum pedals and door-lock pins.
For all the outrageousness of the Brabus B63S-700 6×6, arguably the most intriguing fact—as well as a testament to the inherent ruggedness of the Mercedes-AMG twin-turbo V-8 on which it builds—is that Brabus Tuning offers a three-year/62,000-mile warranty on the powertrain. And good news for anyone interested in more traditional ludicrousness: Brabus says the B63S-700 performance gear can be fitted to four-wheeled G63 SUVs, too.
Source: CarAndDriver
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