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Review: Brabus G700 6X6
by Al Kazhafa
In a handful of weeks, I will have one a few meters from my house. Parked in front of the gate of my almost neighbor, since it has not a tall enough porch to house it indoors. The madness tool that this person has ordered is a vehicle as quiet as a walk in the middle of a minefield: the Brabus G700 6X6, the extreme version of the Mercedes G63 AMG 6X6 birth a couple of years ago. How many of you needed to exasperate something sensible like this thing and that precisely in this absurd search of the most distant conception of acceptability find its best ingredient? It is so absurd that it becomes interesting. Strange mechanisms of human mind and, above all, strange mechanisms of those who want something to stand out and not to grind sand dunes outside Dubai or to better climb on everything around when maneuvering.
However, German tuner Brabus, historical firm for three-pointed star’s cars, has certainly not limited to poke 800 (and more) horses under the most various sedans and coupes by Mercedes Benz, but thought that an injection of power was also useful for the 6X6, and after a careful and detailed treatment this can output 700 horsepower and 960 Nm of torque. These are no supercar’s numbers, but hypercar’s ones, and if it were not for a weight of 3700 kg, I could easily accept the fact that accelerating hard it would be able to take off, but the concept of this vehicle is to take you everywhere and as fast as possible. Ride height is enough to drive on your old granny without even wringing a hair (you go over, literally), the six wheels will offer the ability to manage torque and traction under all circumstances and conditions, relying on the air compressors places in the side that, with your simple command from the cabin, are able to increase or decrease the tire pressure and make you able to attack the sand dunes as if they were the perfect surface of a racing track (sort of). Control of the differentials is total, the sound emitted by the new titanium exhaust seems the cry of a carnivorous monster just came from beyond the grave and in the meantime, the driver and his passengers are pampered by the usual AMG cockpit, so classic and elegant, complete with a lot of carbon fiber surfaces and precious stitching on every centimeter of the leather seats. We are sitting higher than usual and in fact, eliminated the problem of how to close the bonnet without having to use a ladder (or an NBA player), just opening the door will pop out a special courtesy “step”.
Judging the drivability of something like this would be useful like trying to find sympathy and understanding out of the typical supermodel: basically useless, so we focus on the twin-turbo 5.5 V8 that manages to open the gates of hell. Pressing the gas pedal not only unleashes a roar sound, but a constant pressure of your back on the comfortable leather seats. Torque is available (already from 2000 rpm) and doesn’t stop as long as you do not have to ease the pressure from the throttle, unless you don’t care about insurance stuff and decide to drive over (in the true sense of the word) the Lexus in front of you. Fluent, as said, the acceleration, while the maximum speed has been limited to 160 per hour, for obvious safety reasons. You should drive around with an escort or an emergency alarm. An improper weapon that makes you feel so powerful, except when a few, a very few kilometers later, you have to climb down and shell out more money to refill the two tanks, which are emptying as fast as your wallet. But this is secondary, right?
BRABUS G700 6X6 (2013-)
Layout – front engined, all wheel drive
Engine – V8 cylinder – 5.5 twin-turbo
Transmission – 7-speed automatic gearbox
Power – 700 hp @ 5300 rpm
960 Nm @ 2000-4500 rpm
Weight – 3.700 kg
Acceleration – 7,4 sec.
Top Speed – 160 kph
Price – 580.000 €
