Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Brabus Mercedes E V12 Coupe Wants to Punch Geneva in the Face


Brabus is calling its E V12 Coupe a Gran Turismo, and that makes sense. I mean, look at it. You gonna argue? I'm sure it's more than happy to slap you around with its 800 horsepower and then proceed to crush your spleen with that 1,420 Nm of thrustalicious torque. Well, technically, torque is limited to 1,100 Nm, so maybe it'll just bruise you.

With this car you show respect. When you look at the engine, you call it by its name; it's an SV12 R Biturbo 800. That makes it a 5.5 liter V12 that's been bored and stroked to 6.3 liters, gets all-new internals, sport-cam'd heads, and breathes through an all-new intake system hooked up to a functional RAM-air hood.

Twin turbochargers handle exhaust duty before the stainless exhaust system spits the fumes through sport cats and out the back (it's even Euro IV emissions-compliant).

Unfortunately, for real-world reasons they had to limit its top speed; that means instead of peaking at 230 mph (370 km/h), the car is programmed to keep drivers locked down to a mere 217 mph (349 km/h). Darn.

Stopping from those speeds gets done thanks to fixed caliper brakes at all four corners (12-piston up front, 6-piston in back) measuring in at 380 mm and 360 mm in diameter, front to rear.

Lastly, all the carbon fiber and venting is functional. Of course.

This thing is a race car in a ninja costume. It's a grizzly bear in a tuxedo. It's just plain silly. Then why is it so cool?

1,850 kilograms (4,078 lbs). 2 doors. Seating for 4. 12 cylinders. 2 turbos. 4 intercoolers. 800 horsepower. 0-100 km/h in 3.7 seconds. 230 mph (370 km/h). €470,000. Jet Black.

If Johnny Cash and the White Stripes teamed up and put out an album in Germany during World War 2 and then Quentin Tarantino made a movie about it, it would have been THIS badass and hardcore. This is the next Batmobile. That's what makes it cool.

If you're really interested in the power/drive train and suspension specs, feel free to geek scroll down.

-By Phil Alex


Powertrain

RWD, ESP

Reinforced five-speed automatic transmission

Gear ratios

1st gear 3.59

2nd gear 2.19

3rd gear 1.41

4th gear 1.00

5th gear 0.83

Reverse gear 3.16

BRABUS limited-slip differential with locking rate of 40 percent

Final drive ratio either 2.65 : 1 (V/max 315 km/h / 196 mph) or 2.24 : 1 (V/max more than 370 km/h / 230 mph), electronically limited for use on public roads to 350 km/h / 217 mph).


Suspension

Independent suspension front and back with height-adjustable BRABUS coil-over sport suspension.

Front axle:

Three-link axle with custom lower A-arms for individual adjustment of toe-in, camber and caster, anti-dive geometry. Height-adjustable BRABUS struts with coil springs and gas-pressure shocks with ten selectable settings for compression and rebound, BRABUS sport sway bar.

Rear axle:

Multi-link suspension with custom upper A-arms for individual adjustment of toe-in, camber and caster, anti-squat and anti-dive geometry. Height-adjustable BRABUS struts with coil springs and gas-pressure shocks with ten selectable settings for compression and rebound, BRABUS sport sway bar.






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