km : Aftermarket and Industry News

Yes, Brabus has officially gone completely off the deep end. A few weeks ago the company broke the news that its V12-powered GLK was the first sport-utility to be clocked at over 200 mph, and now this week the GL63 debuts. Is there anything these guys won't tune?

To make the biggest of Benz sport-utes perform up to the standards of what people expect from Brabus, the company started with an AMG-built 6.3-liter V8 borrowed from the ML63. By slapping on a pair of turbochargers, Brabus brought the engine's performance up to an outrageous 650 hp, enough to deliver a top speed of 186 mph, or 300 km/h. Do we need to remind you how big and boxy the GL is?

The turbo install wasn't a quick-and-dirty job, either. Conventional installs like this involve the installation of two right-turning turbos, one on each side of the V. According to Brabus, doing so results in a slow response from the right side of the engine, which requires a longer, more complicated routing of the exhaust. As such, Brabus designed a special left-turning turbocharger for the right cylinder bank. Left and right turns? This truck obviously isn't marketed to NASCAR drivers. Additionally, the turbochargers are rather small and for quicker response, use gases from just three (rather than all four) cylinders on each side. Strange.



The result of all this is 650 hp at 6200 rpm and a plateau of 626 lb-ft of torque from 3000 to 5500 rpm. The run from 0-100 km (62 mph) comes in an amazing 4.7 seconds, with power routed through a modified seven-speed automatic to a full-time all-wheel drive system.

Visually, the Brabus GL is lowered by 1.2 inches thanks to a Brabus tuning module for the stock air suspension. The joy of the system is that it can be raised back up quickly, avoiding having all this tuning render the GL completely useless as a real truck. Working against that, however, is the elaborate Widestar body kit that adds front and rear fascias, as well as massive fender extrusions. Wheel options range from 21 to 23 inches, and cover up a set of Brabus brakes measuring 15 inches up front and 14 inches at the rear.

Inside, the sky is really the limit for the Brabus GL, with many woods and carbon fiber patterns offered to contrast with diamond-stitched leather and Alcantara upholstery. Multimedia installations, too, are almost limitless. Pricing starts at an expectedly high 368,000 Euros.

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