EVENT: ESSEN MOTOR SHOW - BRABUS

What do you do when your Mercedes AMG just isn't fast enough? If that is the case there is only one thing you can do and that is knock on the door at Brabus. The company was founded in 1977 and according to the German Federal Motor Vehicle Registration Agency it registered as an automobile manufacturer.

Each year they have a massive stand at the Essen Motor Show with a bar and nice hostesses. Luckily for me I had a press card so I got easy access to all the cars. This SLS was one of their latest creations and it looked stunning.

One of their most famous cars is this Bullit. It's based on a Mercedes Benz C-class. But that is where every comparison ends. Brabus calls this a ‘wolf in sheep clothes' and it's for obvious reasons ...

... because under the hood lies their V12 Biturbo. Their V12 is based on the engine found in the Mercedes Benz S600 but it has an enlarged capacity of 6.3 litres. The engine has 730bhp and 1100Nm that has been electronically limited. I would consider this as the ultimate sleeper.

With all that power you need some serious brakes to slow down or even stop for that matter. Brabus teamed up with Alcon and produced these 6 piston brakes for the back. Up front they even have a set with 12 pistons.

This Brabus iBusiness was one of their latest aditions to the fleet. It is based around the Mercedes S-Class. Again this car can be fitted with the V12 engine and every other option Brabus made for the S-Class. But the real treats are inside the interior.

They managed to fit the entire iPod catalog in the car; everything can be programmed or operated with an iPhone or Touch. It is very tempting to take a seat and watch some movies but I'd much rather sit behind the wheel and drive this on the Autobahn.

A very big trend I spotted this year was the use of dry carbon. This carbon fender belongs to the Brabus E V12.

It is a lighter version of the E V12 "one of ten" car that Brabus debuted last year at Essen.

But the real star on the Brabus stand was this Widestar SLS that they debuted for the first time at this show. The red paintjob looked very fresh on a car that you would usually see in dull silver. The contrast with the dry carbon pieces worked wonders on the overall appearance of the car.

These carbon inserts in the front fenders were a real visual treat.

The front bumper gained these carbon air intakes and a carbon frontlip.

Its track width has been widened almost 20mm for better stability in fast cornering and high speed runs, there fore they needed to widen the rear fenders to accommodate the 21" Brabus monoblock wheels that are, despites its size, 12% lighter that the standard SLS wheels.

If red is not your thing you can always take one in black. This version wasn't as wide as the red version but still looked great.

The one and only G Wagon. This is the epitome of the ultimate VIP wagon if you ask me. It doesn't get any better than this.

It is powered by the V12 we've seen in all the other cars. Within 4.3 seconds you've reached 100km/h and at full speed you're doing 240km/h. The only downside that I could think of is the half million euro asking price.

The complete opposite of the G Wagon is this Tesla Roadster. Brabus has added a ‘space sound generator' that can mimic the sound of a V8, a racecar engine and two futuristic sounds called ‘beam' and ‘warp'.

Brabus left the engine untouched and only developed exterior and interior modifications. When the car is fully charged it is capable of driving 296km.
-Jeroen Willemsen
Brabus
Essen Motor Show