Car and Driver: Brabus Rocket 900 Is a Batcrap-Crazy S65 AMG Coupe for the Filthy Rich

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While there’s no shortage of tuners putting wrenches to factory-fresh hardware in search of performance, it takes a special kind of lunacy to crack open a gleaming 6.0-liter V-12 for a minor displacement increase of 0.3 liters. In this case, the lunatic is German tuner Brabus, and the engine in question resides between the fenders of the Mercedes-AMG S65 coupe. Not content with the twelve-cylinder’s silky-smooth 661 factory supplied ponies, the masterminds at Brabus set about poking around the engine’s nether regions.

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Twelve forged pistons were required to match the scantly increased cylinder bores, and while they were inside, Brabus thought it best to fit specially balanced connecting rods and a billet crankshaft with a longer stroke. Once the internals were up to snuff, Brabus tossed the factory turbos, replacing them with its own units with larger compressors and turbines. There’s a custom intake that uses heat-reflecting sheathing to keep intake temps down, while special mapping ensures the fuel delivery and ignition keep things on the same page, combustively speaking. Fitting the new turbos required modifying the exhaust manifolds, so Brabus went ahead and mounted larger 3.1-inch downpipes and a stainless-steel exhaust with ceramic-coated satin-black tailpipes. Naturally, the system features active butterfly valves to control the exhaust tone from the driver’s seat. (If this sounds a tad familiar, it’s probably because you’re sniffing glue. Or maybe it’s just that you read our previous coverage of the Brabus Rocket 900 Desert Gold Edition sedan, which debuted last November in Dubai.)

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With everything in place, the engine produces a claimed 900 metric horsepower (hence the name; that’s 887 horsepower in freedom units) and a crazy 1106 lb-ft of twist at 4200 rpm. Brabus is quick to note, however, that “torque is electronically limited to a measly 884 lb-ft in the interest of longevity.” Likewise, Brabus modified the seven-speed automatic to handle the increased power and mounted a limited-slip differential for good measure.

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The objective of all the hard work is speed and quickness, and the Brabus Rocket 900 coupe does not disappoint on those counts. Brabus is claiming a 3.7-second 0-to-60-mph time and a top speed of 217 mph. While not the most insane car in existence, the former figure does shave four-tenths off the 0–60 time we recorded in our instrumented test of a 2015 S65.

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Brabus Monoblock wheels are available in either 21- or 22-inch diameters. (The car on display in Geneva and pictured here sports 21-inch units with 255/35 tires.) The car is also lowered to by about a half an inch. Numerous exterior upgrades are present, including a front spoiler, a rear diffuser, a subtle rear spoiler, new mirror caps, and carbon-fiber trim for the rear air outlets in the bumper. Light brown and magnolia leather upholstery with contrasting stitching and special umbra-colored wood inlays are joined by aluminum paddle shifters and pedals in the interior.

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Although Brabus hasn’t yet divulged pricing information—a clever way of saying, “if price is a concern, the Rocket 900 is out of your league”—it did mention that it will sell you the car complete, or perform the Brabus  Rocket 900 modifications to any errant Mercedes-AMG S65s that are currently taking up space in your driveway.

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