Brabus has turned its attention to the recently-renamed Mercedes-AMG GLS 63, extracting an additional 195kW and 690Nm from the AMG powertrain. Welcome to the Brabus 850 XL.
The Brabus 850 XL was built as a special order for a client, but due to popular demand from who must be none-other-than Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone – or maybe both – Brabus said it’s happy to give any GLS 63 AMG the Brabus touch.
First up, the powertrain. Extracting an extra 195kW/690Nm from AMG’s already monstrous 5.5-litre bi-turbo V8 was achieved by increasing the powertrain’s capacity to the 6.0-litre mark, and the addition of two turbochargers developed in-house at Brabus. There’s also a new crankshaft to handle the power increase, carbon fibre intake module, larger air intakes and an all-new exhaust manifold lined with gold for heat protection.
The end result is a total output of 625kW of power and staggering 1450Nm of torque, which translates to a 0-100km/h run in 4.2 seconds, down from 4.9 in the stock AMG GLS 63; not bad considering the 850 XL weighs more than two-and-a-half tonnes. Power is transferred to all four wheels via a speedshift plus 7G-Tronic transmission.
Brabus says that ‘in the interest of tyre safety, the top speed is limited electronically to 300km/h”. We’re not going to argue with Brabus on that one.
Brabus has fiddled with AMG’s air suspension system, lowering the ride height by 30mm. Also included is a wider naked carbon fibre bodykit including a new front spoiler and rear diffuser, as well as 23-inch monoblock forged wheels wrapped in the choice of Continental, Pirelli or YOKOHAMA 295/35 R 23 rubber.
In terms of the interior, the sky is the limit according to Brabus, offering all the high-quality leather, wood and carbon trim options you could imagine, in addition to the aluminium pedals and wheel-mounted paddle shifters.
The Brabus 850 XL can be all yours provided you’ve got a GLS 63 AMG and profoundly deep pockets.
