Brabus
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MotorTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:10 Welcome to Brabus, the German auto-tuning powerhouse in the heart of the Rhine Valley.
00:15 The company began back in 1977 as a manufacturer of tuning parts for Mercedes-Benz.
00:21 Fast forward 50 years and I think it's fair to say things have evolved.
00:26 Filmed over a couple of days and with the predictable German rain which explains the outfit changes,
00:32 this is my time at Brabus.
00:34 Over the Belgian pavé, the shake, the rattle, it doesn't matter, not in a car like this.
00:45 Wow!
00:46 I'm petrified, but I'm excited.
00:50 This car is incredible.
00:53 [Music]
01:03 I began with a tour of the factory from CEO Konstantin Buschmann.
01:07 Konstantin took over the company from his late father, founder Bodo Buschmann in 2018.
01:13 Under his stewardship, Brabus is undergoing its most radical transformation to date,
01:17 expanding their portfolio from only Mercedes to bespoke Range Rovers, Porsches and whatever this thing is.
01:24 And that's before you get to the myriad of motorcycles, powerboats and even apparel.
01:29 Brabus have set their sights on dominating the luxury sector
01:32 and nowhere is that more evident than when you see their incredible cars up close.
01:37 What is the difference between a Brabus and a Brabus Rocket Edition?
01:41 The Rocket is our most well-known product label
01:47 and the Rocket is always the highest end in terms of performance
01:51 and the most aggressive end in terms of look.
01:54 What do you drive today?
01:59 6x6, 4x4, Rocket R and EQS.
02:04 When we thought about the Rocket R,
02:07 we were asking ourselves, is it possible to base a Brabus Rocket on another car than a Mercedes?
02:14 Can a Porsche 911-based supercar be a Brabus Rocket?
02:21 And it's so fascinating to me that today this is more Rocket than I could ever imagine.
02:29 It's redefining what the Rocket is to your brand.
02:32 It is our most aggressive product label
02:35 and it just looks amazing.
02:37 It looks spectacular.
02:38 So it begins life as a Turbo S, is that right?
02:41 We wanted to make a Brabus Rocket based on 911.
02:45 We specifically chose the Turbo S as the version
02:48 because we thought that is where we are as the brand.
02:52 We don't want to compromise on comfort when we build a car
02:57 and so the Turbo S was where we saw our market.
03:02 The second thing that was very important to us,
03:05 and also to me personally,
03:07 was I wanted a supercar with a lot of power,
03:10 a Brabus Rocket typical power,
03:13 and no rear wing.
03:14 I don't want a rear wing.
03:16 But they still want comfort, they still want elegance,
03:19 they want that luxury feel
03:21 and that's why I wanted a super sports car without a rear wing.
03:25 I think you've done a great job of achieving that.
03:28 You've made something which is all at once shouty and loud
03:31 and big and bold and vibrant, but it's still understated.
03:34 Same but different then.
03:35 Can you talk to me a little bit about EQS over here?
03:38 One of the most advanced, technologically advanced cars in the world.
03:42 Oh yeah.
03:43 When we looked at it, thought about what can we do,
03:45 we said let's take a different approach.
03:48 Let's take it to the wind tunnel.
03:50 Let's see if we can actually pull the drag coefficient
03:53 to increase its reach,
03:55 show that tune-in customisation can not only be bigger wheels
04:00 or bigger exhaust, more noise,
04:02 but it can also be thinking intelligently about
04:05 working with the shape of the car to get more out of it.
04:09 And that's what we did.
04:10 I think we improved the drag coefficient by several percentage points.
04:14 We improved the reach of the car by several percentage points
04:17 and therefore it's a UC project.
04:19 In making the decision to tune an EV,
04:21 Brabus are letting the world know that they aren't a one-trick pony.
04:25 But as interesting as that all is, really, I'm here for one thing.
04:28 G-Wagons.
04:30 Brabus' most popular model and arguably what they're known best for today.
04:34 4x4 square.
04:35 Yeah.
04:36 Current generation.
04:38 Of course, you know, Port Lexel car.
04:40 Beautiful monoblock HD wheels.
04:42 There's a lot of carbon fibre going now.
04:45 It's got the S-Datman.
04:47 New wheelbarrows.
04:49 A lot of the front.
04:51 It can be recognised from cars like the G900 or the G800.
04:55 Power dome.
04:56 The carbon fibre.
04:57 Lincoln's frame around the grille.
04:59 And of course, one of my favourite parts of this car
05:02 is the absolutely gorgeous interior.
05:05 Now, it's called Super Black.
05:07 Right.
05:08 Because when we designed it,
05:10 just like every Super Black interior that we've done until now,
05:14 we wanted to do an interior in just one colour.
05:18 And try to use every single technology,
05:21 every single technique in terms of craftsmanship
05:24 for the interior that we have in our portfolio.
05:27 So there is stitching,
05:30 there is perforation,
05:33 there is imprinting.
05:35 Leather, there is carbon fibre inside.
05:38 There is so many details in the car.
05:41 The weave, gorgeous.
05:42 Yes.
05:43 Oh, yeah.
05:44 That you only discover when you're driving the car for two or three days.
05:48 Yeah, yeah.
05:49 You will find new details.
05:50 It's something that you have to drink in for a few minutes.
05:54 We are focusing on one piece.
05:57 This is the one car that we're building for each given customer.
06:01 Come on, then.
06:02 It's about time we took a look at this.
06:06 A six by six.
06:08 Of course, the largest in our fleet.
06:10 The perfect car.
06:11 When did you guys first think,
06:14 "We can actually do this. We can put a third axle on a two-wagon"?
06:17 We knew that, of course, the last generation six by six had been produced by AMG.
06:21 And they were not going to make a new version of the six by six.
06:27 And that became clear very fast after the new G-Class 463 A launched.
06:32 Now, we looked at it and said,
06:36 "What can we do with the car?"
06:37 The first result was actually not this.
06:39 The first result was the XLP.
06:40 And then, of course, we did the P, which is the lower pickup.
06:43 And then, once we had done those, we said,
06:47 "If we've done this, can we actually build a six by six?"
06:52 But the main challenge became very quickly that we said,
06:55 "If we build a six by six, we have to improve it.
06:59 It has to be better than the last one."
07:03 And the answer to that is right here.
07:06 Because if you count the number of dampers,
07:09 the number of--
07:10 If you look at the suspension,
07:12 you will see that you've got independent suspension wheel
07:17 on all three axles, which, of course, the last one--
07:20 Yeah.
07:21 Oh, it's a work of art.
07:22 And that makes this car an absolute beast for off-road use.
07:27 Constantine is a busy guy.
07:29 It wasn't long before he was whisked away to do CEO things.
07:33 But before he left, he handed me the keys
07:35 to a masterpiece edition XLP Adventure six by six
07:39 and told me to go find the test track.
07:42 Finally, time to see what this monstrous vehicle drives like.
07:46 It doesn't feel like you've got an extra six, probably,
07:50 feet of car behind you, and yet here we are.
07:54 900 horsepower, 774 torque.
07:57 That's an electronically limited number of torque.
08:00 By the way, the actual engine is capable
08:03 of well in excess of 900 pound-feet of torque,
08:06 if you can believe it.
08:09 Oh, wow.
08:11 [laughs]
08:15 Wow.
08:17 Oh, listen to that.
08:19 The turbo flutter, the flash of wastegate noise
08:24 is just incredible.
08:31 Oh, my God.
08:34 Oh, my God, the power this thing has.
08:41 I'll be honest, I don't know how much this thing weighs.
08:43 Safe to say, definitely weighs
08:47 probably in excess of 7,000 or 8,000 pounds.
08:52 Oh, my God.
08:54 It just goes like a rocket,
08:59 a literal rocket, 900 horsepower,
09:02 774 pounds, six-wheeled monster.
09:07 Driving the 6x6 was an experience,
09:13 though if I thought that that was overpowered,
09:15 nothing could have prepared me for the Rocket 900R.
09:19 Whoever said that a Porsche Turbo S needed more horsepower?
09:22 Well, Brabus, that's who.
09:24 This is the Brabus 900 Rocket R.
09:28 Brabus's arguably most exciting car of the past 12 months.
09:33 It starts life, as I mentioned, as a Turbo S,
09:35 a car which already had 640 horsepower,
09:38 but Brabus said, "No, no, no, that is not enough,"
09:41 and that is why, as the name suggests,
09:43 this car has 900 horsepower.
09:46 Let's take a look at the design
09:48 before we dig into what they've done under the hood.
09:50 The Rocket R benefits from Brabus's wide-star body kit,
09:54 but this is so much more than a body kit,
09:56 but I think even to call it a body kit
09:58 does a disservice to what this car is.
10:01 I've actually seen over there behind me
10:03 a Rocket R being made,
10:05 and there's not a lot of Porsche left on the car
10:09 by the time Brabus have finished stripping it down
10:11 before they start putting the wide-star kit on it.
10:14 These entire panels here are absolutely bespoke to this car.
10:19 They give this car a completely new look.
10:22 We'll start, of course, at the front, though,
10:24 where we've got this gorgeous, multi-level carbon splitter.
10:28 The only panels which remain from the Porsche Turbo S
10:32 to this car are the hood, the roof, and the doors.
10:35 Every other panel has been changed, altered,
10:39 remanufactured by Brabus here in-house,
10:42 almost all of it in carbon fibre.
10:44 So, moving around the side,
10:47 we get to what I think is my favourite detail
10:50 of the Rocket 900 R,
10:52 these spectacular forged wheels
10:55 with these gorgeous carbon turbofan accents here.
10:59 Brabus brake calipers, of course.
11:02 Fully adjustable, in-house-developed coilovers
11:06 have helped to give this Rocket R
11:08 a far more sporty stance than the standard 911 Turbo S,
11:13 though this car is, of course, still adjustable
11:16 using the little control on the steering wheel,
11:18 so you still get the functionality
11:20 that you would associate with a 911,
11:22 but, no mistaking, this is a Brabus.
11:25 Let's carry on moving around the side.
11:27 So, I already said that this panel
11:29 is completely bespoke to the Rocket R.
11:32 Of course it is.
11:33 Look at this great, big carbon detail
11:36 which sweeps all the way from the hump point here
11:39 all the way down to being just a few inches off the ground.
11:43 And it's fully bespoke carbon with fans here.
11:47 It's functional, air is moved through the turbofans,
11:50 in through these and out through these.
11:52 This is all downforce.
11:54 This is all real mechanical engineering.
11:56 This isn't fancy.
11:57 This isn't a body kit in the sense of the word
12:00 of being visual but having no practical application.
12:02 This is working.
12:04 And it's also giving this car, I think you'll have to agree,
12:07 a completely different look to any other 911,
12:10 not just Turbo S.
12:12 We'll move past this beautiful, beautiful
12:15 extended rear quarter here,
12:17 which I think gives an additional 60mm of width.
12:20 Another obviously beautiful turbofan wheel.
12:23 To this, speaking of things that are different,
12:26 the Turbo S with a ducktail spoiler.
12:29 Of course this isn't a standard Porsche ducktail spoiler,
12:31 this is a Brabus ducktail spoiler
12:33 with an additional carbon lip at the top.
12:36 I also think that this is worth mentioning.
12:38 These exhaust tips are 3D printed.
12:41 And there's also, as the designer described to me,
12:44 a five-step process.
12:46 As you look down this car, you get five different
12:48 distinguishing layers of carbon.
12:51 One, two, three, four, five.
12:53 It's beautiful from every angle.
12:56 There are no bad angles on this car.
12:58 The carbon rear diffuser, of course, is absolutely gorgeous.
13:01 And look, whilst we're here at the back,
13:03 let's talk about the engine for a second.
13:05 As I mentioned, the Turbo S started life with 640hp.
13:08 Well, of course, in being a Brabus product,
13:11 the engine had to come out and had to receive the Brabus treatment, didn't it?
13:15 So, out went the Porsche turbos,
13:17 in came larger VTG turbos,
13:20 as well as uprated internals and a whole remap,
13:23 giving this car a 900hp and 738lb-ft of torque.
13:30 That is, and I don't say this lightly,
13:33 unhinged.
13:36 The Turbo S, a spectacularly fast car,
13:39 obviously comprehensive, obviously it's a Porsche, it's a 911,
13:42 it works spectacularly.
13:44 No one said it was underpowered.
13:46 And then Brabus came along.
13:48 I cannot wait to drive this car.
13:50 In fact, what am I doing?
13:53 It's time to drive the Rocket R.
13:55 Only the weather had turned.
13:56 It was wet, very wet.
13:58 Safe to say I wouldn't be pushing the car too hard.
14:02 But if anything, this would prove as a valuable test
14:04 as to whether this Brabus 911
14:07 could still claim the practicality of a regular Porsche.
14:11 The rain may have dampened my hair,
14:14 but not my spirit, because
14:17 I am in a Brabus 900R Rocket.
14:23 Their 992 Turbo S derived,
14:27 900hp monster.
14:32 And let me tell you,
14:35 it's every bit as good as it sounds.
14:38 Every single bit.
14:40 What I think is incredible,
14:42 the amazing thing, the masterstroke
14:44 that Brabus have managed to achieve,
14:46 is they've dialed in all that extra horsepower,
14:49 all that extra torque, and of course,
14:51 these extra luxury elements without dialing out
14:54 what makes the 992 generation 911 so good.
14:59 Even though this car is on
15:02 its own Brabus developed suspension,
15:04 still rides like a Porsche.
15:06 Even though it's on those extra large wheels,
15:09 and the ride height has been dropped,
15:11 it still has all the same modes as the normal 911 does.
15:15 I'm in wet mode now because it's raining,
15:17 and let me tell you, I'm glad that wet mode still exists.
15:21 As much as as a driver I want to be in Sport Plus,
15:25 with the traction control off, etc, etc,
15:28 in reality, with 900hp,
15:32 I want to be safe.
15:34 That doesn't mean we can't try a little 0-60 action
15:37 and see what happens.
15:39 I can't, I can't.
15:42 It's far, far, far too powerful
15:46 for a road like this,
15:48 a situation like this with the rain and the leaves.
15:51 What I can tell you though,
15:54 is this car sounds spectacular,
15:56 both the induction noise, and of course,
15:59 that gorgeous exhaust note
16:01 from the 3D printed exhaust.
16:06 It's a funny thing about Porsches,
16:08 the gearboxes are spectacular,
16:10 the PDK is probably the best gearbox you can buy on a road car.
16:14 And yet, with these 7 and even 8 speed derivatives,
16:19 you're kind of left thinking, "Why? I don't need that many gears,
16:22 they sound so good."
16:27 In 3rd and 4th gear, you never really want to go above that.
16:31 I'm sat here in 2nd gear now, doing 60km/h.
16:38 Listen to that. Just listen to that.
16:44 Of course, we can't talk about this car
16:47 without talking about its exterior,
16:50 and again, I understand that it might be polarising to some,
16:53 but again, I think what they've done
16:56 quite amazingly,
16:59 is make this car feel a bit more special.
17:03 I love the addition of the ducktail,
17:05 and actually the fact that it works,
17:07 it's actually adding to the aerodynamic
17:10 downforce effect of the car.
17:13 It's quite impressive, and it's gorgeous, it's really nice looking.
17:16 I love all the carbon fibre at the front and at the rear.
17:20 I wouldn't love having to pay for it if I curbed it,
17:23 which I inevitably would, were I to be driving it all the time.
17:27 But I love that they've done it.
17:29 I admire so much the way that Brabus
17:31 haven't been daunted by the fact that they're messing with an icon,
17:34 that they're taking on one of, if not the,
17:37 most iconic sports car in history,
17:40 and putting their own spin on it,
17:42 something that they've not done with a 911 before.
17:46 Very cool.
17:48 They should feel proud of the fact that they've managed to
17:50 implement their own language, design-wise and engineering-wise,
17:56 without nullifying the great work that Porsche has done
18:01 in getting the 992 Turbo S to this point.
18:04 But as Brabus so often does,
18:07 they've seen where Porsche have taken the 911,
18:11 and they've finished the story.
18:13 [MUSIC]
18:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]