Brabus bills its latest customised Mercedes, the Brabus 550 Adventure 4×4² as the most off-road capable supercar in its history. Well, it’s certainly the biggest. At the recent Geneva Motor Show, Brabus unleashed the Brabus 550 Adventure 4×4². This monster is 2.25 meters tall, over two meters wide and thanks to portal axles that allow the wheels to sit below rather than in line with the engine’s drive shafts, offers a ground clearance of almost half a meter, too.
When the company’s head of communications, Sven Gramm, said “You’ll see a big SUV,” when asked what the company was planning for Geneva, he wasn’t exaggerating.
While on first glance, it does look like a big boy’s toy. The latest souped-up Mercedes to get the Brabus treatment is a very serious off-roader. Even though, in true Brabus fashion it is a much faster car than the original version — the company has boosted the engine from 422hp and 610Nm of torque to 550hp and 800Nm, it has electronically limited the car’s top speed to a comparatively sedate 210km/h (130mph). However, that’s to preserve the integrity of the vehicle’s off-road tires.
Even with very knobbly rubber wrapping each of the wheels, the car can still accelerate from 0-100m/h in 6.7 seconds. And so that this turn of speed doesn’t feel like crossing the sea during a storm, Brabus has fitted its own electronically adjustable suspension built from aluminum to reduce unsprung weight and which can be adjusted remotely via a control panel in the cabin.
Other modifications include a custom roof rack with off-roading lights, an integrated winch, a reworked front bumper and underride guard, mesh protectors over the lights, a functioning hood scoop, foldaway side steps (it’s a long way up into that cabin) and a new rear bumper with fog lights and a deflector for protecting the car from rocks and other obstacles.
Inside it’s a similar story with a custom leather trim and a host of extra creature comforts not available on the standard car, the most notable being a center console for rear seat passengers that offers fingertip control of the infotainment and climate control settings. Other neat touches include search lights on the roof that can be remotely pivoted from the driver’s seat and a stealth button that immediately kills all lights and switches the exhaust to its quietest mode.