Brabus V12 cabriolet squeezes 800 hp into an E-class Mercedes-Benz

Consider German tuner Brabus the BALCO to Mercedes-Benz’s Barry Bonds: Brabus makes the cars stronger, faster and meaner.

First, Brabus attacked the Mercedes E-class sedan, and then it went crazy on the coupe, installing insane V12 engines in both. Now, the mad scientists are pumping up the four-seat cabriolet.

Brabus shoehorned a heavily customized version of the three-valve Mercedes S600 V12 into the E-class, along with a beefed-up five-speed transmission. Power is big--800 horses big. And torque? Put your chiropractor on speed dial because the car is electronically limited to 811 lb-ft.

The company installed a special crankshaft with a longer stroke and larger pistons to increase displacement to 6.3 liters. The cylinder heads were optimized for flow and a sport camshaft grind is used. Two exhaust manifolds with integrated turbochargers were added, along with four water-to-air intercoolers.

And, of course, Brabus works a little magic with the ECU to keep all the high-performance parts singing in unison.

All of that power needs to hit the pavement at some point, which is why Brabus equipped the convertible with a high-performance limited-slip differential with a locking rate of 40 percent. This allows the cabriolet to hit 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, 124 mph comes up in less than 10 seconds, and 186 mph arrives in 23.9 ticks. Top speed is 231 mph.

Now, when getting to the double-century mark, it helps to be well-planted. Brabus takes all of its cars to the wind tunnel to fine-tune the aero of the carbon-fiber body. The company claims a redesigned front apron reduces lift and guides more air to the brakes and the radiator. Outlets on the side route hot air away from the heat exchangers, and widened front fenders allow for the 9.5-inch-wide tires at the nose while the same treatment at the rear fits 10-inch-wide rubber.

Brabus joined with Bilstein for the custom suspension which has 10 selectable settings for jounce and rebound, along with a ride height that can be adjusted 35 millimeters up and down. Clamping duties are taken care of by slotted and vented discs with 12-piston calipers up front and six-piston binders in the back.

Needless to say, the Brabus 800 E V12 cabriolet is a lot of car. But the company is confident enough to offer a two-year, bumper-to-bumper warranty on the whole thing and three years on the Brabus-specific tuning products, all for $681,484, converted from euros. That does include the cost of a stock E-class cabriolet, so there’s your value right there.

By Jake Lingeman