While it may have branched out into Porsches, Rolls-Royces and actual islands, tuned Mercedes are still the core products of Brabus, and among those, its work on the various generations of SL remains some of its most memorable.
Naturally, then, the latest SL – now exclusively available as an AMG-developed model – is ripe for the tuning. Following on from the unexpected delight of seeing it turned into a shooting brake last year, Brabus has now done its thing with the SL in its standard roadster guise: meet the 986bhp Rocket GTC.
Brabus Rocket GTC – side detail
The mechanical makeup is exactly the same as its clownshoe sibling. Using the 805bhp plug-in hybrid AMG SL63 S E Performance as its base, Brabus has upped the capacity of its twin-turbo V8 from 4.0 to 4.5 litres, and fitted a beefed up crankshaft, pistons and conrods, plus new turbochargers.
All this and a reworked ECU mean the engine alone chucks out 785bhp and a limited 774lb ft of torque. In league with the 201bhp electric motor, peak system output is 986bhp (a nice round 1000ps for those of you in Europe). Brabus also says it can produce up to 1342lb ft of torque, but that’s been held back to 1195 in the car to stop you leaving your gearbox all over the road after a hard launch.
Brabus Rocket GTC – rear
And launching hard you will be, because the Rocket GTC retains its base car’s electronically-controlled all-wheel drive system and nine-speed automatic gearbox. These are the final pieces in a puzzle that sees it hit 62mph in a quoted 2.6 seconds, 124mph in 9.5 seconds, and a top speed of 197mph, at which point any headgear you’d donned for your drive will likely need supergluing to your scalp.
Elsewhere, the Rocket GTC gets a massively widened body, to the extent that it’s now almost two metres across at the rear axle – and it’s all finished in carbon fibre. That extra girth helps accommodate the five-spoke forged Monoblock wheels, complete with carbon aerodiscs.
Brabus Rocket GTC – interior
Incidentally, this particular launch example is officially called the Rocket GTC Deep Red. We’ll leave you to reach your own conclusions as to why. It’s been specified this way by a customer at a price of around €830,000 (approximately £715,000), although we have to assume that if you throw it enough money, Brabus will build you one in pretty much any colour you like. Hope you’re not planning on getting an expensive haircut any time soon.
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