- 5 weeks ago
Mat’s flown over to Germany to get his hands on a very special car!
For the first time, he’s got his hands on the Brabus Rocket GTS! It’s based on the Mercedes-AMG SL 63 e-Performance, and it’s one of the most impressive cars Brabus has ever produced! But what makes it so special? Let’s take a closer look…
The exterior design is super special, and that’s because this is the first car where Brabus has re-engineered the exterior body! As a result, there are some similarities to the SL 63, but it largely looks like a completely different car. Up front, there’s a super aggressive bumper with huge air intakes, and an air intake in the centre of the bonnet. Along the side, there are 21” alloys at the front and 22” alloys at the rear, with both fitted with aero covers. Once we head towards the back, there are extended wheel arches, while at the back, there’s a ducktail spoiler, quad tailpipes, and a huge diffuser.
It’s also worth noting that every single body panel on the car is made from carbon fibre, and there are only three exterior elements taken from the SL - the headlights, the tail lights, and the door handles! Everything else is bespoke for this car!
On the inside, the overall layout of the cabin matches what you’ll find in the standard SL 63. That means it comes with the same infotainment screen layout and the same digital dial setup. However, once you look a bit closer, you’ll notice some subtle changes. Around almost every element, there’s bespoke trim and detailing - that means trim around the screen, the centre console, and even the door switches! There’s also leather throughout the entire cabin, along with a load of carbon fibre. Even the door mats are made from leather!
It’s not just the exterior design that’s impressive. Once you look under the carbon fibre bonnet, you’ll find something really special. The Brabus team have also gone to town on the engine, which means the Rocket GTS is powered by a 4.5-litre twin-turbo V8, which, once combined with the electric motor, produces 1,000hp and an eye-watering 1,820Nm! That’s an increase of 184hp and 400Nm!
There’s one catch, mind - the Rocket GTS has a price tag of £1,000,000!! So is it worth it? You’ll need to stick with Mat to see for yourself!
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:47 Brabus History
01:26 Design
03:54 Interior
06:12 Back Seats
07:36 Boot
08:29 Driving
09:56 Engine
10:58 0-60mph
11:38 Brake Test
11:55 Autobahn Driving
13:24 Reactions & Nurburgring
17:09 Annoying Features
19:33 Cool Features
20:32 Verdict
For the first time, he’s got his hands on the Brabus Rocket GTS! It’s based on the Mercedes-AMG SL 63 e-Performance, and it’s one of the most impressive cars Brabus has ever produced! But what makes it so special? Let’s take a closer look…
The exterior design is super special, and that’s because this is the first car where Brabus has re-engineered the exterior body! As a result, there are some similarities to the SL 63, but it largely looks like a completely different car. Up front, there’s a super aggressive bumper with huge air intakes, and an air intake in the centre of the bonnet. Along the side, there are 21” alloys at the front and 22” alloys at the rear, with both fitted with aero covers. Once we head towards the back, there are extended wheel arches, while at the back, there’s a ducktail spoiler, quad tailpipes, and a huge diffuser.
It’s also worth noting that every single body panel on the car is made from carbon fibre, and there are only three exterior elements taken from the SL - the headlights, the tail lights, and the door handles! Everything else is bespoke for this car!
On the inside, the overall layout of the cabin matches what you’ll find in the standard SL 63. That means it comes with the same infotainment screen layout and the same digital dial setup. However, once you look a bit closer, you’ll notice some subtle changes. Around almost every element, there’s bespoke trim and detailing - that means trim around the screen, the centre console, and even the door switches! There’s also leather throughout the entire cabin, along with a load of carbon fibre. Even the door mats are made from leather!
It’s not just the exterior design that’s impressive. Once you look under the carbon fibre bonnet, you’ll find something really special. The Brabus team have also gone to town on the engine, which means the Rocket GTS is powered by a 4.5-litre twin-turbo V8, which, once combined with the electric motor, produces 1,000hp and an eye-watering 1,820Nm! That’s an increase of 184hp and 400Nm!
There’s one catch, mind - the Rocket GTS has a price tag of £1,000,000!! So is it worth it? You’ll need to stick with Mat to see for yourself!
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:47 Brabus History
01:26 Design
03:54 Interior
06:12 Back Seats
07:36 Boot
08:29 Driving
09:56 Engine
10:58 0-60mph
11:38 Brake Test
11:55 Autobahn Driving
13:24 Reactions & Nurburgring
17:09 Annoying Features
19:33 Cool Features
20:32 Verdict
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00This is one of the most exclusive Mercedes-Benz ever.
00:04That's because it's not actually a Mercedes, but a Barabbas.
00:07It's called the Rocket GTS, and it's based on the SL63 E-Performance.
00:11GTS stands for Gran Turismo Shooting Brake, because this car has a bespoke body.
00:17It's also got a bespoke interior, and of course, an up-rated engine.
00:22I'll give you more details on this later as part of the review.
00:25I'm also going to take this car on the Autobahn to see how fast I can get out of it.
00:30Here we go, steer restricted.
00:35That's going to be pretty scary, because it costs a million pounds.
00:39Anyway, I'm Matt Watson, and you are watching CarWow.
00:47Brabus is one of the most famous tuning companies in the world.
00:49It began in the late 1970s, when founder Bodo Bushman modified his Mercedes S-Class to be as quick as a contemporary Porsche 911.
00:58Since then, Brabus has made some of the fastest and most extreme Mercedes of all time,
01:02such as the record-breaking EV12 and the original CLS Rocket, which could hit 227 miles an hour.
01:09However, this all-new Rocket GTS is arguably even crazier, but not just because it has more power.
01:15This is the first time Brabus has completely re-engineered a car's body to give it a totally bespoke shape,
01:21and I've never seen anything like it before.
01:24Well, maybe apart from these cars.
01:26So, it's quite clearly based on a Mercedes.
01:29It looks like the GT, but it's not exactly based on the SL,
01:32because you want the convertible platform, because there is a convertible version of this.
01:35So, even this coupe version is based on the SL.
01:38The thing that really stands out is that all the body panels, carbon fibre,
01:41and you just have to check out the weave, look at it.
01:43So, you've got this blue paint, which is transparent here on this car.
01:46You can get different colours as well, such as this green and this red.
01:52Loading in a load of panics down there.
01:54Anyhow, I'm going to continue. I'm not going to let that stop me.
01:56They've designed this car in the wind tunnel, so it doesn't just, like, take off at high speed.
02:00And as you can see, you've got this, like, aggressive front nose here, big Brabus logo there, another one there.
02:05And even these, like, little bits here in the grille, they're carbon fibre.
02:08But it's incredible.
02:10There's actually three bits on this car which are standard to the normal SL.
02:15See if you can figure out what they are, and we'll come back to that at the end of this walk round.
02:18Okay, moving down the side, we have 21-inch alloy wheels at the front.
02:21Once again, bespoke with these kind of aero covers.
02:24At the rear, they're 22, so you've got a bit more rake for adding aero and downforce.
02:28This part of the side, I was hoping that was going to be vents, but it's fake.
02:32I would poke it with a stick to illustrate that, but I've got the guys from Brabus there.
02:36That would be a little bit awkward, even though this car is covered in PPF so that it doesn't get scratched.
02:41It's incredible, like, all this part here, the way they've actually made this out of carbon fibre.
02:45I'd love to see the production process be insane.
02:48One thing I'm a little bit surprised at is that they didn't change the door handles.
02:51You know how Porsche did for their GT division with the 911 GT3 RS?
02:55Andres Preuniger was like, I'm not having those horrible, like, poppy-outy door handles.
02:58And he had the old-school door handles.
02:59They've still kept those door handles.
03:01Oh, well.
03:01What they have done, though, is fitted their own glass.
03:03Look, that's Brabus glass.
03:04Brabus glass.
03:05I suppose they have to because Mercedes doesn't make this shape, does it?
03:08Moving down to the back, this is my favourite part of it.
03:10Just this area.
03:12Oh, it looks so good.
03:13The car's actually wider than a standard SL, so it's got even more presence.
03:16And then as we get round here, just with the back window, this little ducktail spoiler.
03:20And once again, you can really see the weave in different lights.
03:23It's lovely.
03:24Then we've got the Brabus exhaust there.
03:25Wait, wait, wait.
03:27It's like an AMG.
03:28We have twin exhaust pipes beyond there.
03:30These are a little bit fake.
03:31And then we have a diffuser here and the Brabus logo there at the back.
03:35And even the Brabus logo is in carbon fibre.
03:38OK, could you guess which parts of the car aren't changed over the standard?
03:42I'll show you what they are.
03:43Tail lights, door mirrors, and the headlights.
03:46Now, for someone like Brabus, try to change the headlights.
03:49You have to go through a whole homologation thing.
03:50That's just not going to be cost-efficient.
03:52But everything else, externally, it's all new.
03:54The general interior design is exactly the same as a normal Mercedes SL.
03:58However, Brabus have taken all the parts, stripped off all the trim, and completely reconfigured them.
04:03The only thing that really hasn't changed is the infotainment system and the digital driver's display and stuff like the rear view mirror and this pod up here.
04:09But, if you look closely, there's, like, these bits of trim are anodised.
04:13Even round here, round here, round here, round here, round here, round here, and the door switches and all of that stuff.
04:18They take all those little bits apart and then anodise them.
04:21They, like, strip it into all its little components.
04:23It's crazy.
04:24Then, obviously, there's the leather.
04:25So, this is Brabus' leather.
04:26And you can choose whatever colour.
04:28This is grey, but you could have had it pink if you wanted.
04:30And one thing I've noticed is sometimes when you get these aftermarket companies that do interiors,
04:36there's always a bit, like, wonky stitching.
04:37But here, I mean, like, here and, ooh, up there as well, that's nice.
04:42The quality control is, like, OEM.
04:44It really is, like, here on the seats as well.
04:46That's what you're getting.
04:47You're getting, like, this bespoke exclusivity, but with, like, OEM quality.
04:51The only thing that I've noticed is this.
04:52There's a bit more of a gap here, maybe, than on that side.
04:56This is the first car they built, so it could be that reason.
04:59We've actually got ambient lighting up there as well, but it uses the normal colours through the Mercedes system.
05:03It's just that there's more ambient lighting bulbs around the place.
05:06Steering wheel, obviously, they've taken it apart.
05:07Like, you've got the normal, like, controls that you get in the Mercedes, but then you've got this leather.
05:11You've got carbon.
05:12You've got the Brabus emboss thing here on the stalks.
05:15Once again, it's the Mercedes stalk, but look, it's got anodized stuff.
05:18It feels really nice.
05:19In fact, the only cheap bits that you feel in here, right, they're the bits they haven't changed.
05:26They're the Mercedes bits.
05:27It's a bit weird looking up here as well and seeing, like, there's the switch for the roof, but obviously, it hasn't got the retracting roof.
05:34Okay, even floor mats, just leather.
05:36Then you have the practicality of ISOFIX on the front passenger seat.
05:39What else do I need to show you?
05:41I feel like there's so much more.
05:42Ah, yeah, look.
05:43Obviously, you've got Rocket there on the dash.
05:45Then, in the seatbelts, quite subtle, that, but I like it.
05:49And, obviously, in the door panel there, on the kick plate, you've got Brabus, and it's illuminated.
05:54But then you've got all, like, the usual stuff that you have with the Mercedes.
05:56So, there's your USB, there's your cup holders, there's your storage there, more USBs, all that kind of stuff.
06:02And, obviously, you can move the steamer or just like in the Mercedes, because it is just a Mercedes SL, just one that's been taken to bits and made a bit more interesting.
06:09Well, a lot more interesting.
06:10Let's do something.
06:12Like, in the back seat, we've got George's camera.
06:13I'm going to have a look at George.
06:14Squeeze it in there.
06:15How are you doing there, George?
06:16I'm not great.
06:17I don't think I've got any kneecaps anymore.
06:19Okay, that's fine.
06:19You stay there, right, because we're going to do a little thing, see what it's like with two people in the back.
06:23So, I'm going to jump in the back.
06:24It's going to be like a normal GT, this is, which means not good.
06:29Let that move forward.
06:30I'll get in.
06:34This is probably where I'd do my back.
06:36Okay, okay, okay.
06:37I wonder if this is...
06:38I can't remember if it's worse than a 911.
06:40The seat back's upright, isn't it?
06:43Where did you put your...
06:44Oh, hello.
06:46I tell you what, even back here, it's all just, like, luxurious.
06:50You can't really see, but look at that.
06:51Even the bits that no one's going to see, back in here, it's all just lovely.
06:55Do you know what we should do?
06:56Lewis, you jump into the driver's seat.
06:57Let's see if you could actually fit in there.
06:59Do you want to pass me your camera?
07:00Hopefully it's on autofocus.
07:02If it's not, we're screwed.
07:03Is it on autofocus?
07:04No.
07:04Okay, so I'm very blurred right now.
07:07So you get yourself comfortable.
07:09Go on, shut the door.
07:10So we could get a lift back if we absolutely really needed a lift back, couldn't we?
07:14A short lift back.
07:15A short lift back.
07:16Do you know what?
07:17I think this reconfigured body makes it more practical in the back.
07:20In the normal GT, it's got a much more sloping roof line, and so headroom's worse.
07:23This is better to be in the back.
07:24Believe me, George, you don't know.
07:25You feel like it's uncomfortable, but it's better than a normal GT's rear seat.
07:29But what have they done to the boot capacity?
07:32Because the normal GT actually has quite a decent boot.
07:36As with the rest of the car, Brabus have retrimmed everything in the boot.
07:40Like, everything.
07:40Look, look.
07:41So you've got the same kind of lovely leather patterning there.
07:43All these little bits have been anodized as well, look.
07:46And, of course, it's lined with Alcantara.
07:49Even here, look, we've got some shiny trim here rather than the standard-like boot clasp.
07:53There is something rather annoying, though, right?
07:55If you look here, you've got a speaker, which is good.
07:57You want a speaker.
07:57But I think with the normal SL, you have these parts there hollowed out,
08:01so you could squeeze some golf clubs in there.
08:04But Brabus have a solution, and it's this little button here.
08:07Pull that.
08:08It releases the rear seat, so you can then, or you do have to lean in and fold them down.
08:12So you could put your golf clubs there.
08:14You're probably wondering what this big hump is.
08:15This hump houses all the battery shenanigans for the plug-in hybrid system.
08:19So that's the same on the normal SL anyway.
08:22It kind of gets in the way of things.
08:23However, the electrification system should help with this car's low-speed driving experience.
08:28But does it?
08:29Okay, I'm heading out to the Autobahn.
08:31I'm acutely aware of having to drive past the traffic and stuff down these narrow German streets
08:36because of the value of this bodywork.
08:37If I scrape it, I am going to be in a lot of trouble and potentially exposed to a huge cost.
08:42I mean, the car is just the same to drive as a normal.
08:44Like SL is fine, but it's just that added pressure that is on my shoulders.
08:49I definitely don't want to curb the wheels either, the narrower sections, because they're like £20,000 apiece.
08:55Forged alloy wheels.
08:57Do you know what?
08:58I could go full electric.
08:59Let's go full electric.
09:00There we go.
09:01Engine's off.
09:02I'm now electric.
09:03Ah!
09:05They got too close.
09:07The pick-up of the electric motor is pretty good as well.
09:09It's all you need in town.
09:11Just stick with it.
09:12Although it's only about nine miles of range that you get.
09:14Actually, I might put the engine back on because I need as much battery as possible to get full power on the autobahn for that top speed run.
09:21No, no, no.
09:23Yes.
09:23Ah!
09:24Just wait, guys.
09:26F***.
09:27I know I've probably got bags of room, but this is just tense.
09:32Oh, listen to this.
09:36That blow-off is really cool.
09:38Much more pronounced than the standard car.
09:40F***.
09:44It doesn't get boring doing that.
09:51It sounds like an old steam train when it just releases a load of pressure.
09:54Like, pshhh.
09:56And there's a very good reason why it sounds so much better than a normal AMG SL or GT.
10:01Because under that gorgeous carbon fibre bonnet is a seriously upgraded engine.
10:06Look at this.
10:07First off, this red carbon fibre engine cover looks lovely.
10:11And key thing here, 1,000 denotes the horsepower and 4.5 litres.
10:16You see, Brabus have actually increased the bore and the stroke of the standard 4-litre twin-turbo V8 from AMG.
10:22They've fitted new forged pistons, upgraded connecting rods.
10:25They've improved the turbo, so you've got new turbos on it.
10:28You've got new downpipes.
10:29You have an extra ECU for added power.
10:32The standard twin-turbo V8 in the E-Performance SL has 612 horsepower.
10:37The engine in this Brabus has 796 horsepower.
10:41Now, they haven't done anything to the electric stuff because it's a little bit confusing.
10:44So, you still get 204 horsepower from the electric motor.
10:47So, combined, you have that 1,000 horsepower.
10:50Plus, a colossal 1,820 newtonmetres of torque, which is 400 newtonmetres more than the standard SLE performance.
10:57Wow.
10:58Okay, let's launch this thing.
10:59See what I'll do, 0-60.
11:01Specialist timing gear is set up.
11:12Wow.
11:12The traction was incredible.
11:14The performance, amazing.
11:15And the time, 2.5 seconds to 60 miles an hour.
11:20Now, that run was slightly down and up, so I'm going to run it in the opposite direction for an average.
11:31That was a 2.6, so average, who cares?
11:342.6, 2.5, all good.
11:36Wow.
11:37But, before I test this car's top speed on the autobahn, I want to make sure its brakes are up to the job.
11:43Okay, here we go.
11:43Brake test from 60 miles an hour.
11:46Fall emergency stop now.
11:51See what the distance was?
11:5230 metres.
11:53That's really good.
11:55Officially, this Brabus has the same 197 mile an hour top speed as a standard SLE performance.
12:00But, based on that incredible acceleration, I wouldn't be surprised if it could crack the 200 mile an hour barrier.
12:06And I was desperate to find out.
12:08But things didn't go exactly to plan.
12:10Now, is this section de-restricted?
12:12Let's find out.
12:13It doesn't appear to be.
12:14It's saying de-restricted, but now it's saying 130 on there.
12:18I'm noticing a bit of wind noise.
12:19I'm not sure if it's from the new, like, structural design.
12:22It's not intrusive.
12:24But I'm just noticing it a bit.
12:25This is interesting.
12:26I'm on the autobahn, doing the speed limit 130.
12:29And I've just put into electric power.
12:31So, it's just cruising along.
12:34On electric power, that's cool.
12:36I've probably rinsed through my battery at this rate, so I'm going to put the engine back on.
12:39I can tell this car's just wanting to go.
12:41And 130 is...
12:42That's just it, like, not really flexing its muscles at all.
12:47It's barely at a jog.
12:49Here we go.
12:49Steering restricted.
12:50Oh, my car said it was.
12:58And then we've got the sign.
13:00Oh, dear.
13:02That's such a shame, that is.
13:03What a tease.
13:05The way this thing picked up, though, that was intense.
13:07I was gutted.
13:09All the sections of autobahn I could find were too busy.
13:12And the Germans had lowered the speed limits.
13:15If I'd have been five minutes earlier, I might have been able to really stretch the legs on this Brabus.
13:20This is becoming painful.
13:22Let's head to the Nürburgring.
13:24But before we got there, I wanted to see what normal people would think about this insane Brabus.
13:29So, I needed to park it somewhere with lots of people around, so I could watch their reactions.
13:34I'm really, really protective of this bodywork, so I don't want to just park randomly in a car park.
13:39So, I've got an idea.
13:40This, being a plug-in hybrid, you can plug it in and charge it up.
13:43So, I'm going to park in one of these R&T bays.
13:46Look, I can do.
13:47I can do.
13:48It's perfectly fine.
13:49In fact, I might do the pretense of plugging it in.
13:55That's some parking right there.
14:00Oh, dear.
14:01Look, it's the wrong connector.
14:03Doesn't do decently charging, look.
14:05No, no.
14:06Anyway, we'll just leave it there.
14:08It's fine.
14:09Let's, in fact, so that people don't complain.
14:13Let's just put that down there like that.
14:16Put that down there like that.
14:17It looks like it's charging, doesn't it?
14:18It looks like it's charging.
14:21A few people came to take a look, but most of them seem more interested in why the car wasn't
14:25correctly plugged in than what it looked like.
14:27I suppose we are in Germany, and people who drive electric cars probably aren't interested
14:31in 1,000 horsepower carbon fibre shooting brakes.
14:34And that wasn't the only embarrassing thing that happened to me.
14:37Yeah, it was open, wasn't it?
14:46Thank you very much.
14:47Thank you, Sean.
14:47I left my stupid charge port open, and the guy spotted it.
14:52I thought he was just waving at the car because he thought it was cool, but he was actually
14:54just helping me out because I left the charge port open.
14:59One idiot.
15:01Thank you, Sean.
15:02Let's check out the acceleration.
15:03Oh, that was rapid.
15:07Heading to the Nürburgring.
15:09Next, Ausfahrt.
15:12Tell you're getting close to the Nürburgring when you see stuff like that.
15:15Here we go, Nürburgring.
15:17You can see bits of the track.
15:18Actually, do you know what?
15:20That was something in camo, and there's Hyundai plaques about the place.
15:23I wonder if it's a Hyundai day.
15:25They're testing something.
15:27There was some camouflaged Audi.
15:29Maybe they're testing at the ring today.
15:30Maybe some Porsche.
15:34Was that the new electric Boxster?
15:36It seemed to be a convertible.
15:37You radioed me when I radioed you, but electric came in.
15:41That's what I was just saying.
15:42This is cool.
15:44What's that?
15:46Oh, it's just a normal 911 turbo.
15:48There we go.
15:49We're at the ring.
15:50But it's not a tourist day, so no one really to look at my car.
15:53How about these guys here?
15:55Will they look?
15:55If I honk my horn?
15:56No.
15:57Can't honk my horn.
15:57That's cheating.
15:59This guy, maybe?
16:00Yay.
16:00He's smiling at it.
16:02There's no one here to look at my Brabus.
16:05There's some guy taking a photo of his car.
16:07Let's pull up in front of his frame.
16:09Look, look, mate.
16:10You're missing an opportunity.
16:11You shoot your old, I mean, E39, and you're missing out on this Brabus.
16:16Such a BMW guy.
16:17Classic.
16:18But I had one last attempt to try and get this car the attention it deserves.
16:22I was heading to Brunchen Corner, which is one of the best spectator spots on the Nürburgring.
16:26It's also known as YouTube Corner because of all the crashes and near-misses that have been filmed there over the years.
16:32So I'm hoping there'll be someone there who might actually be interested in my car.
16:36Oh, don't crash into me, you little alpha.
16:43What cars have we got here?
16:45I can see a VX220, a couple of Mustangs and a GI Yaris.
16:49Well, I can just sit here and watch.
16:51There really ain't much happening.
16:56I think I'm going to get out another wee.
16:58So it was all a bit of a fail, although it wasn't the car's fault.
17:01The terrible weather meant the Nürburgring was completely dead.
17:04The most attention I got was from these guys, who just wanted a picture of me rather than the car.
17:09And that wasn't the only annoying thing I'd noticed during my time with the Brabus.
17:12The carbon Kevlar wheel wells look really nice, don't they?
17:15But here's the problem with them.
17:16Listen.
17:16When you're driving along and there's some stones, you're going to get them rattling around in there.
17:24It might be like a little snare drum's playing.
17:26So obviously Brabus have teamed this car.
17:28They could do whatever they want with it.
17:29They've fitted a new exhaust.
17:31But listen to this.
17:31Start it up.
17:35It's quite fruity.
17:36Is that in sports mode?
17:38There we go.
17:39It's good, right?
17:39Now give it some revs.
17:42It's nice.
17:44Now rev it higher.
17:45No, all the way to the red.
17:48Still got Mercedes soft limiter.
17:50Why didn't they remove that?
17:51It's just a bit of computer programming.
17:54Despite all the carbon fibre, this rocket actually weighs the same as the SL63E performance on which it's based.
18:00Because of all the extra bits that Brabus has added back in.
18:04If you want to know the weight, 2.2 tonnes.
18:08It's like an SUV.
18:10These carbon fibre turbofans do look lovely, but they present a bit of a problem.
18:13The first is trying to get the little dust cup off the valve to pump up the tyre.
18:19Hopefully I won't drop this.
18:22Bear with me.
18:23Don't drop it.
18:24Don't drop it.
18:24Don't drop it.
18:24Don't drop it.
18:25Don't drop it.
18:26I'm going to drop it.
18:27I can feel it's going to be dropped.
18:28Come on.
18:28You can do it.
18:29Don't drop it.
18:30This is a faff.
18:31Got it.
18:32Bigger problem though is, you know, when you're trying to inflate the tyre, you've got like
18:36the air nozzle that goes over the end.
18:38You've got to be very careful not to chip this carbon fibre.
18:40Now, you would normally want to just remove this like you can on the like the air things
18:43that you get on a Tesla, but this is screwed in.
18:46So that must be a pain, right?
18:48It is.
18:48The man from Brabus is nodding.
18:50Okay, I want someone else to put that back on.
18:55I don't want to do it.
18:56If you look very carefully, you'll see that we've got carbon fibre weave there.
19:00Then it sort of disappears and it just goes to like normal solid paint and then the carbon
19:04fibre reappears.
19:06What's all that about?
19:07Well, it's because behind here you have special sensors for the blind spot monitoring.
19:12Unfortunately, they won't work through carbon fibre.
19:15So the actual carbon fibre part of the car finishes there and there.
19:18And this is filled in with Kevlar so that the sensor actually works.
19:21But obviously then you lose the weave, but sort of need it for safety.
19:24Shame though.
19:26You've got to be careful that the car doesn't serve you an uppercut when you open the boot.
19:29Look, that bit can get you under the chin.
19:33Anyway, that brings me on to five cool things about this car.
19:35So of course, being a Brabus, you can get bespoke Brabus luggage.
19:39And this is the feature in here.
19:41Look at this.
19:41It says NFC.
19:42So you can actually ping the car's spec to your phone and keep it in your wallet.
19:46And the car's spec is actually listed on the blockchain, so people can't copy it.
19:50And then if you're selling the car, you can prove that it's a genuine Brabus.
19:53Because the rocket is based on the SL convertible and not the normal GT coupe,
19:57you get the SL special seats with the air scarf.
20:00So they blow hot air on your neck.
20:02Nice.
20:03Obviously, this is a very modified car.
20:05So the normal Mercedes warranty is invalid.
20:08However, Brabus give you a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty.
20:11Being a plug-in hybrid, you can charge it up overnight and then start the car in electric-only mode.
20:16So you don't annoy your neighbours when you drive away in the morning.
20:20This Brabus is a rare car.
20:22Now, it's not strictly limited in numbers, but the sheer nature of it will mean that it's quite limited.
20:27In fact, Brabus reckon around 25 will only ever be made.
20:32Its exclusivity was the biggest reason I've been so worried about driving this Brabus.
20:35But after spending a day with it, I was feeling a bit frustrated.
20:39Didn't really get to do a top-speed run on the Autobahn.
20:42Didn't get to do much stuff at the Nürburgring.
20:45I'd say its mission failed.
20:47We'll get up next time.
20:49But for driving around, it's something that feels special.
20:53This car delivers.
20:54And I have to say, I absolutely love the way it looks.
Recommended
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