The Brabus 930 Is A Luxury Limo That Likes To Shout About It

Though there have been some brutally powerful variants over the years, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class has always been at its best when whooshing wealthy, influential people around in serenity, sedateness and subtlety.

However, German tuning firm Brabus has never heard the words ‘serene’, ‘sedate’ or ‘subtle’. Just look at its latest take on the S-Class, the 930. It’s based on the Mercedes-AMG S63 E Performance, which isn’t a car that anyone sensible would think needs more power. It teams AMG’s 4.0-litre biturbo V8 with an electric motor for some truly ridiculous numbers: a peak of 791bhp and 1054lb ft of torque.

Notice we said ‘sensible,’ though – that’s another of those words that got lost when Brabus tore the ‘S’ section out of its dictionary (apart from ‘silly’). It’s further turned up the wick on the V8 so that now, with engine and e-motor working in league, peak power is 917bhp (930ps, hence the name) and torque maxes out at 1114lb ft. It’s all sent through a nine-speed automatic and four-wheel drive, and the result is a 2.6-tonne saloon car that’ll hit 62mph in 3.2 seconds.

However, that’s only a gain of 0.1 of a second on the standard car, and both will top out at 180mph if the basic S63’s limiter is removed, so how else does the 930 set itself apart? Well, lots of carbon fibre, naturally. The 930 gets a whole new bodykit made entirely from the stuff, and there’s the option of slathering the steering wheel, dashboard and centre console with it too.

The interior’s been re-trimmed, with the seat bolsters featuring a repeating number seven motif in a nod to Brabus’s 1977 founding. If the standard black upholstery is a little restrained for your tastes, you can also option it in a fairly eye-popping sky-blue colour scheme.

The 930 gets a new switchable stainless-steel exhaust system, which should uncork a lot more V8 rumble from the standard car. The wheels are 22-inch forged items, and Brabus’ ‘SportXtra’ suspension control module allows the ride height to be actively dropped by 10mm. All of this somewhat detracts from the standard car’s relative subtlety, but then that’s never really what Brabus has been about.

Pricing starts at €479,889 – around £410,000, and an increase of over £120,000 versus the standard S63. Really, then, it’s for the businessperson who doesn’t mind shouting about their vast wealth – or doesn’t mind their car doing it for them.