Manhart Gives The Mercedes GLE 63 S A Lot More Power, A Lot Less Subtlety

The 595bhp, 174mph Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S is not a slow vehicle in anyone’s books. Nor, with its enormous grille and sloping roofline in Coupe form, could it really leave anyone wanting for more road presence.

Of course, there are plenty of fast, showy cars out there, but that’s never been an obstacle for the world’s tuning companies to make them even faster and showier. Take German outfit Manhart. Traditionally a BMW tuner, it’s recently broadened its remit to begin tweaking cars from Beemer’s traditional rivals from Stuttgart, and the Mercedes GLE 63 is the latest car to get the treatment.

The result is the Manhart GER 800, and it’s for people who really want to be noticed. Manhart has lifted power from the car’s 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 from 595 to 789bhp – a nice, round 800ps, hence the name. Torque is similarly increased from 627 to 738lb ft. This uplift comes from beefed up turbos and the company’s MHtronik ECU, which does its darndest to squeeze as much extra power out as possible.

All that extra power would mean nothing without some extra noise, which Manhart has achieved with a new set of downpipes that see the deletion of the exhaust’s particulate filters. You can’t have these, however, if you’re in Manhart’s home country, because they don’t meet Germany’s ultra-strict TÜV approval process.

Accompanying that extra audible noise is lots of visual noise, thanks in no small part to the new carbon fibre widebody kit and vast 23-inch alloys Manhart has fitted. The air suspension has been fiddled with to allow the car to sit 30mm lower than standard, a drop that can alternatively be achieved via new coupling rods.

Manhart’s demo car is finished with flashes of the company’s signature bright yellow, which is also found throughout the retrimmed leather and Alcantara interior.

There’s no word on how much the full GER 800 package costs, but Manhart currently offers a separate performance kit for the GLE 63 S (which, oddly, takes torque even higher to 811lb ft) for a shade under €20,000, or just under £17,000.