Mercedes-Benz G65 AMG 800 iBusiness by Brabus

Two of my favorite off-road vehicles of all time are the Land Rover Defender and the legendary Mercedes-Benz G Class. The G Class is just an all around beautiful vehicle with a timeless design and it continues to age gracefully. There is a vast amount of after-market parts for the vehicle and plenty of company’s out there that work on this SUV and take it to the next level.

Brabus is well-known for modifying Mercedes vehicles to the extreme and here we have a beautiful Mercedes-Benz G65 AMG with a V12 pumping out 788 horsepower and lots of high-tech gadgetry for company’s 800 iBusiness debut at the Geneva Motor Show which will consist of multimedia systems from Apple hence the iBusiness name plate.  The Mercedes-Benz G Wagon is the perfect platform to showcase the iBusiness tech and what better stage then the Geneva motor show.

The G Class is known for off-road capability but this particular model will give your performance cars a run for their money. This model seen here is fitted with the Brabus Widestar widebody and Brabus Platinum Edition 23-inch forged wheels made just for this model. The V12 6.0-liter Viturbo engine from the G65 is enhanced by Brabus with their own twin-turbo setup allowing for a higher boost. The stock horsepower on the G65 is “only” 612 but thanks to the upgrade, it’s now 788hp at 5,500 rpm and a massive 1,047 lb-ft of torque at only 2,100 rpm. But unfortunately, the peak torque is electronically limited to 811 lb-ft of torque. It’s okay, you don’t need all that power anyway.

The 0 to 100 km/h sprint can be accomplished in just 4.2 seconds which shaves off 1.1 seconds from the factory variant. The top speed is probably pretty fast too but because of its very non-aerodynamic characteristics, the top speed is electronically limited to a 155mph (250 km/h). According to Brabus, the top speed could be 167mph if they really wanted to let it loose. So what kind of fuel economy does a 788hp on a tank-like SUV get you? If you care for that sort of thing, the answer is 13.8 mpg US (17L/100 km). That’s not too bad for this kind of power and I was actually expecting some really bad numbers here.

Besides it’s beauty and power, another key feature on this 800 iBusiness is the multimedia system with access to movies, music, games via iPad mini, iPod touch, Mac mini, and Apple TV. The heart of the multimedia system is the Mac Mini computer and is housed together with the Apply TV module. The power amp is enclosed in a custom consoles in the trunk and because of these components, the rear bench seat is replaced by individual seats with integrated seat ventilation system.

The rear seats also get a custom center console between the two rear seats which include docking stations with built-in chargers for the iPad mini and iPod touch. There is also concealed storage space for keyboard, mouse, and USB ports for hooking up the Mac mini. The headliner also houses a 15.6-inch LCD monitor which acts as the main screen for the entire multimedia system. There is also an internet connection via a high-speed model and a WLAN with access to internet TV from all over the world.

For me, I could do without the fancy multimedia system in this vehicle. The power and interior touches by Brabus will do just fine. No word on pricing but don’t worry about it, most of us can’t afford it.