Brabus Unveils The World's Fastest, Most Powerful Cabriolet

It's the Mercedes you see here, customized by Brabus, and it just made the journey from Germany to France to debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The open-top rocket sled is dubbed the Brabus 850 6.0 Biturbo Cabrio, but as you might have guessed, it's based on the Mercedes-AMG S63 Cabriolet. The donor vehicle already packs 577 horsepower from its 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8, propelling it to 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds en route to an electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h miles per hour. But in signature style, Brabus has completely overhauled the engine.

The venerable Benz tuner bored out the block from 5.5 liters to 6.0, fitted a new, crankshaft, forged pistons, connecting rods, cylinder heads, intake module, exhaust system, and turbochargers to increase output to a frankly mad 838 hp. With all that muscle channeled to the tarmac through all four wheels and a seven-speed automatic transmission, the 850 Cabrio will reach 100 km per hour from a standstill in 3.5 seconds and top out at 350 km/h. Brabus says it could go faster, but there's only so much the tires can handle.

Those figures leave the competition in a cloud of dust, which is a rather unpleasant place to be when driving with the roof down. The Bentley Continental GTC, Rolls-Royce Dawn, and Aston Martin Vanquish Volante all take longer to reach highway pace, stop short of the Brabus' top speed, and pack less power – as does, incidentally, the twelve-cylinder Mercedes-AMG S65 cabrio. While the Hennessey Venom GT Spyder and Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse can go faster, those open-top cars don't have cabriolet-style folding roofs.

Of course, Brabus didn't stop at the engine. It also offers a complete carbon-fiber aero kit, 21-inch monoblock alloys (but offers everything from 18-inchers to 22s), and a fully refitted interior. And it will set yours up any way you want, though you can expect to pay a substantial premium for the privilege, on top of the $180k you'll have to shell out for the donor car.