Maybach 57S : MACH SCHNELL

Expert Rating:

After a busy day of leveraged buyouts, there's nothing like getting James to drop the hammer on 612bhp. Jonathan Crouch takes a ride in the Maybach 57 Sâ€¦

Before we go on to discuss the merits of the Maybach 57 S, it's worth pausing to consider a fundamental aspect of its potential success. In order to rack up meaningful sales, there needs to be a small number of people out there who feel that their 543bhp limousine isn't quick enough. Chew on that one for a second. It's a deeply worrying thought. Who are these captains of European industry who feel thoroughly inconvenienced at having to wait 5.3 seconds to get to 60mph?

Opt for the hotter 57 S version and every time the chauffeur prods the accelerator, 2,735kg of finest Swabian engineering will rocket to 60mph in 4.9 seconds. That's a saving of 0.4 seconds. Let's couch that in Bill Gates terms. Consider the fortune he's made since Microsoft was founded in 1975. If you presume that he has worked 14 hours a day on every business day of the year since then, that means he's been making money at a staggering million dollars per hour, around $300 per second. Time is money. In his case, $120. Frivolities aside, there's a lot more to the Maybach 57 S than its 604bhp twin-turbo V12 engine borrowed from the S65 AMG but it's a great place to begin. In line with the Maybach approach, the 12-cylinder biturbo engine is hand-assembled in the Mercedes-AMG engine workshops, or 'Manufaktur'. The `One man, one engine' philosophy is reflected by the signature of the technician responsible on the characteristic model plate, which is attached to the engine cover of the V12 biturbo in the Maybach 57 S. You really can pop the bonnet and see the name of the person who hand built your engine.

"Watching a Maybach 57 S take a corner requires you to reset your preconceived ideas about vehicle dynamics"

Top speed is limited to a mere 171mph, Maybach tiptoeing past the traditional Daimler Chrysler Group `gentleman's agreement' of 155mph (or 250km/h). If you've just paid around £300,000 for the privilege of owning a Maybach 57 S, the prospect of having to slipstream a BMW 130i to effect an autobahn overtake just isn't on the cards. Even gentlemen need a little wiggle room. They also need a car that won't fling the Chateau Laffite all over the upholstery when shown a deviation from true straight ahead. That's where the real work has been done with the 57 S. Despite its astonishing specification, the normal rules of physics do apply to the Maybach. Prosaic notions of weight transfer, inertia, kinetic energy and metallurgy are all still relevant. This is a huge car and it's never going to handle like a Golf GTI but Maybach have pulled every trick in the book to attempt to disguise its leviathan bulk. To achieve these dynamic, responsive characteristics, the Maybach developers reconfigured the stabilisers at the front and rear axles. There is now a 2mm thicker torsion bar at the front and a 4mm thicker version at the rear. These provide the car with a sportier, more balanced suspension and greater support at the rear axle. The result is a reduction in body roll angle by around 15 per cent (essential when struggling with the small print of the Wall Street Journal) and therefore more lateral stability when taking bends at speed. Handling and cornering ability are obviously far better than the standard 57 model, which continues, priced at around £35,000 less. A 15mm reduction in ride height aids high speed stability and also lowers the car's effective centre of gravity should you wish to press hard through a set of corners. The Adaptive Damping System ADS II has been beefed-up to cope with spirited driving and the semi-active air suspension has also been commensurately revalved. Three suspension settings are on offer and if the driver selects the sportiest one from a switch mounted on the centre console, the springs and dampers are even more stiffly configured. However, even in normal mode the Maybach 57 S offers a high level of dynamic handling for the driving enthusiast without any loss of comfort. The modified suspension components also allow a more performance-oriented configuration of the electronic stability control package with a higher intervention threshold. It all sounds rather exciting. As with all Maybach models, every customer gets round the clock access to a Personal Liaison Manager, a Maybach employee who greases the wheels of ownership, starting with vehicle specification. Maybach estimates that there are some 2.2 million different equipment combinations available, running from bespoke luggage, to sterling silver champagne flutes, cigar humidors and virtually any interior trim material. With around 1,000 cars expected to be sold worldwide every year in two different guises, that means that - all other things being equal of course - it would take 4,400 years of production before two identical Maybachs were produced. By which time it would probably be due for a mild facelift. Exclusively available from 105 Wigmore Street, Mayfair, W1, Maybach nevertheless can offer a truly global service to prospective owners. Personal Liaison Managers can travel anywhere in the world with a mobile demonstrator suite of electronic tools and actual samples to woo well-heeled customers. Once they've signed on the dotted line, they can travel to the Centre of Excellence factory in Stuttgart to see their car being assembled or, alternatively, can enjoy a live satellite transmission of the handover beamed to anywhere in the world. The Maybach is leagues ahead of anything else in terms of rear seat sophistication. Light has been used as a design tool with various uplighters and LEDs providing comfortable ambient illumination at all times. It's vastly spacious back there, with the slinky aircraft-style seats capable of reclining into a semi recumbent position for maximum comfort. These fully adjustable, heated and cooled seats are a work of genius. The Maybach 57 S may be a great car to be driven around in, but it's also a car that will reward its driver richly. The Maybach brand is an acquired taste. Some have accused it of being a little too European, a little nouveau riche, too anxious to impress. The problem is that the Maybach 57 S is so very good at impressing. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.

Facts At A Glance
CAR: Maybach 57 S
PRICE: £297,945 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 20
CO2 EMISSIONS: 390g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 4.9 / Max Speed 171mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 17.2mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Adaptive front airbags, four side and windowbags / Sensotronic ABS braking system / ESP stability control / twin front brake calipers
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 5728/1980/1557