Maybach 62S : POWERPLAY

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Andy Enright dips a toe into the world of the monstrously wealthy. The Maybach 62 S is like nothing elseâ€¦.

Last week I travelled to a press launch courtesy of a major manufacturer. Private jet to the South of France, chauffeur-driven limo to the venue and an overnight stay, in this instance at Cap Estel, one of the most beautiful villas on the Riviera. Once owned by a Russian prince, Cap Estel sits on its own promontory jutting out into the Med, palm and cypress-fringed lawns reaching an infinity pool with a marble jacuzzi built in. I wondered what sort of private income was necessary to fund a lifestyle like this. On reflection, it was the sort of private income you'd need to afford a Maybach 62S.

The existing Maybach 62 you might be familiar with. Powered by a 550bhp V12 engine, it's not exactly slow off the mark. The problem is that this section of the market expects utter superlatives and when the proletariat started packing over 600bhp in their AMG Mercedes models, Maybach knew it needed to act. First came the shorter wheelbase 57S and now the 62 comes in for the pep pill, engine power going up to a serious 612bhp. Opt for this searing £341,585 62S version and every time the guy in the peaked hat prods the accelerator, 2,855kg of finest Swabian engineering will rocket to 60mph in 5.2 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. Who said saving was overrated? Frivolities aside, there's a lot more to the Maybach 62S than its 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 62S. You really can pop the bonnet and see the name of the person who hand built your engine.

"The Maybach 62S remains a better car to ride in than drive"

Top speed is limited to a mere 171mph, Maybach tiptoeing past the traditional Daimler Chrysler Group `gentleman's agreement' of 155mph (or 250km/h), although, rather comically, the limit is enforced for chauffeur driven vehicles. If you've just paid £341,585 for the privilege of owning a Maybach 62 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 62 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 62 model, which continues, priced at a knockdown £299,970. 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 this Maybach 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 62 S may be a great car to be driven around in, but it's also a car that will reward its driver richly. The modified front end features a redesigned radiator grille and imposing 20-inch wheels are also standard as is a modified light-cluster design. Like the 57 S model, the new Maybach 62 S has single-tone paintwork in black or silver. I'm not sure if this is an attempt to appear a little lower key but then what would I know? I'm only fleetingly familiar with the part of the planet occupied by Maybach owners. We may pass occasionally, me on a car maker's tab, they paying their own rider, but a gulf exists between us big enough to park a 62S in. Â FACTS AT A GLANCE

CAR: Maybach 62 S
PRICE: £341,585 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 20
CO2 EMISSIONS: 410g/km [est]
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 5.2 / Max Speed 155mph
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 WHO TO SEE: