The latest Mercedes-Benz CL 600 is a fine grand tourer, but how do you make it better? In fact, how do you transform it into what Brabus calls, “the world’s fastest and most powerful luxury coupe”?

For starters, you take the standard twin-turbo 5.5-liter V12 and tune it with a Brabus-developed crankshaft with longer stroke, increased cylinder bore and larger pistons. Now that you have a V12 with a 6.3-liter displacement, you can add four new camshafts and fine-machine the two cylinder heads of the V12 in order to optimize the mixture flow.

This is only the beginning: you must replace the stock twin turbos with new high-performance turbochargers that feature custom exhaust manifolds with integrated turbine housings. You may as well fit four water-to-air intercoolers to keep the temperatures in check, as well as a hood-integrated carbon fiber ram air intake and replace the CL’s exhaust system with a new, stainless-steel unit with free-flow catalysts.

Next, the ECU must be reprogrammed to coordinate all those new high-performance parts not only for maximum output, but also for Euro 5 emissions compliance.

As you may have figured out already, this is not your average tuning job. It couldn’t be for the Brabus 800 to produce an outrageous 800HP and 1,420 Nm (1,047 lb-ft) of torque (limited electronically to 1,100 Nm/811 lb-ft), making every other luxury grand tourer a spec in your rear-view mirrors.

Numbers speak for themselves: the tuned CL accelerates from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 3.9 seconds, 0-200 km/h (0-124 mph) in 10.3 seconds, and reaches an electronically limited top speed of 350 km/h (217 mph).

All this power is directed to the rear wheels via a heavily reinforced five-speed auto transmission that can handle the enormous torque, and then to the 295/25 ZR 21 rear tires. A 25mm lowered suspension, a limited-slip diff with a 40% locking rate and all electronic stability systems take care of the handling – and if you want to smoke your specially developed rear Continentals, Pirellis or Yokohamas in a matter of seconds, you can fully deactivate the gizmos.

With that kind of performance, an upgraded braking system is a necessity. Therefore, Brabus has fitted 405 mm vented and cross-drilled front discs with six-piston calipers up front and 380 mm rear discs with four-piston calipers that ensure not only maximum stopping power, but also endurance under braking from high speeds.

Naturally, the 800 Coupe has been fitted with a Brabus-developed body kit and has received the full leather-and-Alcantara-plus-Brabus-logos treatment in the interior.

The 800 Coupe can be bought as a brand-new car, or alternatively, the whole package can be retrofitted to any current-generation CL 600.

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