World Fastest Sedan

World Fastest Sedan

The title of Worlds Fastest Sedan has just exchanged hands... once again. It appears that every month or two, this prestigious title of who can make the fastest street legal sedan bounces back and forth between manufacturers and affiliated tuners. This time the winner goes to Brabus, the high-end Mercedes-Benz tuner, with their latest creation, the E V12 Biturbo, which grabbed the title during German magazine Auto Motor und Sports high-speed test in Nardo, Italy, and in so doing went where no other Mercedes-Benz, or at least no Mercedes-Benz sedan, has ever gone before, the far side of 217 mph.

Its designation a jumble of letters and numbers, the E V12 Biturbo is the newest generation (W 211) of the famous E V12 ultra performance sedan. Packing a twin-turbocharged V12 engine that produces 640-horsepower, it managed to smash the existing record by 18.8 mph.

The E V12 name is no stranger to holding a world record: the previous generation W/S 210 generation E V12 rocketed to an electronically limited 205 mph in 1996, obtaining the title of worlds fastest sedan then. The new car rolls in the tire-treads of the original, returning the title back to Brabus.

Making a heavy, full-size luxury sedan reach 217.4 mph is no easy task, requiring Brabus most powerful motor. The SV 12 biturbo was the engine of choice; however, modifications to the engine bay were required before the gigantic motor could be shoehorned in. The SV 12 Biturbo engine is a 6.3-liter twin-turbo V12, which started out life as the same twin-turbo motor that powers 600 series S, CL, and SL vehicles. From there, Brabus installed a longer-stroke sports crankshaft, new piston rods and larger bore pistons to increase power from 5.5 liters to a massive 6.3 liters. In addition to making a larger motor, re-machined cylinder heads, a high-performance stainless exhaust system and a reprogrammed engine management system help the E V12 Biturbo deliver a maximum punch of 640-horsepower produced at 5,100 rpm. Equally, if not more impressively is the torque figure, equaling 757 lb-ft of torque, which is produced from just 1,750 rpm. This enormous amount of power and torque is what helps the E-Class achieve its record-breaking top speed and acceleration times. The E V12 Biturbo can sprint to 60 mph in only 4.5 seconds, to 124 mph in 11.7 seconds, and as far as what is known, is one of only a handful of cars that can hit 186 mph within 30.6 seconds.

Countering this enormous straight-line potential is a completely reworked braking system. Brabus has fitted the E V12 Biturbo with lightweight, fade-resistant 14.8-inch carbon ceramic discs up front with twelve-piston calipers, and gigantic 14.0-inch cross-drilled steel discs with six-piston calipers in rear. In addition, the system uses the E-Classs electro-hydraulic SBC braking system and ABS to ensure that stops are safe, prompt and with consistent pedal feel. Brabus has also modified the E-Class stock suspension, fitting extra-stiff sway bars, and lowering the ride height by 1.2 inches with comfort-tuned sports springs which help b