BRAND (Germany): German luxury car tuner Mansory has taken Mercedes’s range-topping SUV and turned it into a carbon-fibre-clad wide-bodied muscle car complete with an 830hp V8.
The AMG GLS 63 is already rather striking as far as SUVs go, thanks to Mercedes’s own tuning arm, AMG, going over its exterior, engine bay and interior with a fine-tooth comb.
However, they’ve still left plenty of room for customisation, as far as Mansory is concerned. The car now has larger front air intakes, integrated into a completely new front bumper that gets a lip spoiler to reduce front axle lift at higher speeds.
The hood’s also been reimagined in carbon fibre to reduce weight and further improve engine breathing, while the front wheel arches extend a further 25mm and those at the rear by some 40mm.
One of the key features of a proper SUV is serious ground clearance, but as that gets in the way of aerodynamic efficiency, Mansory has given the car side skirts, a second rear spoiler and a diffuser – an aerodynamic item usually found on potent sports coupés.
Still that extra space between the road surface and the car’s underside has enabled the company to fit the GLS with massive 23-inch forged alloys.
The standard GLS 63 comes with a 5.5-litre V8 that sends 585hp to all four wheels along with 760Nm of torque. That’s enough to send the 2580kg car from rest to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds and on to an electronically limited 250km/h top speed.
After Mansory’s aesthetic, mechanical and electronic upgrades, the car is now capable of outputting 830hp, 1150Nm of torque and of hitting 295kph. However, it hasn’t confirmed the car’s 0-100kph time.
And, while thanks to the new body kit, the car should be able to use all of that extra power on the straight and in the bends, it’s doubtful that it will be able to handle rockier terrain due to the reduced ground clearance.
Keyword: Mansory muscles in on the Mercedes-AMG GLS 63