Brabus 600 Range Rover 'new kind of masterpiece'
Long wheelbase, 24-inch wheels, pistachio leather and 600hp - SoCal, meet your new favourite Range Rover
Brabus and Range Rover feels like such a perfect match that it’s a surprise it’s taken this long for a Bottrop-boosted Brit bruiser to emerge. But here we have it, at last, and it doesn’t disappoint (assuming you like modified SUVs). The 600 is the first Brabus Range Rover, and it’s just been revealed at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Complete with 600hp, 24-inch wheels, pistachio-coloured leather and four carbon-titanium exhaust pipes. Don’t pretend you expected anything less from Brabus. Or indeed more.
The engine work is certainly of interest to those who might want to keep their L460s looking kind of stock. With nothing more than a plug-and-play ECU module for the twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8, Brabus has freed up 600hp and 664lb ft, up from 530hp and 627lb ft - presumably with more to come, too. It means 0-62mph in just 4.5 seconds for this long-wheelbase car. Interestingly, the V8-powered model modified by Brabus keeps the production exhaust bar the aforementioned tips. Again, you’d have to assume that something rowdier is in development, with this first demonstrator there to lure the people in.
It's very easy to imagine the 600 doing exactly that, given the current fondness for modified Range Rovers and the reputation of Brabus in the tuning world. Notable for this car, and with the promise of a superior fit to standard, are the new front end with the chunky air intakes and a rear fascia extension with diffuser and spoiler. You wouldn’t call it subtle, even in black, but there have definitely been more outlandish Brabus bodykits over the years.
The wheels seen here are forged, 20-spoke 24s on new Continental SportContact6 tyres (295-section at each corner!), with the air suspension dropped 20mm for maximum attitude. Brabus reckons it brings ‘even more agile handling without impairing the ride quality’, which would be a nice cake-and-eat-it scenario if it's true. There’s no mention of the impact of the wheel change on off-road ability - probably because nobody who buys a Brabus Range Rover is going to give a damn about taking it off-road.
What they’re more likely to be fussed about instead are the Brabus Masterpiece interior appointments. And when it looks like this, why wouldn’t they be? It’s all done by hand, and apparently ‘even the most extravagant customer requests can be fulfilled’. They’re surely not likely to be much more extravagant than pistachio, almost as stark a contrast as is possible with the black paint. In a world of modified Range Rovers that all kinda look the same, something like this will ensure the Brabus stands out - and that’s important. Or you could keep it untouched and just get Brabus-backlit carbon scuff plates. But that seems unlikely.
You just know this is going to go down a storm in sunny California: it's probably the perfect car to be delayed by LA traffic in. Don't be a surprise at all if this very example sells over the few days Brabus is at Monterey, even for the €388,000 (£333k/$425k) export price. Only one Range Rover can be the first Brabus Range Rover, after all, and who wouldn’t want to own that? Especially with the leather…
They are asking at least 150k for wheels, out of place exhausts and the opportunity to sit in a 1970s bathroom.
It's a whisker away from Purasanque money....
Whilst I think in black and on the 24s it's OK in a gangster way, it's not as though Brabus tried hard like a G Wagon. What's next the Range Rover Supreme collab? 450 bags.... (that might find more buyers).
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