Watch the Big Mercedes-Maybach S-Class Get Flung Around the Nurburgring
Watching something this long and heavy plowing through corners is rather hilarious.
The natural proving ground for purpose-built sports cars and hunkered-down performance sedans and SUVs, the Nurburgring isn't typically where you'd find big, cushy land yachts like the new Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, but yet here we are. Spotted moving around the Nordschleife quite briskly for some odd reason is just that, Maybach's latest and greatest sedan.
It's unclear what exactly a car like this was doing getting flogged on a circuit such as this. Maybe it was, as the video's description suggests, Mercedes testing out the rumored V12 variant of this car, or perhaps it's trying out for the world's most comfortable Ring Taxi.
Normally, we'd be able to at least hazard a guess as to what kind of engine a car is packing based on the sound it makes, but unfortunately, there's little to hear in this case thanks to the very quiet engine (by design, of course) that's further drowned out by some seriously overworked tires. Keeping 5,000-plus pounds of Maybach upright and on the track is evidently not a quiet task.
Currently, the 2021 Mercedes-Maybach S 580 comes with Benz's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system making a total of 517 horsepower and 700 pound-feet of torque. Air suspension was chosen and tuned to deliver supreme ride comfort rather than attack the Fuchsröhre. Watching the big fancy Benz lean and squeal its way around Germany's most famous and treacherous race track, then, is a bit like watching a Toyota Supra be driven off-road or a dog playing poker. Look at the big car go!
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