Copyright 2005
Maybach 57:
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Later, we parked in my driveway and got into the back seats of the Maybach, the twin-turbo V-12 idling, and watched a movie on the video screens that are mounted on the backs of the front seats. This happened on Earth Day. The Maybach's lavish rear accommodations are what separate it most from an S-class Mercedes. Here, you can recline the seat to an agreeable angle, sink your cranium deep into the pillow (stuffed with Andorran hummingbird feathers, or some such thing) that's strapped to the headrest, and fiddle with the 12 ambient lights. Again, Maybach informs us that the rich are unlikely to do this, since they can afford elegantly comfortable chairs inside their homes. Having failed once again to rise to the level of the Maybach, we should perhaps investigate the car beneath it.
Buried deep within all this outlandish excess, all the limousine toys, and the imposing aura of exclusivity is a very large, shockingly capable, and stunningly powerful automobile. You know, a car made of metal, powered by the explosion of gas, with wheels that go around and around. The Maybach 57 is the largest four-seat luxury vehicle we've driven since the 18-foot Lincoln Blackwood pickup truck. The Maybach exceeds it in overall length (by five inches) and weight. Even with extensive use of aluminum (the doors, the engine, and some suspension pieces), the Maybach 57 strains our scales at a whopping 6080 pounds.
Mass is the enemy of performance. At least it would be if you had fewer than 12 cylinders backed up by two turbochargers. The turbos blow a massive 18.9 psi of boost into the 5.5-liter V-12. Out the back end of the engine come 543 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. Maybach says the engine produces power "everywhere," which is an overstatement since it makes no power at all in Csere's left nostril. Still, routing all that power through a five-speed automatic transmission to the rear 19-inch Michelins (an easy upgrade away from 22-inch "dubs") results in an almost incomprehensibly quick 0-to-60-mph sprint of 4.9 seconds. That is quicker than a Porsche Boxster S. It may weigh a few hundred pounds more than a Chevy Suburban, but the Maybach has a power-to-weight ratio better than the Honda S2000 roadster's. One curious note: Maybach says the 57 is speed-limited at 155 mph. For some reason ours was governed at a piddling 134 mph. We have no explanation for this. Neither does Maybach.
The electrohydraulic brakes are equally adept at mitigating the heft. How does a 70-mph-to-standstill stopping distance of 170 feet grab you? Pretty well, we reckon, since that's a shorter distance than can be achieved by Audi's supersedan, the RS 6, or DaimlerChrysler's own Mercedes E55 AMG (either of which weighs almost a ton less). You have several elements to congratulate for this. First are the rotors, which, at 14.8 inches in diameter up front and 14.0 in the rear, would block from view a large Domino's pizza. Second are the six four-piston calipers. Each front rotor is treated to two calipers for greater clamping force and a larger contact area than one eight-piston caliper. Both front calipers per side act simultaneously but are commanded by separate electronic circuits. Should one circuit fail, the other should remain operational. Last is the "predictive brake priming" feature. It recognizes that when you snatch your foot suddenly from the accelerator a panic-braking episode is likely to follow, and it moves the brake pads against the rotors for quicker response than when your foot moves to t0308_maybach_int.jpghe brake in a lazier fashion. And unlike the on/off-switch feel of the E-class brakes, these electrohydraulic brakes operate smoothly.
Eventually, even the rich are forced into the labor of turning this thing. In that eventuality, the Maybach is less able to hide its weight. The company calls the 57 the "driver's car," but that's only in comparison with the enormous 20.2-foot-long 62 model, for which you'll want to get yourself a James. At 18.8 feet in length, even the 57 is a big boat. An open-highway liner. When three tons are clocking straight-ahead at highway speeds, they want to continue doing so. The 275/50 Michelins do their best (and help the Maybach return a reasonable 0.77 g on the skidpad), but hammer it on a curved entry ramp as we did, and the Maybach takes a set, the body lists to the outside, and the tires start squawking loudly that you're missing the point of this car.
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