Want a non-Maybach S-Class with more than eight cylinders? It might finally be time for you to buy an armored car. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is still a standard-bearer for full-sized luxury, but the V-12 that once sat at the top of the range is no longer available under the hood of either conventional or AMG-branded models. Most buyers who want a V-12 will have to spring for the Maybach S, which preserved the engine in part because American owners love it.
A few very special customers will get the same engine another way, though: Mercedes-Benz also builds armored S-Classes, and the latest car in the S-Class Guard line still packs a V-12. Mercedes-Benz Guard representative Saša Zejnić tells Road & Track that the V-12 was selected because the car is designed for "different use cases," most importantly "guaranteeing the highest protection level and also making the car move from A to B without any kind of complication."
View Price on AmazonThe V-12 in the Guard produces 603 horsepower and 612 lb-ft of torque. That may be well under the 791 horsepower produced by the plug-in hybrid S63 E-Performance, but the armored S gets to a healthy number without the added weight and complexity that comes in a plug-in hybrid. Given that the S-Class Guard roughly weighs more than 9,500 pounds, the savings could be enough to keep the car from the dubious honor of a fifth digit in Imperial measurements.
Cutting out the battery also cuts out a potential point of failure in case of the sort of emergency that requires an armored limousine in the first place. The simpler powertrain is easier to deal with while designing an armored car that fits in the basic shape of a standard S-Class, too. And when it comes to specifications, most buyers are more likely concerned with its armor rating—protection class VPAM VR10, capable of resisting multiple shots of 7.62×54mm Russian sniper rifle fire at point-blank range—than its horsepower.
Source: roadandtrack.com
