World's Supercar - Maybach Exelero

The Maybach Exelero is a high-performance super car designed and built by luxury car manufacturer Maybach, and presented in May 2005. The 700 hp (SAE) (515 kW) two-seater with a twin-turbo V12 engine is a one-off design commissioned by Fulda Tyres. Fulda is using this car as a reference vehicle to test a new generation of wide tires. The German luxury car manufacturer created the one-off model as a modern interpretation of its legendary streamlined car of the 1930s. There are various allusions to the historical predecessor, which was likewise based on a powerful Maybach automobile, in this case the Maybach SW 38, and was also used by Fulda for tire testing. Jay-Z can be seen driving the car in his video for "Lost One".

Specifications
Engine
Type:	: V12, Twin-turbo
Displacement cu in (cc)	: 360 (5908)
Power bhp (kW) at RPM	: 700(515) / 5000
Torque lb-ft (Nm) at RPM	: 753(1020) / 2500
Redline at RPM	: n.a.
Brakes & Tires
Brakes F/R	: ABS, vented disc/vented disc
Tires F-R	: 315/25 ZR23
Driveline	: n.a.
Exterior Dimensions & Weight
Length × Width × Height in	: 229.7 × 83.5 × 54.2
Weight lb (kg)	: 5863 (2660)
Performance
Acceleration 0-62 mph s	: 4.4
Top Speed mph (km/h)	: 218 (351)
Fuel Economy EPA city/highway mpg (l/100 km)	: n.a.

The Maybach high-performance show car "Exelero" was unveiled to the world for the first time this afternoon in the Tempodrom in Berlin. The 700-hp two-seater with a V-12 biturbo engine is a unique custom model produced for Fulda Reifenwerke, which is using the Maybach Exelero as a reference vehicle for a newly developed generation of wide tyres. The German manufacturer of luxury cars built the unique model as a modern interpretation of its legendary streamlined sports car from the 1930s, thereby forging a link with the historical predecessor, which at that time was likewise based on a powerful Maybach automobile (SW 38) and used by Fulda for tyre tests.
The Exelero embodies the highest expression to date of the Maybach individualisation strategy of offering specific custom solutions on request. In initial tests on the high-speed track in Nardo (Italy), the unique vehicle reached a top speed of 351.45 km/h (FIA*-standard unit of measurement). Developers at Maybach designed the custom model with the participation of students from Pforzheim College. The Exelero was built by the prototype specialists at Stola in Turin (Italy). There are no plans to produce the model in series.

Exelero - the legend lives

Just imagine an automobile that combines the elegance and first-class quality of a high-end limousine with the powerful suppleness of a sports coupe. Create a vehicle in your mind’s eye which, with an unladen weight of over 2.66 tons and the dimensions of a small transporter, achieves a maximum speed of over 350 km/h.

Conceive an ultra-high performance tire which not only copes with the aforementioned weight, the dimensions and the speed, but also makes the automobile safe, stable and
comfortable. Such a vehicle and such tires do not exist? Now they do.

The construction and test phase concluded with a outstanding success

Transforming a limousine, the basis for the Exelero is the Maybach 57, into a coupe is extremely demanding. Jurgen Weissinger and his team were astonished to find that, although the dimensions of the former SW 38 differed in the length (the Maybach 57 has a 290 millimeters longer wheelbase), in terms of breadth and height they were very similar. That simplified a whole series of structural measures.

When considering the engine alternatives, it soon became clear that the basic twelve-cylinder engine used in the Maybach limousines would not achieve the desired maximum speed of around 350 km/h despite the Biturbo turbo charger. Here, the Mercedes Car Group leapt into the breach. The engine specialists in Unterturkheim, the place where all basic engines are developed, provided energetic support for the project.

After several optimization of the Maybach type 12 engine, the cubic capacity was increased from 5.6 to 5.9 liters and the turbo charge optimized. The result was convincing: on the test bed almost 700 hp and at least 1,000 newton meters of torque were recorded, sufficient to achieve the targeted maximum speed of 350 km/h.

Before, during and after the aforementioned work, the individual evolutionary steps were supported by corresponding tests. Either on engine test beds in the plants or on test tracks like the high-speed oval in Nardo/Southern Italy or the test track in Cloppenburg.

The final test measurements at the end of April/beginning of May 2005, once again on the high speed Motodrom Nardo, then produced the well-earned success of lost of hard work: a top speed of 351,45 km/h - a world record for limousines – on standard tires.

And yet another world record: between the Fulda idea, the outstanding cooperation of all concerned and the delivery of the Maybach Exelero sports coupe, just 25 months passed.

"Maybach Exelero is one-off model with 8.000.000$ price. This supercar is fast as supercars such a Lamborghini, Ferrari or Mclaren F1 and is the most expensive car in the world."

Watch Video from PhotoBucket here:

- exelerocar goblog -