Brabus 800 Adventure XLP is all the Xtra you could want

A subset of Mercedes-Benz owners around the world will confess — publicly and without shame — their drug of choice is Brabus. And no wonder, for the German tuner is always ready with a more powerful dose of its products, engineered to deliver even edgier thrills. This latest pill is called the Brabus 800 Adventure XLP, which was once a Mercedes-AMG G63. From those audacious beginnings, Brabus 'roided-up the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 with its 800 PowerXtra+ tune, boosting output to 789 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque. The dash to 62 mph takes 4.8 seconds, the firm's side-exit exhaust with Boost Xtra sound ensures no one mistakes the engine's evil intent.

As it's grown wearisome limiting all that motive force to marked roads, Brabus engineers stretched the wheelbase 20 inches, chopped the roof off the cargo area and installed a carbon fiber pickup bed with a steel pan, and placed a portal axle suspension underneath. The result is 19.2 inches of ground clearance on 22-inch, eight-bolt Brabus Monoblock HD wheels wearing 325/55 Pirelli Scorpion ATR rubber. Oh, there's also a Brabus Widestar body kit for an extra 4.6 inches of girth. That's on top of the 27.1 inches of overall additional length compared to a standard G63. Achtung, baby.

The coilover portal suspension, based on Brabus' titanium Ride Control unit, is brand new — independent in front, beam axle in back. Many of its components, such as the integral subframe its bolted to and the reinforced axle housing, are made from milled billet aluminum. Suspension tweaks like ride height and damping level can be controlled through the same stock Mercedes Dynamic Select system that dials up changes to the steering and engine power mapping.

Brabus 800 Adventure XLPs produced this year will come in First Edition spec, costing €575,630 ($627,000 U.S.). The show truck is packed with options like Rocket Silver matte paint, burned oak leather interior, wood-trimmed bed floor, plus the German-made Wingcopter drone and bed-mounted landing pad. The drone can do 150 mph — 20 mph more than the pickup itself — for up to 75 miles "to transport aid supplies and rescue equipment" to the heli-skiing chalet, such as, oh, Luxe Gascon Armagnac and edible gold flakes. The luggage rack with carbon wind deflector and the light bar are also optional. To get the unit in the photo, with the airborne courier, plan on spending €666,386 ($726,000 U.S.). If that's all too rich, the 700 XLP starts at €389,831 ($424,200 U.S.). Those prices are before taxes, so don't forget to allot a little extra for the tax man. And for a winch, because that's not included, either.

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