Some days back, Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries had paid the highest registration fee of Rs 1.6 crore to the RTO of Mumbai for his armoured version of BMW 7-Series. Now it will turn interesting to see who will throw the next big party after buying this Mercedes-Benz S600 Guard which is just launched in India for a price of Rs 8.9 crore ex-showroom Delhi.
Mercedes-Benz S 600 is actually the armoured version of standard flagship sedan S-Class, which can withstand the attack of VR9 standard; that means the 7.62x51mm rifle rounds fired from various angles around the body will not bear any affect on the occupants. However, this huge price tag of S 600 Guard is not asked for deploying high-strength steel panels on the body, instead the protective components are used in the manufacturing process itself, which consists of the outer body as well as its structure. The synthetic fibres are used to protect the occupants from the heat. In addition for the safest commitment, engineers too had deployed the fresh air system inside the cabin just to make sure the occupants remains safe in case of smoke. The window glasses are also made up of thick polycarbonate coat on the laminated glass for defense against the direct attacks. And at the last, but not the least, underbody armour protection will save the passengers from blasts and other explosive devices.
However, to suit house the aforementioned armour systems, the suspension system is recalibrated and stiffer reinforced dampers are used. The tyre pressure monitoring system on-board will help the Michelin-run flats to handle the situation in worst cases. Those large brakes at the end of this list hold some significance here.
In the engine bay, S 600 Guard offers the drive from a 6.0-litre V12 engine producing 530bhp and 830Nm of torque mated to the carmaker’s own 7G-TRONIC automatic gearbox. Despite the decent power output, it will not reach top-speed beyond 210km/h because of certain restrictions. Hence, all tranquilities of a standard S-Class is carried here, with exceptionally some minute of them may have been missed out. But choosing from the option of a four or five seat layout left us slightly confused.