Testing of the New Maybach

Press Release

Test stations: from Arizona to Kiruna Pre-testing of the Maybach got underway in 1999. So-called "mules" concealed the technology of the new high-end luxury saloon under the body-work of a lengthened and widened W 140-series S-Class. They served as a rolling test laboratory for the engine, chassis, electronics, seats and other vehicle components. Whilst these mules were churning out kilometre after kilometre in testing, the first Maybach prototypes were taking shape at the Mercedes Technology Centre (MTC) in Sindelfingen. Hand-built and camouflaged to the point of disfigurement, they emerged at the beginning of December 2000 to make their first forays onto roads and test tracks in every type of climate the Earth had to offer:

• Engines, tyres and cooling systems were given a thorough work-out on the high-speed oval track in Nardo, southern Italy.
• A testing facility in Barcelona (Spain) was the location for testing of the chassis, air suspension system and steering.
• At the DaimlerChrysler test track in Papenburg (Germany) the Maybach development experts put the mules, prototypes and pre-production vehicles through their paces during several weeks of in-depth testing.
• On the unsurfaced roads of northern Norway, and the DaimlerChrysler testing grounds in Laredo, Texas, the bodywork and chassis came in for a pounding at the hands of gravel, potholes and stones.
• On a frozen lake near Arjeplog in Sweden, Maybach engineers worked on fine-tuning the Electronic Stability Program (ESP®) and high-performance electrohydraulic braking system Sensotronic Brake Control (SBCâ„¢).
• The two climate control systems on board the high-end luxury car successfully came through their toughest tests in everyday conditions in Kiruna (Sweden) and under the burning sun in the US desert state of Arizona.
• On the Großglockner mountain pass (Austria) and at Stilfser Joch (Italy) the braking system of the luxury saloon had to withstand constant stresses and strain.
• Dubai (UAE) played host to several weeks of city testing in stop-and-go traffic, with outside temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.
• On Mont Ventoux (France) Maybach engineers ran checks on the cooling system of the twelve-cylinder engine.

A test of endurance: non-stop testing in everyday traffic conditions For two pre-production vehicles May 2002 signalled the start of systematic non-stop testing in city traffic, and on country roads and motorways. This "mixed-road endurance test" is employed as standard in the development of all Mercedes models, and is therefore part of the compulsory programme for the Maybach as well. For the engineers it is a source of accurate data concerning the long-term durability of the vehicles and their components. The driving and route profile of the endurance test is precisely defined so that every kilometre is covered according to strict testing guidelines which can be reproduced. The testing programme consists of several pages. It instructs the drivers exactly how long the car has in order to prove itself in stop-go-traffic, on country roads, motorways and mountain roads, and what additional tests of durability it has to confront along the way.