Brabus 3.6S Lightweight 190 E Makes Cosworths Look Tame
You already know about the ‘Cossie,’ but you need to know about the Brabus 3.6S.
You may have never heard of Sven Gramm, but you’ll admire him after reading his story about reviving one of Brabus’ most awesome creations.
Back in the golden era of the DTM days, it was usually factory teams at battle with each other for a win, but tuning companies like Brabus played in the super sedan sandbox as well. One of their creations became this, the Brabus 3.6S Lightweight. It started out as a 190 E 2.6, and was heavily-breathed on by the company to the point of achieving some pretty ridiculous speeds.
This particular one isn’t an original, but it’s about as close as one could get, considering it was commissioned by Gramm, then PR lead at the Bottrop, Germany-based tuner. During a 10-month period using Brabus components and bespoke items, he built a true-to-original Brabus 3.6S using old company blueprints.
To be ready for the rigors of motorsport, this 3.6S has bucket seats up front, no seats in the back, multi-point harnesses and a racing cage. Speed is achieved by a bored out M103 straight six, to the 3.6 liters as indicated by the name. With a hot camshaft and performance intake and exhaust, the enlarged engine made over 100 horsepower more than the stock unit, resulting in an ultimate number of 286 horsepower and 269 lb-ft of torque. Mated to a five-speed manual and a locking differential (each with their own coolers, with the differential cooler integrated in the rear spoiler), it’s got all the needed equipment to buzz around track all day long.
In all, this makes the Brabus 3.6S faster than the 190 Cosworth Evo. In the sprint to 60mph, this gets there 0.3 seconds faster, at 6.3 seconds. In a straight line, it will hit 158 mph, which also eclipses what the Cosworth can muster. While the Cosworth Evo might be the one you remember, the Brabus gets the business done better. Good taste in cars, Mr. Gramm.
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