Van Life: Mercedes V-Class Van with a 4.0-Liter V8 Biturbo Engine Tests at the Nürburgring
It may look like a regular Mercedes-Benz V-Class van but in reality, it is a 585 HP AMG GT R monster underneath.
When folks speak of the van life, they typically mean living a simple life on the road. Packing up their belongings and seeing the world via a van. Most of us have probably had thoughts at some point of leaving everything behind and living the van life lifestyle. However, this Mercedes-Benz V-Class van is a whole other take on the van life experience. This van is built to fly down back roads and set blistering lap times. This is all thanks to the German tuner GAD-Motors. They started with a humble V-Class and stuffed an AMG GT R supercar underneath it.
GAD-Motors is located in Fellbach, Germany and has been tuning cars for more than ten years. But this V-Class project might be their most ambitious to date. They wanted to drop in the 4.0-liter V8 Biturbo engine but as you can probably imagine that is not an easy task. The electronics had the be modified, the exhaust had to be modified, the transmission needed to be tweaked. The van you see ripping around the Nürburgring in this video posted on the CarSpyMedia YouTube channel is essentially a hand-built project car.
Nürburgring Test
Fans of classic Top Gear UK may remember the episode where the late, great Sabine Schmitz lapped the ‘Ring in a Ford van. It was one of the most impressive laps you will see but that van was nothing like this V-Class. For those reading this in the U.S., you may not be familiar with the V-Class as it is not sold here. The V-Class is basically a more luxurious version of the Metris that we do get here.
The Metris is powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder engine that produces 208 horsepower. It won’t light your hair on fire. GAD-Motors version, however, will get your pulse racing. The version you see racing around the track here makes 585 horsepower thanks to the engine from the AMG GT R. And it is not just the engine. This van also has carbon ceramic brakes, and suspension tweaks.
V-Class GT R
This mash up of a vehicle would be a riot to take to a local track day. Imagine rolling up in this thing and seeing all the smug BMW and Porsche faces from everyone else in the paddock. And then you get out on the track and then suddenly all those other drivers are giving you a point by while trying to figure out what the hell is happening.
V-Class Stages
Want to really be blown away? This is not their most powerful version. If you go to the GAD-Motors website, you will see that they offer many tuning stages for all of their vehicles. Many of these stages approach or exceed 1,000 horsepower. The GAD-Motors team states on the site that after testing they found that this motor could make about 900 horsepower. The V-Class will not only be fast, but it will be exclusive. The company plans to make only ten of these per year.
Images: GAD-Motors; CarSpyMedia
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