DK308

Was travelling between Hamburg and Berlin on A24 a few weeks back on a nice Sunday in our 812 GTS. Had just set off from Hamburg, but needed fuel so stopped at the first station along the A24. Wifey is doing the fuel while I get us some drinks and a quick men's room visit. While I'm in, an elderly guy in his mid 60's pulls up in an AMG GTR to fuel on the opposite side of the fuel island where we are parked, and starts chatting with wifey - or rather starts bragging about his car chatting her up. As I come out he is telling her all about his Brabus tuned AMG GTR and has opened his bonnet to show her the engine. According to stickers and what he tells us, it's a 700 hp tune. Cool enough, we have no snobbish tendencies about the AMG GTR. Wifey has one as her daily driver after all and she loves it. This guy is a bit "much" and probably also a bit disappointed that I showed up to spoil the fun. By a bit much, he's a guy who uses term to compare the car we were driving to his as "all show but no go" essentially. In the US I'm guessing he would be the 65 year old "Vette" owner with the white New Balance shoes - you get the idea. We are not people who are easily phased or provoked, we take things pretty chill. We do however both race both cars and karts, so we do gladly take on a challenge. While we do not know what the outcome will be if that car has the power he claims, we both did feel pretty confident about our chances. We were never directly challenged by him, but he dropped hints and tried to egg us on. We all got ready to leave, we decided to make it a bit more fun by having wifey drive. Let's just say that he was the type of man who would still refer to my 30 year old wife as a "girl", so why not have the little girl beat him;-)

We hit the on-ramp and of course he nails it straight away. Definitely faster than a stock AMG GTR, but not fast enough. We are on his back bumper with ease all the way down the ramp, and as soon as it opens up so we can pass, she nails it and blows past him like nobody's business.

I guess this has not pleased him in the slightest, as we run into him again later in the day while we are taking a break at Spandau. We're parked outside a small supermarket and he pulls in at a petrol station across from us. We're giving him a friendly wave and a nod, not trying to be rude in any way - this he returns by flipping us off.

Crito

There's nothing worse than a sore looser.

DK308

Very true. I think here we were dealing with more of a severely bruised ego.

BlownV8

700 hp vs 789 and a lighter car? Let me say it is not shocking.

DK308

Huh? I have scaled both on the same scales, and with a full tank, wifey's GTR is 60 kg lighter than the 812 GTS. Also, he was alone. I'd say he was about 75 kg. I'm 82 and wifey is 52kg. We also had two weekend bags with us and other items. I'd say we were a good 130 kg heavier. I think Brabus rate metric hp though, so 800 vs 700. That said, I think there's another thing in play. Sometimes tuners ratings are a bit on the positive side. Also, the 812 has a fairly short gearing so it does put a lot of torque to the ground, and the power to weight ratio is definitely in the favour of the 812.

I do wonder if he had another tune with less power in the car and just had Brabus badges on it.

BlownV8

You are contradicting yourself; you said the GTR had 700 hp but now it had 800hp? Which one is it? OK, even if you factor in the extra weight of you and your wife, you still have almost 89 more hp even after his tune with a roll race. Again, not shocking paired with a more efficient transmission of the Ferrari.

DK308

No, I said 800 vs 700, meaning 800 PS for the 812 and 700 PS for the Brabus. I never stated or meant that the GTR had 800.

More efficient transmission? Not following you. Both cars use DCT, and quite sure it's more or less the same Getrag unit. The GTR does not run a slush box. From what I can tell, the GTR shifts as fast as the 488, F8 and 812.

My end point was that I don't actually think the Brabus car makes an honest 700 PS. Like I explained, the power to weight difference was at the time not that massive. So I was surprised that the 812 was that much faster. Alternatively, we are dealing with someone who had a "random" tune and Brabus 700 stickers.