By Otsile Kadiege 

In celebration of its 45th anniversary the engineers, technicians and designers of the German high-end company, Brabus, developed their first supercar with proprietary chassis and buggy-style, four-seater body made from high-strength exposed carbon. The 900 Crawler is an exclusive high-performance off-roader. However, it’s unfortunately not street legal.

Rugged 900 Crawler 
The 900 Crawler has been fitted with a special tubular frame which was designed using state-of-the-art CAD technology. The chassis with integral safety cell is manufactured from high-strength steel and then painted bright Brabus Red.

The suspension mounts of this chassis are designed for maximum strength and accommodate the portal axles at the front and rear, which were designed specifically for the 900 Crawler. 

In addition, the company developed particularly robust, tailor-made Brabus aluminum struts specifically for this chassis. The shock absorbers are four-way adjustable: for high and low speed and in twelve clicks each for compression and rebound. The 900 Crawler is fitted with tyres of size 40 x 13.50 R 20 mounted on Brabus Monoblock HD “Platinum Edition” forged wheels of size 9.5Jx20 front and back. 

The Brabus 900 Crawler has neither doors nor any windows. Instead, a carbon-fiber roof panel that protects against the sun covers the steel safety cell, which is designed as a roll cage. The Brabus rear wing adds a sporty touch at the rear end of the roof. Two LED panels are integrated in the roof skin at the front to the left and right of the central air intake are designed to light up the terrain ahead of the 900 Crawler.

Stripped-out interior 
Inside, the 900 Crawler can seat up to 4 passengers strapped into the carbon racing seats with four-point seat belts. They are covered with bright red Silvertex fabric that matches the frame and some interior sections sporting that same color. 

The interior also features red anodized parts such as the pedals and the driver footrest as well as elements such as the switches with red glazing to match the red highlights that Brabus adds with the frame, the chassis components and the seat upholstery. The bracket for the GPS navigation system positioned in front of the co-driver sports that same color.

The vehicle has an intercom system on board for communication among the individual crew members. It can be used with the four supplied Brabus carbon helmets or with any other headsets.

Performance
The engine of the Brabus 900 Crawler produces 662kW at a low 6,200 rpm. The 900 Crawler has a peak torque of 1,250 Nm which is on tap at a low 2,900 rpm. This figure is limited electronically in the vehicle to 1,050 Nm. Brabus recommends high-performance lubricants from MOTUL also for demanding desert operations. Despite tons of weight Brabus claims the 900 Crawler sprints from 0-100km/h in 3.4 seconds however due to the off-road tyres mounted for driving in the desert, the top speed is electronically limited to 160 km/h. 

The Brabus 900 Crawler is built in a limited edition of just 15 vehicles. The first five of these supercars will be delivered this year. Another five Crawlers will follow in 2023 and five more in 2024.