Middle East is part of world-wide Maybach tests torture

The Maybach brand, which became synonymous with impeccable quality, exclusive style and sophisticated engineering in the 1920s and 30s, comes to the Middle East later this year as the new DaimlerChrysler luxury car brand.

The engineers subjected 27 hand-built prototypes and 14 test vehicles and pre-production models to a wide range of tests which included several weeks of trials in Dubai's stop-go traffic in temperatures of over 40 degrees centigrade.

"We test our models under the most exacting conditions conceivable," said Maybach project manager Professor Hermann Gaus. "That means placing huge demands on the functionality, reliability and durability of the vehicles in order to develop a car that will function perfectly in all types of climates and on all kinds of road surfaces anywhere in the world."

Pre-testing of the Maybach got under way in 1999 when so-called 'mules' concealed the technology of the new luxury saloon under the bodywork of a lengthened and widened S-Class which served as a rolling test laboratory for the engine, chassis, electronics, seats and other vehicle components.

While these mules were churning out kilometre and kilometre in testing, the first Maybach prototypes were taking shape at the Mercedes Technology Centre in Sindelfingen. Hand-built and camouflaged, they emerged at the beginning of December 2000 to travel onto roads and test tracks around the world.

Engines, tyres and cooling systems were given a thorough workout on the high-speed oval test track in Nardo, Italy. The chassis, air suspension system and steering were put their paces at a test facility in Barcelona, Spain. The bodywork and chassis came in for a pounding on the unmade roads of Norway and Texas. The braking system was made to work on the high mountain pass roads of Austria and Italy while the engineers worked on fine tuning the electronic stability and electrohydraulic braking control systems on a frozen lake in Sweden.

In addition to the testing on track and road, the Maybach engineers also used the prototypes on simulation test rigs. This state-of-the-art equipment allowed them to channel forces and movements into the suspension through the wheels in order to reproduce typical driving manoeuvres such as braking and cornering.

The new type-12 engine has also been run through a successful test programme. Engineers sent a total of 238 of 5.5 litre, 550 hp engines away for testing which involved an 800,000-kilometre endurance test on German motorways, trunk roads and country lanes as well as a large number of tests conducted under extreme conditions in locations as contrasting as the Earth's hottest place, Death Valley in California, to Kiruna, Sweden's most northerly town.

In the safety area of the Mercedes Technology Centre, the new high-end luxury saloon was subjected to a large number of crash tests from which it emerged with flying colours. The programme included a frontal offset impact at 64 km/h and frontal collision plus side-on impacts which are both part of the European and American NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) testing procedures.

The testing programme also focussed on areas including the safety features of the innovative reclining rear seats to be fitted in the Maybach 62 long-wheel-base version of the vehicle.

A range of other components in the high-end luxury saloon also proved their mettle on the computer screen long before the first tests took place in practice. With a helping hand from virtual reality technology (VR), DaimlerChrysler engineers conducted simulations of a car in every day service. This allowed them to gain important information about the Maybach as far back at the early conceptual phases of the project, date which they then have repeatedly checked and fine-tuned in subsequent 'real life' testing.

"The Middle East is the world's fourth largest market for the new Maybach with an expected 14 per cent of world-wide sales," said Per V. Rasmussen, President and CEO, DaimlerChrysler Middle East.

"Our testing programme in Dubai and world-wide is a commitment to surpassing the expectations of our regional customers seeking a new brand that once again redefines standards of exclusivity and elegance in the realm of luxury cars."

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