Maybach, worth it or not???

Let's say that you've just won the lottery. Chances are that one of the first things you would buy is a new car. What kind of car would you get? It really depends on how much money you want to spend and what kind of image you want to portray as you drive around.

For example, let's say that you would like to blow $50,000 on a car. There are a lot of options. Everything from a new Corvette to a Hummer 2, along with all sorts of foreign and domestic sedans and SUVs, fill the bill.

If you want to spend $100,000 on a car, the choices are a bit more limited. For example, you might choose a BMW 760, a Mercedes S600, or a Porsche Cayenne.

All the premium automotive brands that we see advertising on television top out around $100,000 Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, Volvo, etc. If you want to spend significantly more than $100,000, you start stretching into the realm of the exotic sports cars the hand-built Ferraris and Lamborghinis or into the realm of the ultra luxury sedan. The luxury sedan niche is typified by the Rolls Royce.

Now there is a new player for the luxury sedan crown the Maybach (pronounced my-bok). Maybachs come in two models the 57 and the 62 and are priced between $300,000 and $400,000. Only a thousand or so are handmade every year.

With my blog, you will have the chance to get familiar with the Maybach so that you can recognize these cars and know what's under the hood the next time you see one driving by.

A Maybach is a high end, ultra luxury sedan. It can hold up to four passengers in regal splendor. Prices range from $300,000 to $400,000. The 57 is 5.7 meters long, and the 62 is 6.2 meters long, hence the model names. The two models are very nearly identical except for the length. The extra length of the 62 is used to increase the rear seat leg room.

The Maybach 62 also offers several options unavailable in the 57. For example, the 62 has fully reclining rear seats because it has extra leg room available in the rear to accommodate them.

The 62 also offers a huge skylight in the roof (known officially as the electro-transparent panoramic glass roof). The glass in this skylight can be electronically changed between clear, frosted or completely opaque depending on your mood (see How Smart Windows Work to find out about this technology).

It has every creature comfort you can imagine, and several that you may have never thought of. The list of standard and optional features includes:

-A built in refrigerator, operated by its own compressor
-The previously mentioned electro transparent panoramic glass roof
-Solar cells built into the roof to operate a ventilation system while the car is parked
-Ten air bags: four normal airbags for all four passengers, four side impact airbags and two curtain airbags
-Charcoal and pollen filters to clean incoming air
-Ambient lighting
-Writing desks that unfold from the armrests
-DVD player in the back seat and two screens embedded in the backs of the front seats, along with a TV tuner and a 6 disc CD changer with cordless headphones
-Curtains to cover rear and side windows
-Two cell phones
-Automatic door unlocking and ignition using a fob transmitter (When you approach the car, it unlocks; when you touch the gear selector knob, it starts.)
-Heated seats and steering wheel
-Optional fully reclining rear seats with built in massage
-Intercom between front and rear seats
-Retractable window between front and rear seats, with electro frosting when desired
-Bose sound system, 600 watts with 21 speakers
-Navigation system, self monitoring tires, telediagnostics, etc.
-100 wood veneer accent pieces and leather throughout

The Maybach Guard is an upgraded version of the Maybach that offers enhanced B4 level security for the occupants of the vehicle. B4 level security means that someone attacking the car with a blunt instrument (like a bat) or a handgun up to .44 caliber at point blank range will be unable to disable the vehicle or harm the passengers.
Maybach Guard vehicles are built from the ground up on the assembly line, the features are not added on after the fact. This allows a Maybach Guard vehicle to look identical to a standard Maybach.

Features include:
-Reinforced steel in areas like the roof, rear wall, firewall, doors and floor
-Kevlar® blankets, similar to those used in body armor, to absorb bullets that pass through the steel
-Bulletproof glass in all windows
-Special overlapping protection zones around door and window seams to prevent bullet entry
-Protected fuel tank
-Run-flat tires
-There is also a special alarm system, including alarm activation buttons at every seat, along with an intercom system to allow communication with people outside the vehicle without opening a window.

And yet, look at the important performance figures*. In 0 to 60-mph (0-97 kph) acceleration, the Maybach 57 and the Corvette are equal 4.9 seconds. In 0 to 80-mph (0-129 kph) acceleration, the Maybach is actually one-tenth of a second quicker 7.8 seconds for the Maybach versus 7.9 seconds for the Corvette.

In terms of braking, the Maybach 57 is actually better than the Corvette. Braking from 60 mph (97 kph), the Maybach takes 121 feet (37 meters). The Corvette takes 134 feet (41 meters). From 80 mph, the Maybach takes 212 feet (65 meters) versus 214 feet (65 meters) for the Corvette.

In the slalom, you would expect the Corvette to obliterate the Maybach, given that the Corvette is 3,000 pounds lighter and 4 feet shorter. But the speed through the 700-foot slalom is incredibly close 62.4 mph (100.4 kph) for the Corvette and 60.4 mph (97.2 kph) for the Maybach.

You must be thinking like this "How is this possible? How can a huge car like a Maybach match a sports car like the Corvette in terms of performance? This raysa guy is nuts, no knowledge about car whatsoever."

Now let me tell you how it is possible. It starts with the engine. While the Corvette's engine is slightly larger 5,665 cubic centimeters (cc) versus 5,513 cc for the Maybach. The Maybach's is a high tech V12. The Maybach engine has features such as:
-Three valves per cylinder and overhead cams
-Variable valve timing
-Variable length intake manifolds
-Dual turbochargers with intercooler that can produce 18.9 psi of boost

This all adds up to an engine that produces 543 horsepower compared to 350 horsepower for the Corvette. The extra horsepower means that the power to weight ratios of the two cars are nearly identical. On the braking side, the Maybach is very well endowed. The Maybach has huge disc brake rotors at 14.8 inches up front and 14 inches in the back. The Maybach actually has six brake calipers instead of the normal four two calipers on each front wheel. The entire braking system is redundant and computer controlled so that the CPU can decide which calipers to activate and how much pressure to apply to each. Computer control also allows special software features to be added. For example, if your foot comes off the accelerator rapidly, the braking system notices. The braking system assumes that, a few milliseconds later, you will be hitting the brakes for a panic stop. So, during those few milliseconds, the computer can move the brake pads into position against the rotors to allow quicker brake activation.

To handle the slalom, the Maybach has another computer controlled system the car has air shocks that can auto level the vehicle during acceleration, cornering and braking. The shocks also have adjustable internal dampers to control the stiffness of the suspension.

The performance equation for the Maybach is simple: The engineers have brought every possible piece of technology into this car to make it behave like a sports car.

Before I end my blog about Maybach, you must think that this car is very expensive and the price is just so not worth it. Well think again. Here are the comparisons.
A Maybach seems expensive, but if you look at the price per pound for various vehicles, it seems less outrageous. Here's a quick comparison:

-Space Shuttle: Costs $2.1 billion, weighs 170,000 pounds = $12,000 per pound
-Gold: Approximate 2003 spot price of about $400 per ounce = $6,400 per pound
-Lear jet 45: Costs approximately $10 million, weighs 15,000 pounds = $650 per pound
-High-end carbon fiber bicycle: Costs $3,000, weighs 20 pounds = $150 per pound
-Segway: costs $5,000, weighs 80 pounds = $62.50 per pound
-Maybach: Costs $300,000, weighs 6,100 pounds = $49.10 per pound
-Harley Davidson VSRC motorcycle: costs $18,000, weighs 600 pounds = $30 per pound
-USS Ronald Reagan (nuclear-powered aircraft carrier): costs $4.3 billion, weighs 90,000 tons = $24 per pound (plus, it comes with a 20-year supply of fuel already in the reactor)
-Hummer 2: costs $52,000, weighs 6,400 pounds = $8.13 per pound
-Ford Focus: costs $14,000, weighs 2,600 pounds = $3.57 per pound

Well then now I'm done with my blog. Sorry for no update of blog for a few days. It's been a hard time for me researching about this maybach. I just want to present you the best you can get.