BRABUS SHADOW 500
TESTED This souped-up version of the Axopar 28 really gets the adrenalin pumping
It’s zero nine hundred at our rendezvous point of a nondescript pontoon in the depths of Poole Harbour. The skies are clear but the wind is building from the east, the tide streaming from the west. Our mission – which we have chosen to accept – is to take Brabus Shadow 500 Black Ops hull #00 from this location to an undisclosed one in Southampton. Actually, it’s not undisclosed, it’s the River Hamble for the British Motor Yacht Show but it’s difficult not to get caught up in the military jargon when the boat you’re about to test is called ‘Black Ops’. That said, if you weren’t aware that the Shadow 500 is the result of a partnership between German car tuner Brabus and Axopar you could easily mistake the boat for something with a more sinister purpose.
This Black Ops version is a limited edition restricted to just 28 boats and sports the brooding hand-painted gunmetal grey paint scheme and vibrant, Brabus-branded red Sunbrella upholstery. Up close it looks the business and is covered in sharp detailing, carbon fibre, brushed stainless steel and various other accoutrements that justify the boosted price tag over a standard Axopar 28 on which it is based. Our fully loaded demo boat with
the wet bar package, T-top, upgraded audio and navigation packages and electric windlass comes in at €234,200 before tax, but the standard specification is generous. It’s worth noting that there is a non limited-edition version available with prices starting from €159,500 excluding VAT, but it doesn’t have the quayside appeal of the black beast.
READY TO UNLEASH
Speaking of beasts it’s time to fire up the engines. Oh the engines! A pair of Mercury PROXS 4.6-litre V8s with 250hp each (hence the 500 in the name) that rev out to 6,200rpm. After a couple of bursts from the starter motors they come to life with a rasping snarl and set to idle with all the impatience of a superbike at a red traffic light. It’s these motors that really set the Brabus apart from the Axopar donor boat and give the Shadow 500 a character all of its own. More on that later.
I slot into the lavishly upholstered helm seat with its part carbon fibre arm rests and drink in what isn’t far from the perfect dashboard. The dark materials are classy and resistant to glare with carbon fibre highlights adding some visual pizzazz.
You sit low, hunkered beneath the tall wraparound windscreen, which is deep enough to protect those at the helm even if they decide to flip the seat bolster and stand. The wheel, trimmed in silky-smooth leather, is chunky without feeling cumbersome and the throttles are meaty but snick in and out of gear with damped precision. Two 12in Garmin plotters display the bulk of the navigation and boat data but there’s a run of attractive backlit switches on the mid dash that control the regularly used equipment like wipers and pumps. On the steering wheel boss, arranged around the Brabus ‘B’, are buttons for the bow thruster and trim on the left and audio controls on the right. Hard spins of the wheel can sometimes lead to catching your wrists on the enlarged boss, but it’s a small price to pay to have these major controls just beneath your thumbs. One oddity is the location of the active trim control pad between the wheel and throttles, which forces the wheel over to the centre and means the driver has to sit at an awkward angle. However, this is a minor issue at a helm that makes you want to plug in and just drive.
At Poole Harbour’s 10-knot speed limit the boat is urging to plane like a chained dog wanting to pounce. It’s only once we are past the narrows that I can open the taps and begin to explore the performance on offer. As mentioned, it’s not ideal conditions for a crossing east to the Solent with wind against tide whipping up the remnants of some big seas in the days prior. Not ideal is what we’re after to give this twin-stepped, 20-degree hull something to think about. We spear south to the end of the main channel and set a heading east and into the teeth of a messy and unpredictable sea, the sort which means you have to constantly be on the throttles to navigate the shifting wave pattern. We’re four up and only two of us can occupy seats within full shelter of the windscreen so I take it easy. There’s no doubt that if you really wanted to drive the boat hard through these conditions it would indulge you but at 3,000rpm and around 20 knots the hull soaks up the worst of it without stress and means no one on board is having to hold on for dear life. Its performance in these seas is impressive and you have to remember that, despite the sharp entry of the hull, the 500 is quite beamy, with lots of seating, a wetbar or sunpad/cabin aft and walkaround decks. At 9ft 8in (2.95m) wide this is no Sunseeker Hawk but the hull performance is nevertheless very good. A standout feature is the comfort in which six people can travel facing forward and this is partly why the boat has proved a popular chase boat for the superyacht brigade.
As the Needles come into view the sea reaches a final frothing, swirling crescendo before the lee of the Isle of Wight delivers some calmer water. The Mercs are getting into their stride now as we reach 4,500rpm and a cruising speed of 40 knots. Now we’re getting into what the 500 is designed for, the stepped hull tearing cleanly across the surface of the water, the motors angled up a touch to clear the forward end of the hull of the sea and the engines singing at 2,000rpm short of their max and consuming just 90lph combined. The 40-knot cruise is where this boat lives, where it feels happiest and where it devours distances to ferry you and your guests to the local hotspot in refined yet rapid progress. I ease the throttles to their stops, the engine note sharpens and we top out at
53.5 knots with all the nonchalance of a Parisian waiter. The Shadow’s searing performance feels so easy, its potent mix of huge power and a thoroughly well sorted hull making a
The boat is urging to plane like a chained dog wanting to pounce
mockery of anything more complicated than that – it is a joy to be behind the wheel of. Despite the steps and 460kg of outboards on the transom it doesn’t go to pot in the turns either, in fact the grip on offer is remarkable. There is little speed lost in hard turns and the punch out of the hole from the 500 horses out back is neck-snapping. It is every inch a driver’s boat yet the comfort and practicality that is the backbone of the Axopar 28’s design is still there, practically unchanged. It has the heads tucked beneath the helm console, admittedly fitted out to a higher standard with Brabus tread plates, a glossy counter and leather inserts. Forward there’s the seating area with slot-in table and storage below and aft either a wetbar or sunpad with cabin below. There is a version with an open aft section but why you would choose that I’m not quite sure. Here we come to a conundrum on the Brabus in that you can have a sunpad and cabin or a wetbar but not both. For day boating there’s an argument that you want the wetbar but if you have that there isn’t anywhere to sunbathe as the rest of the seating is upright and in the shade, and the bow seating doesn’t convert. If you have the aft sunpad with cabin below you have some sleeping space but nowhere to prepare food and diminished cooling space. It comes down to how you will use the boat but there is a decision to be made there.
The sea flattens off further as we enter the shelter of Southampton Water and we’re cruising at what feels like a pedestrian 30 knots. The engines, despite their rorty nature, have an incredible knack of melting into the background at higher cruising speeds so those in the cockpit seats can communicate without strain. The Hamble’s 6-knot speed limit puts the harnesses back on the outboards and we potter up river, turning heads as we go. There are some slick machines moored on the Hamble but few will have as many smartphones pointed towards them as the Brabus.
The 500 is not the only model in the Brabus Marine stable, there is the Shadow 800 based on the Axopar 37. But somehow the difference between the 500 and the Axopar on which it is based feels greater than that of the 800 and 37. A lot of that is down to the magnificent engines, which aren’t available on the standard Axopar 28, and the performance they offer feels like a genuine upgrade over the standard boat, which is exactly what Brabus does in the car world.
We tie the boat alongside, ready for its stint at the British Motor Yacht Show, and as we head down the pontoon I can’t resist stopping, turning around and taking one more lingering look at the Black Ops cooling off. Mission accomplished. CONTACT Brabus Marine London Group
+44 (0)207 355 09 82; www.brabusmarine.com
Few boats will have as many smartphones pointed towards them as the Brabus