Crossovers, SUVs, and trucks are all the rage these days, but once upon a time minivans ruled the planet when it came to fulfilling big family duties. Now they must accept living in the shadows, where they are slowly dying away while remembering the good old days when soccer mom jokes were fashionable.
Wait, this is not a story about another model getting the retirement slip - and instead, we are here to witness them back with a vengeance. Whether this is just a final blow or just the first step toward the path of redemption only time will tell.
No matter the course for the ailing MPV sector, this 2007 Mercedes-Benz R 63 AMG clearly stands out in a crowd of minivans with help from Optima Batteries. It was driven by renowned racer Tanner Foust during the 2020 Sandhills Open Road Challenge to a record top speed of 165.5 mph (266.34 kph).
We are thus faced with the record holder for the “Fastest Street-Legal Minivan,” according to the title sponsor. The company was also responsible for attracting Foust as its latest Optima PowerPro Ambassador – and we can bet part of the goodies package included the chance at a new world record with the modified R-Class with AMG DNA.
The latter got the new Optima Batteries’ Yellowtop H6, but we suspect the new record had more to do with Weistec Engineering’s extensive customizations of the powertrain than anything else. After all was said and done, the R 63 AMG got the chance to power up its new Stage 2 M156 Supercharger (among others) and its total horse count of no less than 700 ponies.
Foust, an X Games RallyCross and Gymkhana gold medalist and Formula Drift champion, was behind the wheel of the Mercedes minivan during the Sandhills Open Road Challenge 1-mile Shootout that took place August 7th, driving the street-legal minivan (with a clean smog test in California!) to a maximum speed no MPV ever dreamed of achieving.
This should be the right way to reach practice, any kind of practice!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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