Marc Philipp Gemballa Marsien: Galactic

The Porsche Cayenne and the Lamborghini Urus can dress warmly. Marc Philipp Gemballa, son of tuner Uwe Gemballa, founded his own company and developed a new hyper SUV. The Marsien uses the architecture of the Porsche 992 Turbo S and is intended to be a crossover that will set new standards in agility on and off asphalt roads. The name Marsien says it all and is an allusion to the red planets of our solar system. Parts of the test program take place in the Arabian Al Faya desert, which with its red sand resembles the surface of the celestial body. “We felt as if we were in a completely different universe,” says Marc Philipp Gemballa.

To ensure that these words are followed by deeds, Gemballa has brought some experts on board. The central element is of course the engine, which the Porsche specialists have given a few extra vitamins to. The unit is available in two expansion stages: Either with over 552 kW / 750 PS (Porsche 911 Turbo S 478 kW / 650 PS) and 930 Newton meters (series: 800 Nm) or with up to 610 kW / 830 PS. In the basic trim, up to 330 km / h are possible and 100 km / h is reached after 2.6 seconds from a standstill. So that the engine does not overheat in tough conditions, the hot air from the radiator is not slid under the vehicle, but instead is guided over the vehicle with the help of so-called Naca ducts and a scoop that is part of the bonnet.

An Akrapovič high-performance exhaust system allows the six-cylinder boxer to breathe more freely. To ensure that the power delivery runs smoothly and that the enormous torque does not lead to an exodus of the drive train, the engineers have revised the Porsche dual clutch transmission, provided it with elements from the Cayenne gearshift and, among other things, reinforced the drive shafts.

Without a suitable chassis, all the power fizzles out and the muscle man mutates into a bodybuilder who can manage several kilos in the bench press, but who runs out of breath after 100 meters. In order to give the Marsien the appropriate agility, the kW technicians have extensively modified the chassis. At the center of the tuning is a newly developed double wishbone front axle with KW full piston damper technology with intelligent active damper control and a suspension that can be height-adjusted at the push of a button. With the help of an electronically controlled hydraulic lift, the body is raised from the level of a Porsche Turbo S by 13 centimeters to a ground clearance of 25 centimeters. In this way, the balancing act between road agility and off-road ability should be achieved

It remains to be seen whether and how this lift system will affect agility and off-road mobility. In any case, the prototype of the Marsien made a lasting impression on the developers during the test drives in the desert. In addition to the well-known Porsche driving modes, Marc Philipp Gemballa and his team have installed typical off-road driving programs for gravel, mud, sand and snow. So that the adventure can take place without collateral damage, an underbody protection made of aluminum shields the vehicle.

The full carbon body is manufactured by a specialist who also works for Formula 1 teams. The look of the sand-burrowing hyper car comes from the pen of French Alan Derosier, who worked as an exterior designer for Dahihatsu, Chery Motors and Renault, among others. In order to give the shell the most aerodynamic and fuel-saving shape possible, the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis was used in the design. KLK was in the lead, and has been active in high-tech racing series such as Formula 1, Formula E and LMP1 for more than 20 years. With all the technology that is in this car, it should be clear that this very special sports car will not be a bargain, especially since only 40 copies are built.