Mercedes-Benz G-Class Reviews

What appears to be a pointless exercise in gratuitous drifts is actually a lesson learned in car physics and how under-prepared most Aussies would be for low-traction driving.

It might look the same but this Mercedes-AMG G 63 is a beast with new found beauty within. Not to mention an all-new suspension and drivetrain. But the gloriously gutteral exhaust roar is 100 per cent intact.

It's loud, it's fast, but what happens when the new Mercedes-AMG G63 comes to a corner? We found out.

It might look like a block of high rise flats, but the Mercedes-AMG G 63 heralds a new level of on- and off-road performance.

Mercedes-AMG promises its G63 beastie is just about the most capable thing it's ever made, and that it'll monster anything we're brave enough to point it towards. It's also properly, properly quick.

Mark Oastler road tests and reviews the new Mercedes Benz G-Professional Cab Chassis with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its Australian launch in Melbourne.

Want a vehicle with more cut-through on the street than a Ferrari? Look no further than the "new" Mercedes-Benz  G55AMG.This industrial strength, old-school, off roader might have been designed in the second half of the last century but Benz let the people at performance outfit AMG have a crack at it and the result is stunning — in more ways than one.DESIGN Looking a bit like a bread van on steroids, the boxy G55AMG body hides a brute under the skin that can blast a 0-100kmh sprint in under five seconds with low range engaged and sounds a bit like a door-slammer drag racing car under full, (or partial) throttle. It's a Pope-mobile with serious poke.Benz started making the Gelandewagen (G-Class) 32 years ago as a competitor for Land Rover's Defender and possibly some Jeep models.That's why it has a face only a mother could love but the flat featured fourbie enjoys cult status in Europe and other places.Robust in the extreme, the G55AMG is built on a chunky ladder chassis with rigid axles front and rear, high and low range constant four wheel drive and button select diff' locks on both axles and the transfer. The steel body panels feel like they're 5mm thick, the windscreen sits nearly vertical and the exterior door handles have quaint push buttons just like an old Holden. It wouldn't have any aerodynamic rating.VALUEThat said, the G-Class is what a full-blown "fourbie" should be — tough as teak, go anywhere.But add in the AMG influence and you have something altogether different — something no other automaker produces albeit at a sobering $217,230 price tag. It loses much of its off road ability but picks up hugely in other areas.The vehicle has been upgraded to feature most of the latest Benz safety and luxury equipment. It scores the full Designo leather treatment inside and suede-look Alcantara headlining. A steel sunroof is included along with a host of other goodies as befits a high end, expensive vehicle.TECHNOLOGYUnlike other AMG models, it's no scalpel-sharp corner-carver, too tall and the steering's too vague, but the G55AMG is an absolute hoot to drive thanks to AMG.They crammed a 5.4-litre, supercharged petrol V8 engine under the bonnet that's good for 373kW/700Nm output — 500 horsepower in the old money. It's out of AMG cars from a generation ago, revised and tweaked for 21st century applications. Power goes to all wheels via a five-speed automatic with sequential change mode on the gear stick.DRIVINGDespite weighing nearly 2.6 tonnes, the powerplant makes this large five seater "truck" pin back your ears as soon as you push the right pedal. It rockets away from a standstill bellowing and blatting through those four, big-bore, side venting exhausts while the large 19-inch tyres struggle for grip especially when the engine hits its torque peak at around 2500rpm.We struggled to achieve the claimed 15.9-litres/100km combined fuel consumption often seeing numbers in the 20s. Thankfully there's a 96-litre tank to give the vehicle a decent range.There's a full-size spare on the barn door tailgate that opens to a large load area.Benz fits the G55AMG with its "Premium Package" as standard equipment that includes TV and heated/vented electric front seats — noice.But the suspension is really firm to the point where everyday driving can be uncomfortable. We'd like to see a two-mode switchable system with normal and sport (soft and hard).Apart from that, the G55AMG is one of the most attention grabbing vehicles we have driven — blasts Hummers into the weeds.

Welcome to the most pointless new passenger vehicle of 2011.There's really no need for Mercedes-Benz's G-Class. It's unique in the Tristar range but also anomalous. It's an immensely capable off-roader but few will leave the boulevard, least of all those AMG's on grotesque after market wheels that will in turn render intolerable a cruising ride that's already poor.Merc won't even sell many.And yet ... G's will be treasured for a design that defines unique and, most of all, for being a resounding declaration of difference, one that states: "I can afford to look this weird and not care what you think."So maybe the point is that there is no point.VALUESee above. For the record, the G350 with its clever so-called BlueTEC diesel starts from $161,680 and the G55 AMG with its stunning 5.5-litre supercharged petrol V8, from $217,230. Daft but the 40 who have made deposits, mostly for the AMG, are untroubled.TECHNOLOGYThe G350's so-called BlueTEC's catalytic converter uses the urea liquid AdBlue for exhaust gas after treatment. It can be added externally via a funnel by the fuel tank's outlet. Extra stiff shocks are used to deal with massive output of the roaring 5.5-litre V8 of the AMG.Both models have a system of three lockable differentials and a low range capacity for shinnying up slopes. Permanent all-wheel-drive defaults the torque 50:50 to each axle. Ball steering is set heavier than a compact SUV to overcome kickback.The G350 runs Merc's excellent seven speed auto; the AMG takes a five to handle its mad 700Nm.SAFETYPermanent all-wheel-drive, massive brakes, a very adroit stability program of airbags should ensure a five star crash rating.DESIGNThe G is Merc's oldest continually produced model. More remarkable is that its exterior has barely altered in 32 years; it remains the same conglomeration of squares and rectangles, relieved only by the wheels and headlights, though even these are in four-sided housings.The windscreen is vertical and this is the only Benz with the spare mounted on the back. The utilitarian theme continues within. Despite the expected luxury embellishments, the G is all too clearly derived from a 4WD designed to climb Alps or, as its military spec versions are doing even now, patrolling the streets of Kabul.It looks and feels old and uncomfortably upright. Not a lot of of room in there for something so imposing without. In the back three big blokes have Buckley's and the one in the middle will feel he's drawn a very short straw.Not great in front either. Seats adjust only so far and the driver is afflicted by a brake pedal placed so awkwardly high that smooth progress is a challenge.But, hey, people will see you, right?DRIVINGNever imagined I'd use a Mercedes-Benz to clamber up an almost 80 per cent incline on a Tasmanian track so eroded and busted up that any self-respecting mule would call HR.Mules, however, lack 540Nm, low range gearing and a set of seemingly infallible differentials. Even I, whose offroading ability is zero, can't go wrong with moderate steering and accelerator inputs.Hugely impressive as the ability to make a mountain the merest molehill may be, you might not enjoy driving between peaks. The AMG's regular road ride is pretty awful, unsettled, unresolved and borderline uncivilised.But it is acceleratively stunning, its rousing bent eight in need of no tunnel to resonate as it gets the big crate from standing to 100km/h in 5.5 seconds – a speed you'll be rapidly retarding as corners loom to avoid that top heavy “here we go” sensation.The diesel is the better of the two on the black top, but is an oiler soundtrack the accompaniment that's going to suit boulevard rather than bush bashing?VERDICTThe Merc you never knew the world needed.MERCEDES-BENZ G-CLASSPrice: $161,680 (diesel); $217,230 (AMG)Engines: 3.0-litre turbo diesel (155kW/540Nm); 5.5-litre supercharged V8 petrol (373kW/700Nm)Transmissions: 7-speed auto (diesel); 5-speed auto (AMG)Thirst: 11.2L/100km (diesel); 15.9L/100km AMG