Mercedes-Benz G-Class 2011 Review

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.

VALUE

See 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.

TECHNOLOGY

The 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.

SAFETY

Permanent all-wheel-drive, massive brakes, a very adroit stability program of airbags should ensure a five star crash rating.

DESIGN

The 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?

DRIVING

Never 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?

VERDICT

The Merc you never knew the world needed.

MERCEDES-BENZ G-CLASS

Price: $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