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The Mercedes G-Class — a.k.a the Geländewagen, a.k.a. the G-Wagen/Wagon — holds a special place in our heart, up there with vintage Defenders and Broncos. It’s a purposeful creation that follows its own North Star, and we respect that. But it’s been 40 years since the G-Class started raising eyebrows around the world, due to its sharp corners, severe verticality and decidedly anti-luxurious, militaristic disposition. Those qualities, along with its legitimate utility and off-roadability, drew fans around the world, but it was time to nudge the machine into the 21st century, even if just a hair. So Mercedes went back to the drawing board, made a variety of measured modifications to its iconic exterior and more essential enhancements underneath — and rebirthed the legend.
The Good: The core goodness, of course, rests in the improved off-road handling in both models, the G 550 and the performance-enhanced AMG G 63. Engineers retained the ladder-type frame and the three 100-percent differential locks, deeming them essential to its off-road character, but reworked the suspension and front axle to provide greater stability and crawlability, and also modernized the steering with an electromechanical system over the old recirculating ball design. They also gave it quite a bit more poise on-road — something the previous G lacked. Finally, the new G-Class is more comfortable inside, with improved seating, visibility and utility — plus, of course, all the tech accouterments that have become de rigeur across all vehicles. It still retains its character, with its unique and immediately recognizable exterior profile, but it’s a more well-rounded machine overall.
Who They’re For: Depends on which model we’re talking about. If it’s the G 550, you’re into sunrises, long runs on the beach, and hard-core off-roading. If it’s the AMG G63, you’ve never actually seen a sunrise, you go to the beach mostly to burn off a hangover and you enjoy blasting past lesser machines on the highway at triple-digit speeds while towering three feet above everyone else. We kid, of course — but the AMG G-Class is more distinct in personality from the G 550 than pretty much any other Mercedes AMG product is from its starting point. The G63 is, to be blunt, a statement vehicle — a fun bit of outrageous excess for people who crave vehicles that reflect their outrageous personalities. It’s okay, Mercedes knows this. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have birthed the six-wheeled AMG 6×6. The G 550? That’s for “normals” — those who want the car either for its utility or for their own vastly dialed-down, but still distinctive, personality preferences. Think Pimpmobile versus Popemobile.
Watch Out For: Wind and road noise. Though the G-Class is indeed a more well-rounded machine, that’s not true at the corners. The company kept those cleanly defined edges as essential to the car’s visual character, the only compromise being an ability to temper wind noise. So even though it is significantly reduced from the car’s predecessor, it’s still very much wind noise present. Tire noise is also dialed way down, but there are still detectable hints of it. So this ain’t no S-Class; but the S-Class ain’t no G, either.
Alternatives: It’s in a class by itself, of course, but the Land Rover Range Rover is the most obvious competition as a luxury SUV, and the new Jeep Wrangler will easily give the G-Class a run for its money off-road. As for which one you’d want to ride into the apocalypse, that’s up to you.
