Mercedes-Benz has been around for a long time and has created some of the most impressive vehicles for us to drive for many years. We’ve loved the style, the precise handling and even at time the over the top features of the different Mercedes-Benz vehicles. If you wanted a car to be chauffeured around in you chose a Mercedes model, knowing the car would impress you and your guests whenever you needed to go somewhere. Along with the comfort, precision, sportiness and usefulness of most Mercedes-Benz vehicles there has been massive monster we’ve loved for the past 37 years as a truly large SUV for the road and trails.
The vehicle that fits the description and offers us an over the top SUV experience is the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. This massive SUV has maintained the high side, square body look and feel while being one of the most capable four-wheel drive vehicles on the road and trails we love to venture to. There are three versions of this SUV that you can enjoy driving, all of which come at a high price tag with the base model starting over $120,000. With this price the G-Class isn’t your ordinary Benz, it’s something special.
The base model is the G550 which is powered by a 4.0-liter twin turbocharged V8 that brings in 416 horsepower and 450 lb.-ft. of torque. This is actually a weight savings from the old 5.5-liter V8 that was present before. This new engine is attached to a seven-speed automatic transmission and this engine can carry the 5882 pounds of weight to sixty mph in only 5.7 seconds, which is pretty good considering the size and compete lack of aerodynamics.
All versions of the G-Class have solid axles in the front and rear with locking differentials. This allows you to take on nearly any obstacle and run through or over it, whichever you choose. All this can happen while you enjoy the height of luxury that’s part of riding in this big beast of a vehicle.
On the inside you see an upgraded electronic system with gorgeous instruments to give you all the features you want to enjoy. The seating is comfortable in a way that you feel as if you’ve fallen into a bed of pillows but it still offers you the support you need to be safe on the road. As you might expect from a vehicle of this price nearly every driver assistance system you could ask for is present to give you the features you want when driving to keep you informed of what’s happening in and around your vehicle.
The G550 is an amazing vehicle but the interesting part of the sales for the G-Class trio is the fact the G550 isn’t the best-selling of the three. The G63 which shows up at a much higher price with a 5.5-liter twin turbocharged V8 engine accounts for more than half the sales for this pricy throwback styled SUV. The third model is the G65 which brings you even more at an even higher price but comes with a twin turbocharged V12 engine that is simply insane when it comes to power and capability.
With a vehicle of this price and stature the concern isn’t as much with fuel mileage as it is with the capability of the SUV and the possible speed. Any of these G-Class SUVs can easily slay the sixty mph time of many lower models and give you the excitement you want when driving, but where the G-Class really stands out is in the ability to give you a high class excursion in the wilderness. With this vehicle you can feel as if you’re on the hunt in Africa with your haughty friends, but still enjoy some down to earth style and space from this massive beast.
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