She is edgier than anyone else, has been on the road for a while now and off the road she has more than most of her competitors: that's how she stands out Mercedes G-Class out of the tide of off-road vehicles for years. In the near future you can take that literally. Because at the Geneva Motor Show, Mercedes will show a new version of the now 36 year old dinosaur early next month, which is literally an outstanding car with its 2,25 meters in height.
This is due to what are known as portal axles, which were previously only known from Mercedes from the Unimog and the G 6 × 6 desert ship: With them, the wheels are not stuck with the hub on the center of the axle, but can be mounted significantly lower thanks to a portal gearbox . The G-Class grows skyward and the ground clearance increases from 21 to 45 centimeters. At the same time, the new axles have a track width of 30 centimeters, which Mercedes also emphasizes with new carbon wheel arches. Regardless of whether with the 22-inch tires for the road or the rough 18-inch wheels for off-road use, the G-Class looks pretty scary in the rearview mirror.
There is also a variance in the suspension for the new axles and the two wheelsets: In order to improve performance on and off the road, the G 4 × 4² is getting adjustable dampers from rallying for the first time, with which the body can be moved off-road relieved and almost completely avoided when cornering: the G-Modell almost becomes a goat-like mountain goat almost like the proverbial board.
The Swabians are also breaking new ground under the hood: for the first time on this side of Affalterbach, the V8 engine from the AMG sports car GT will be used in the G-model, which will soon also find its way into the M and E-Class. It develops 310 kW / 422 hp, reaches up to 610 Nm and enables a top speed of well over 500 km / h even in the almost 4-ton G 4 200 × XNUMX².
The new G is in Geneva as a show car and according to the official language regulation, the Swabians now want to use it to test customer feedback. But it would have to be the devil if the giant did not have to storm through the mountains soon. Because you just have to look at your big brother to know how crazy the group around the G-Class is. The 6 × 6 was also a study at the trade fair - and has been sold almost 150 times since then.
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