The Sheikh's SUV
So what do you get when you take a biturbo 544 horsepower V8, put it into a 40-year-old car, and add that AMG exhaust note? Well... Something very very special!
The Mercedes Benz G-Class, or Geländewagen as it’s originally called, has been used for the past 40 years by almost every demographic. It started life as a military vehicle in 1972 taking soldiers through the battlefield, then was put into production for the public in 1979, and has now become the vehicle of choice by many of the world’s elite, especially in the Middle East. The car has transformed from a rugged utilitarian transport vehicle to one of the most luxurious, powerful, and iconic SUV’s in the world. The G55 AMG invaded the homes of the rich for years, and now for 2012/13 Mercedes has given the car a refresh and ditched the 55 moniker for the 63. They’ve added a new grille, a new front bumper with vents to feed more air into that monster of an engine, as well some nice LED lights under the headlamps. The interior is all new as well and looks fantastic, but of course the biggest difference is the engine, which has now become twin-turbocharged and boasts a whopping 544 bhp and 561 lb/ft of torque.
Since the car was so popular in Saudi Arabia, we decided to take out the new G63 AMG and put it to the test. We never get tired of AMG here at Superior, we loved both the CLS63 and ML63, and now that we had the big daddy G-Wagon for a week, we decided to take it to different terrain and see how capable it is off-road as well as day to day city cruising.
I picked up the car from the dealership where I found Mr. Basim Wali who had set up for us an arctic white G63 that was fitted with the optional matte black wheels. First impressions when you get in the car, actually you get your first impression when you click “unlock” on the key fob and you hear the loud “clank” of the door locks. Then you get inside and you notice the seating position is quite high up and honestly cannot help but feel completely boss in the car, not even a Rolls Royce Ghost makes you feel that way. The strange thing is that because it’s an AMG you’re also sitting in semi bucket seats which definitely gives the car a lot of character. The interior was covered in premium leather and carbon fiber with only the steering wheel featuring piano black trim, and I must say that the upgrades done to the interior have really upped the luxury of this car ten-fold, especially with the SLS inspired gear lever. The carbon on the dash was beautiful and those three differential locks in the center prove to you that you really are in a G, however under that I was surprised to find the ECO button. Really? Start/Stop in a G63? No way, that would remain switched off the entire time. But in all fairness that may come in handy in other countries where petrol prices are too expensive. I kept looking around but just like all the G-Classes, there were no proper cup holders in the front. There’s just that one basketball net on the side which looks cool but isn’t very practical. It’s a huge inconvenience so please Mercedes, add cup holders! After looking around I then fired up the beast’s mighty engine and it roared to life. A few childish revs later, I was on my way.
The locks clanked loudly again as the car locked automatically while driving putting a smile on my face. The power is obvious, it’s right there under your right foot just etching to be used. The minute I got on the road I just floored it and was thrown into the lovely “Designo” diamond stitched seats. After a few minutes I found myself constantly making adjustments to the seat, I had to pull over and it took me quite a while to find a suited driving position for this car as it’s so different to anything else one may drive. After finally getting settled I took off and cruised along and found myself very accustomed to the character of the car, I was annoyed that the MDI Cable wasn’t working for some reason but Bluetooth came to the rescue and wasn’t an issue connecting it for phone and music use. The Harman Kardon is excellent I must say.
After driving a few days I began to realize a few things. When driving on a highway and you want to overtake someone, you do not even need to bother flashing them because they will automatically move out of the way. This car demands respect in a certain way and people just respond, what shocked me though is the amount of attention this car gets! I was being followed by people taking pictures and getting looks everywhere I went, this is a car that has been around for many years and still remains in the spotlight, kudos to Mercedes for a design that has been proven to me first hand to be timeless. Now I see why Arabs love it!
I got many complaints from the back seat, it’s almost impossible to fit three people in the back and even if you have two, they still say it’s a bit cramped and the seat is too high up (saying it was like being in a cinema). Up front the sport seats were uncomfortable at first, they are definitely not made for long journeys, but after a while I started to get used to them and would feel fine even after a full day of driving. This, ladies and gentlemen, is just one of the justifications I started to make because of how much I was loving the car, there’s more to come. The suspension for example is quite bad; it’s too stiff on the road and it transfers every bump straight to your butt. That’s primarily because it’s still a body-on-frame construction and has 2 live axles front and rear. However it’s better than it was on the G55, and yup, another justification there.
Even though the car looks massive on the outside, it’s actually quite narrow. It’s extremely easy to drive and all the corners are clear and visible, it’s also cool to see the blinkers on top of the front wings when indicating left or right. The rear view camera is also quite useful so you don’t damage the wheel cover on the back. Because of the all round visibility you can fit into parking spots most SUV’s don’t without breaking a sweat. The windscreen is large and flat which was good in the beginning, but became an issue later on. Overall the car looks intimidating, but it isn’t, not when you’re driving slowly at least.
The performance is insane! Yes the car is a biturbo but there is pretty much no lag at low rpm, when you put your foot down and gun it you hear that familiar AMG roar and would actually think that it’s still naturally aspirated, but do it again and listen then you’ll hear the turbos spool up a bit before the noise kicks in. The G63 comes with a 7-Speed Dual Clutch transmission that works very well in Comfort “C” and Sport “S” modes, but when you want to use the paddles and shift yourself it becomes quite frustrating. It doesn’t down shift when you want it to and sometimes short-shifts for you even in Manual “M” mode. After driving up and down highways and through the city I took it on a windy road where I was honestly terrified. The car is scarier to drive fast than a Murcielago! The steering is numb and doesn’t give you any feel, and the body really wasn’t made for this. The car is shaped like a box and Mercedes say it’s top speed is electronically limited to 210 kph but I disagree, I think it’s aerodynamically limited to that. There’s no precision, it’s just crazy fun. The G63 isn’t a driver’s car, it’s made for straight lines, and would honestly outrun most sports cars. It takes 5.3 seconds to get to 100 kph from 0 which is incredibly impressive for a car weighing around 2.6 tons. This car hits its stride however between 60 and 160 kph and it sings thunderously all through that.
The team and I decided to then take it off-road to test out its capabilities. We drove up north and took it to Khaleej Salman and a bit farther as that area not only had sand, but some muddy sections as well.
On the way there we encountered the problem with the windscreen, it’s too flat and straight. After just a few kilometers it turned into a buffet for Timon & Pumba (for those who remember them). The glass was completely covered in squished bugs and there’s no point in using the wipers because you’ll just make it worse.
We reached our destination, and after cleaning the insect graveyard off the windscreen, it was time to replace them with some dirt. The car handled marvelously, the G63 felt like it was in its element. Never had I thought that I could drive this way and be this comfortable. The car doesn’t rattle or squeak and it just takes care if everything. However traction control was a complete jerk, no matter how much I tried there was no way I could switch it off completely. I had an area of flat sand and wanted to have some fun but the German dictator constantly cut the power right when I needed it.
I then found some hills, put the car into low range, engaged the diff-locks, and climbed. The car managed without even trying, I even stopped on the slope for some pictures, lifted the handbrake (no flimsy electronic brake here) and just sat there as the car posed. The descent was easy as well, my only worry the whole time though were the side exhaust pipes, they look cool but aren’t good for off-road.
The next day we went to the muddy area, we drove along the rough sands next to the sea, up and over side roads, and got there. I wanted to test how far the car would go so I drove up the shore right to the water and kept going farther and farther in, the car seemed to be coping very well so I then stopped for the team to take some pictures. Unfortunately I stopped for too long and the car had gotten stuck, despite our efforts and techniques to nudge it out we had to tow the car out a few inches to get going again. It roared out without many problems, and I’ll be honest, no car could’ve gotten out of that mud, it was almost like quicksand.
The G63 was very impressive off-road and although it’s been spoofed up and all about luxury now, it can still batter the rough stuff.
Continued…
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