Just like Funke
Akindele alias Suria, Aka Jennifer preferring her "modern name". The
Mercedes Benz G63 which happens to be the most popular of all G Wagons had at
its birth "Geländewagen" for its name. It has become more popularly
known as the G Wagon. In German Gelandewagen simply means cross country
vehicle. In its 38 year history, its engine has more than tripled in size in
respect to displacement. If you were like Capt. America and fell asleep in the
first year of the G wagon's creation and woke up just yesterday to a 2017
model, you'd still pretty much recognize it. Style wise, it’s kept its boxy shape.
Its oldest rival the Range Rover has had just about the same number of year
editions but has morphed into a modern 21st century all terrain luxury vehicle.
The G Wagon has had none of that nonsense. Sure it’s picked up a ton of luxury amenities
but it hasn’t gone all soft and dropped off the core of its go “anywhere” underpinnings.
Unlike the Range Rover which relies on a combination of mechanical and
electronic wizardry, the G wagon relies less on electronics. It achieves its
untouchable status using a bunch of levers and gears. While both the Range
Rover and G wagon are very expensive vehicles I’ll ask you a question, and you don’t
get to choose none; which would you rather drive to Iyana Ipaja?
You often might wonder what
all the hype about this car is. After all it’s just a body on frame SUV. Nothing
special about that. Every 4 Runner, Sequoia, Xterra you’ve ever seen has the
same formula. So what’s so unbelievably cool about the G wagon? I recently had
the good fortune of driving a 2015 G63 so I can confidently tell you not one
single thing standing on it own makes it special. It’s like the Manchester
United of old. Little bits here and there all woven nice and neat doing what it’s
been made to do. The renaissance of the G Wagon started in the mid 2000’s.
Prior to that no one in these parts even knew of such a vehicle. The G Wagon
has become a symbol of style and splendour. If you never knew what the G wagon
was all about, Bruce Willis could tell you a bit about it. Whoever didn’t want
one after seeing him in “A good day to die hard?”
Center Dash
Nothing can this squarer
The Key that commands 500 plus hp
Gauge Cluster
Boot Compartment
Joachim Smith I see you!!!
One thing that struck me
about this car is the sheer amount of power a vehicle sitting so high can have.
And I don’t think I am alone in this. Remember the renaissance I talked about
earlier? The cool factor with this car came after the introduction of the G55
in 2005. Without the power, the G Wagon is a tall, slow capable off roader. The
addition of a Supercharger whacked up power to about 460Bhp in the G55 matted
to a 5.4L engine. These days on the G63, power is over 500bhp from a 4.4L twin
turbo. On the G63, steering is heavy at low speeds and full lock takes about
2.5 turns. This is one of those cars that has allowed form take FULL control
over function. Where else will you find a 100 plus thousand dollar car with
exposed hinges and door latches that close shut like a World War 2 riffle?
It’s not supposed to still
be alive today. Mercedes Benz wanted to kill off the G Wagon and therefore
built its replacement. Put in everything the G Wagon didn’t have, even an extra
third row of seats. That SUV is known as the Mercedes Benz GLS. Much to the surprise
of the gentlemen from Stuttgart sales continued to soar with the G Wagon after
the side by side introduction of its replacement. So they said, we’ll keep it
out there a few more years and see. Since that time at least two insane
variants have been introduced. The G500 4x4² and the G63 AMG 6x6.
The G63 AMG 6x6
The G500 4x4²
It’s not all a bed of roses
with the G63. It doesn’t drive as well as other hard performance SUV’s from its
parent nation such as the Porsche Cayenne Turbo or its own sibling the ML 63
AMG or the GL 63AMG or even the Range Rover Autobiography. One thing it does
better than these other guys is make you smile as you can hear me goofing off
