Benz Faqs

Mercedes-Benz has officially introduced its Gelandewagen to the U.S. in 2002.  The G-Class presents a utilitarian appearance with flat glass and flat body panels made of thick steel. It backs that up with its truck-based ladder-frame, permanent four-wheel drive, and a heavy-duty off-road suspension. The G prefix comes from the German word Gelandewagen, which roughly translates to off-road car. The U.S. gets the top model, loaded with luxury features and the Mercedes 5.0-liter V8.

The top model in Europe, it comes with leather seating, wood-and-leather steering wheel, power windows, seats, locks, heated front and rear seats, automatic climate control, navigation, six-disc CD changer, hands-free phone, and arc-discharge headlamps. It’s powered by a V8 that generates 292 (DIN) horsepower and has permanent four-wheel drive, a low-range transfer gearbox, traction control and stability control.

Equipment for the U.S. model is basically everything that Mercedes is currently putting on all its European top-line models, with the exception of the occasional specially built 5.5-liter hot-rod AMG-built engine. The G500 has got every power accouterment on it that the factory can add without slowing the already meandering production line.

The G500’s square-box styling is almost unchanged from the first prototype Mercedes designed in 1976, with flat glass and flat body panels. Exposed door hinges underscore the utility image, but when you close any door it sounds like you closed a bank vault. The heavy-duty latches are designed to shed sand from trips through the Sahara, and the ribbed, thick steel panels successfully resist vibration. Because the G500 is relatively tall, it gives you the impression it’s larger than it’s compact SUV dimensions reveal.

The instrument panel has been updated in European G-wagens to house the gauges from the latest C-Class sedan and coupe, and the layout of the center console also reflects the C-Class design. These updates carry over to the U.S. models, too.

If it weren’t for the flat windshield and tall seating position, you’d feel like you were driving a Mercedes sedan. The front seats are separated by a wide armrest, another clue your eyes translate to tell you it’s a big SUV. Three seating positions in the rear are tight for full-size adults in the shoulder and hip, but headroom is generous. The G500 is as tall as some full-size SUVs inside.

The key to the G-wagen’s behavior is its excessive weight. The G500 casts a shadow about the same size as a Nissan Pathfinder’s, and that statement makes it sound like a compact SUV. But the G500 is taller, closer to the height of a Dodge Durango. Add to that its nearly vertical sides. That combination gives you the impression the G500 is a big SUV inside. It weighs about as much as a big Lincoln Navigator, at more than 5400 pounds, which is 1100 pounds more than a Pathfinder.

The G-wagen is heavy for some important reasons: The body sheet metal is 1mm thick compared to the 0.75mm thick metal more common on SUVs today. Suspension components are sized to match those in full-size pickups. In addition, the G-wagens are practically hand-built in the Magna Steyr plant in Graz, Austria. Wall-to-roof welds are done by hand, as are the thick seam welds that box the robust ladder frame and join most body parts.

The result of the heavy-duty construction is a ride that feels as solid as a state-of-the-art S-class superluxury sedan. If you bounce the G500 over an eight-inch boulder you won’t hear a squeak or rattle, nor will you feel any twisting or jiggling motions.

All four wheels are powered by a 5.0-liter V8 engine through a five-speed automatic transmission. Because of the extra weight, acceleration feels casual if you’re accustomed to the relative hot-rod performance of, for example, the much lighter V8-powered Jeep Grand Cherokees. The 5.0-liter V8 is ultra smooth and sounds distant under its flat hood.

The suspension is live axle front and rear, with extra-long longitudinal control arms and thick panhard rods, and coil springs that look twice the size of a Jeep Grand Cherokee’s. The G500 feels firm on pavement, which is not what you’d expect for a dedicated off-roader, where long wheel travel and compliance mean better performance on deep ruts and large rocks. Body rolling motions feel less wallowy than they do in a Range Rover (which has a 4-inch shorter wheelbase), but the tradeoff for the firmer G500 is that you feel more bumps.

This setup, however, means the G-wagen can go off-road faster than pure rock-crawling off-roaders. The G-wagen feels tuned more for Baja racing than climbing the Rubicon Trail. Regardless of this choice of suspension tuning, the G500 feels as capable as a Land Rover in the rough stuff, while also being as solid as an S-Class sedan on the pavement.

The four-wheel-drive system is permanently engaged. The driver can lock and open each of the differentials front, center, and rear, by pressing three switches on the top of the center instrument panel. It requires some training to use these switches properly. (However, the switches won’t work unless you select low range on the transfer gearbox. The differentials allow power to be sent to all wheels all of the time.

When all three differentials are locked, however, then all four wheels are locked together, giving maximum traction and enabling the G500 to climb grades steeper than it could without all wheels locked together. Overseas versions of Toyota’s Land Cruiser also have this function, but U.S. models of the Toyota forego the feature because a locked front differential alters steering response, which can surprise inexperienced drivers.