Test drive Mercedes Benz G-Class 2000-2007 SUV

Mercedes-Benz G-Class

We have already written about Mercedes-Benz Gelandewagen repeatedly. For those 25 years during which it is produced, its design and possibilities were studied along and across, it would seem, it was already impossible to surprise the audience with something. Nevertheless, the appearance of the G 55 AMG version makes it once again in surprise to throw up your eyebrows and shake your head. How successful the design should be, created a quarter of a century ago, and what reserves should be laid in it if for such a long time engineers manage to constantly increase the power and torque, and the maximum speed of the present, and not the parquet SUV has already exceeded the mark of 200 km /h!

The G 55 AMG version, released on the 25th anniversary of the model, could probably surprise those who stood at the origins of the G-class. If in the 70s someone told Steyr and Mercedes that their SUV will have power of almost 500 hp, overclocking up to a hundred will occupy less than 6 s, and the maximum speed will be limited by electronics at the mark 210 km/h, they would consider this person not quite healthy. Nevertheless, it was on such cars that we had to go to the famous SHEKL testing ground in the foothills of the Austrian Alps.
As expected, which, during life, became a classic, the appearance of the car was left almost unchanged. Therefore, you can find out that you have the most powerful G-class, you can only according to the v8 Kompressor, G55 and AMG nameplates, as well as 18-inch wheels with 285/55 tires and peering through them powerful brakes. If you look closely, you can also notice a couple of oval exhaust pipes of the AMG company exhaust system. The more prohibitive version does not externally give itself.

The interior of the car is made in a style well known for other models of Mercedes, to which the AMG branch, solid materials, excellent assembly quality, style performed by dignity, have long become a visiting card of the interior of such cars. In a word, the Salon G 55 is an ordinary AMG interior, unless, of course, the usual word applies to this kind of thing. In the Salon G 55 AMG, you clearly understand that the car, thinking as a hard worker and soldier, has turned into a very wealthy businessman who has a taste and loving expensive things, not because it can make an impression on someone, but because they Subrate and convenient.

Despite the fact that by appearance and interior the new flagship of the lineup is not too different from its more modest counterparts, technical filling causes at least respect. The compressor 5.5-liter V8 seems to be an ideal choice for a large SUV. Still, 476 hp and torque 700 NM themselves are impressive, but given that this huge moment is reached already at 2650 rpm, and before this mark it also grows smoothly and thanks to the compressor it has a very decent value even at 1000 rpm, it becomes clear that for the SUV It is even preferable to a powerful turbodiesel. After all, it will be possible to control the traction when driving in difficult road conditions, and the review of the pressure of the gas pedal will probably be instant. Add to this an all -wheel drive transmission with three real rather than electronic locks that lower the transmission with a ratio of 2.16 and try to imagine what situation this car needs to be driven in so that it does not have the strength to get back to the road.

The only problem can be the geometric parameters of the terrain or mulberry areas, because a long base, low -profile asphalt tires and more rigid reptile stabilizers are not the best off -road tool. But the dynamics and speed limit of 210 km/h forced the engineers to come to a bit of off -road qualities for the sake of ensuring security. A tall heavy machine with albeit a spring, but dependent suspension, and even with a panar’s rods, causing a transverse displacement of bridges during their vertical movements, should not only be stable and controlled, but also comfortable at speeds that did not even dream of the vast majority of passenger models in those years when it was created. Yes, and to stop the car with a full weight of more than 3 tons, at such a speed, very powerful and hardy brakes are needed, and for their placement inside the wheels, the disks themselves must be at least 18 inches in any way.

Therefore, a stiffer suspension, low-profile tires and large-diameter wheels on G 55 AMG are by no means dignity, but a vital necessity.
On the road, the off -road liner fully justified all our hopes. Despite the dynamics of the sports car, it is quite comfortable, and due to the high landing, the speed in it is much less than in low sports cars. A carriage of an autobahn is more like a flight flight, because the suspension moves, even despite its increased rigidity, still remained much larger than those of sportsmen, so there is no indignation all the indignation disappear along the way from the wheels to the body, and the car only sways slightly. But the dependent suspension makes itself felt: a large jeep at high speeds behaves not as stable as, for example, a S-class. Small irregularities cause a deviation of the car from the course, albeit small, but still requiring adjustment.

And it’s good that there is ABS and ESP, if you lose this flying tank at a speed of 200 km/h, then even a professional rider will be able to cope with it, for this there is simply no space on the road. But much more adrenaline forced to splash out into the blood not a speedy ride along the autobahn, but climbing to Mount Shekl. We already talked about this off -road training ground for Steyr in No. 6, 2003, so what expected us could be represented. However, reality exceeded all expectations. When a car worth under 150 thousand dollars jumps on bumps among huge trees, climbing on steep slopes, and then literally rushes down with a gallop, bouncing on the springboxes and flying through the air for almost a dozen meters, all this seems unrealistic.

However, to believe in the reality of what is happening is forced by the fact that you yourself are in this car. And after these jumps, the car remains the same as it was, and does not look tired, which can not be said about its passengers. There are no surprising in this most passengers overcome this strip of obstacles for the first time, and the G-class was born and raised, constantly training and improved. And I must say, in 25 years he managed to pump up the muscles of the weightlifter and gain the dexterity of the gymnast, today, becoming one of a kind. The fact that the G-class does not age, but it only becomes better, more eloquently than others is evidenced by the fact that sales of a model, which are already a quarter of a century, are growing quite actively throughout the world. At the same time, the G-class does not require facelifting and other artificially rejuvenating procedures, he is strong, healthy and is ready to give a head start to many younger rivals.

Vladimir Obokalatnikov
 
 

Source: Avtopanorama magazine