I know tree huggers are gonna hate this, but if you can afford it, you can afford the gas, and I bet it is a hoot for them, good alternative to the Land Rovers

The coolest SUV in the world, hands down. I would choose no other.

That has been a big, dumb, numb, boring, oafish box for far too long. To quote my friend who owns a furniture store “the richer you are, the worse your taste is.”

Oh, and let me add…if it didn’t have a big ass 3 pointed star on the grill, nobody would give a **** about it because you’d actually be forced to evaluate the vehicle for what it is.

Wow! 7BHP increase on the AMG!? Sign me up!

All kidding aside, I drove a ‘08 G500 a couple days ago and it feels like my ‘08 Unlimited Rubicon with ALOT of leather. Except my Wrangler would eat this overweight trophy up off the pavement.

They should really do a diesel version of this for the States

Wait a min. I just re-read it. “The AMG version of the G-Class will see a modest 7 horsepower increase, totaling an even 500.”
How does 382 + 7 = 500? Am I not reading something right people?

Andre: 7 over the ‘08 AMG version, no doubt.

1979, thats equal with the crown vic for sticking around for an uber long time and not changing much.

“04focus”
Ahh! gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up. Stupid of me.

why is this even considered cool? it doesnt even have any heritage… 1979 wasnt even that long ago! i consider the land rover defender a far more credible alternative, and far more accomplished off road. and, if you want a luxury suv, get a proper one like a range rover, merc ML etc..

Zip, do not tout Range Rover when they still build the Defender which is almost as old as the MB G-class

I like it because it’s square, damnit! Like that other classic circa 1979: the Ford Squaremont. Now that was a f*ckin’ car boys. There wasn’t even a hint of a curve anywhere. Like a finely sculpted brick movin’ through the air she was. Those were the days. Women were shaped like an hourglass instead of a toothpick and cars were f*ckin square. Bodywork? No problem. Big blob of Bondo and a chunk of 2×4. Looked better than the day she rolled off the line.

I found the full release and a complete list of tech specs at emercedesbenz.com

http://emercedesbenz.com/May08/22_001163_First_Look_At_The_2009_Mercedes_Benz_G_Class.html

umm how does 382+7=500.. see why you shouldnt buy benzies stick with the bimmer.. and id get the legendary range rover over these moving box called a car

Are they gonna decorate it with 76 mm or 88 mm cannon from Tiger II? It was original Bundesweir stuff car.

Suburban is far superior.

Yes, let us compare the Suburban, a vehicle that is supposed to be more affordable and supposed haul kids and such, to a Mercedes Benz G-class, a luxury SUV for people with more money then they know what to do with, but want the rugged look, good comaprison.

This is a joke, plain and simple.

i love the G

The G 500 (or will it be called G 550?) has 382 bhp, the G 55 AMG has 500.

And the military version of the G, the “Wolf” is still used by both German and American militaries, along with a lot of other countries.

The ****ing ugliest Mercedes ever…. officially…

This SUV is the ****. I love it.

If it ain’t broke don’t **** with it.

Nice try Need4Speed (congratulations on being able to discuss your addiction so openly by the way) but surely that honour must fall to the R-Class, with the B-Class and Vaneo proudly clutching the runners up trophies.
.
Personally I don’t think that there is a cooler off-roader than the G55 SWB convertible, except my 6″-lifted ‘86 Blazer on 37’s of course

Would be a lot more interesting with the V6 diesel.

SUV fanbois hate this, this is a proper offroader, so it wipes the floor with ANY SUV in this sector!
Proper-offroad fanbois hat this also, because it’s also luxurious, on top of being damn good offroad!
I see this as a pure car, with no BS, it can do off-road, it can do roads, it can do luxury, no half-measures!!!
This is a true classic because it has stood the test of time as very few cars have done in the history of automobiles. I bow to the, o great master of luxury off-roaders!
On the topic of ugly: no car that has it’s shape so much influenced by practicality and simplicity can be called ugly! It’s not a work of art for sure, but calling it just plain ugly seems more like a product of envy than anything else…

It’s boxy and squary and I love it.

NoNameDenton1, if you read my post you’d know that i was referring to the land rover DEFENDER. google it, its been in production since 1947 and is a real classic and much more accomplished offroad than the G.

What Scion XB’s become when they grow up.

Ah… the MB Hummer… gross and wanton extravagance in every measure.

El Aleman, don’t confuse American military with German. G was never in US arsenal, even if we adopted helmet shape.

1947 Defender was re-skinned Jeep, no more no less. Probably still the best vehicle of it’s kind and in good shape probably equally pricey, albeit with 64 hp 4 cylinder engine.

That’s exactly the problem Raineman, the G-Wagen is absolutely not “gross and wanton extravagence in every measure” at all. That would be a Rolls. You have silly marteting in your head that skews your perception of reality. The G-wagen is simply a clumsy box with very little redeeming qualitits, other than the ability to transport the same amount of cargo that any minivan can. It is truly the vehicle of a fool.

land rover should have kept the classic range rover on sale. those Brooklands/TWR body kits were awesome:

Got Handling, Yeah they aren’t the pretties looking either. I just got back from Frankfurt and Rome yesterday and I definitely saw the A class and B class over there interesting little cars. Saw a lot of cars over there that we sure could use. Glad that you have an off road vehicle and use it… Part of why I hate this is because every time I see one of these, every now and then I always see a young woman driving it distracted on her cell phone. Ok and you own this why??? Mercedes definitely can make a 4X4 SUV, but really just like with all the Hummer H2’s and Escalades, majority of people that drive them don’t use them for their full purpose. Just a nother waste of gas and space on the road.

when compared to other vehicles on the road, yes, the G-class is ugly. Then again, when compared to other vacuums, a Dyson is ugly too. But, unlike others, the Dyson and the G500/550/55 were built to perform a certain job in a certain way in a manner that is better than the competition. That being said, it is perfect and form always follows function.

Never have understood a vehicle built to go extreme off road, but that is to expensive to get scratched.

I’ll never understand this vehicle. Sorry, but doors that go ‘thud’ and great offroad capability aren’t enough to offset its hideous boxy styling and ridiculously high price.

There are other vehicles that have nice sounding doors that go ‘thud’ and are great offroad, that at least look better and are more reasonably priced.

How many of the owners of the G take it on serious offroad excursions anyway? Maybe 1% at most. Which makes it a poseur vehicle, which I have no respect for.

If you got the money & wanna go off road this thing is great… just built for a purpose not coz it’s cute or environment-friendly…

This thing is so dated…it still uses old technology..I agree with Zip and Z06ified..there are simply better SUVs out there and ppl that buy these arent going to use them to go offroad.

Aynone buying this is prolly gonna be some

The doors actually sound quite tinny, but that is beside the point. This model is a stand alone from a plant in Austria, mainly sold to rappers and Russian fat cats. Hugely profitable, in other words.
The 7 hp jump could be a misquote, caused by the difference between (German) DIN and (British) brake hp. Britons tend to quote the Bugatti Veyron with 987 bhp too.

Zip, I know when the Defender started production, in fact I joined a group to lobby Land Rover to bring it and its variations to the States

ugly and butch

it is a proven military grade platform. a german improvement on the defender.

Old school design thats still ahead of its time. This thing looks good parked infront of a trendy night club and on a muddy road in the middle of a jungle.

So let me get this straight moto-racer12, you think this expensive ancient SUV is ok but you insult guys who buy a Super Duty? Double standard much.

Madcapp: I’m not a Merc fan but I like boxy SUVs… So I was a fan of the Ford Bronco concept:

http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-2004/2004-Ford-Bronco-Concept-FA-1024×768.jpg

Who needs a Merc badge?