The antique trophy

Prepare to meet the definition of the words legend, antique and expensive. I haven’t been so excited about a test car in months and it’s been equally long since I witnessed such diverse and lively reactions to a vehicle, in this case a Mercedes-Benz G350 BlueTEC.

Not to be confused with the supersized GL-Class, the G-Class is what my cousin what call “the original gangsta”. The G (“Gel?ndewagen”, German for cross-country vehicle) was initially developed for military use but introduced to the elated public in 1979. 

Square lines, bullet-proof Austrian construction, ladder chassis, low range and three diff locks quickly earned it legendary status and even a Dakar rally win. A few examples made it to South Africa over the years, but Mercedes-Benz S.A. officially re-launched the G this year – 32 years after its birth. 

The reactions this car gets can vouch for its three decades of absence from local shores – most admirers can’t believe that it’s a Mercedes. “But it’s so square? And old.” A tiny percentage of admirers share the same enthusiasm for the Gee as American rap/pop stars: “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen...” 

Although only available as a five-door station wagon in three trims and engines, at least these combinations represent the widest spread of the range. First up is the utilitarian G300CDI Professional, then comes this G350 BlueTEC, and last but not least is the insane G55 AMG. 

Right. Now for the pricing. You may want to sit down for this. As most people sit while reading, I strongly suggest you stand up and sit down again and repeat as necessary. The G300 CDI costs R789,979. This G350 costs R1,242,274 and the G55 will set you back R1,897,159. 

See what I meant by expensive? Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Every single cost enquiry earned our G350 test car a gigantic heap of criticism and rejection, usually flavoured with the names of superior vehicles at this price. Think Cayenne, Range Rover and the like. 

Unfortunately, I believe the critics were unbelievably wrong and short-sighted; the only hope came from a good friend slash investment banker. He, much like his clients, completely ignored the price and saw the G350 for what it is: a trophy. A status symbol. A third car for your Hermanus house. 

The car’s lack of leather was dismissed as quickly as the legendary shape was embraced. Here are a few more things a G-Wagen doesn’t have: aerodynamics, crumple zones, uni-body construction, road holding, cup holders, grace. 

In this model, the antique shape was pimped to Mr. or Mrs. Millionaire’s expectations and boasts auto bi-Xenon headlights, navigation, 6-disc DVD changer, harmon kardon speakers, Bluetooth, sunroof, voice command, reversing camera, airbags, ESP stability control and ABS/BAS brakes, amongst others. 

The SL/CLK wood ‘n leather steering wheel is electrically adjustable (as are windows and mirrors) and features audio buttons and control of a comprehensive trip computer in the previous-C-Class instrument cluster. The G350 also has cruise control with speed limiter function. 

The upright driving position offers reasonable space and the remainder of the cabin is lifted with leather, wood and chrome highlights. Rear passenger leg-room isn’t great but the simple and capacious boot will gladly carry heavy and dirty loads. 

Doing duty in the G350 BlueTEC is Mercedes-Benz’ tried and trusted 3-litre twin-turbo-Diesel V6 (155kW/211hp/540Nm) achieving 8.8 seconds to 100km/h and a top speed of 175km/h via a silky-smooth 7-speed automatic gearbox with tip-function. 

A claimed average of 11.2L/100km consumption promises a range of 850-odd km from the giant 95L tank but town driving will quickly see that figure reach the mid-teens. Suburban roads will also reveal the G350’s heavy handling, even heavier steering and surprisingly firm suspension. 

Cornering and braking are below par for modern standards but outstanding for a 1970’s relic. Should the sturdy body lumber off its line, the ESP kicks in gently to restrain its urge of ploughing straight through someone’s house. High-speed cruising is typically Mercedes-composed but a bit noisy. 

A short off-road trip with low range and all three diffs lit up proved that the Gel?ndewagen has its roots in dirt and could’ve handled much, much more than I dared to throw at it. Wheel articulation isn’t phenomenal and the shiny running boards on our test unit had already taken a knock from previous outings.

A few days earlier, someone shook their head and uttered “I’d never take that thing off-road” and yet again I think they couldn’t have been more wrong. The Gel?ndewagen is a legend. It may be overpriced but it can roll past the haters in a rap video as well as it can trek up Van Zyl’s Pass. It’s incredible.

Gallery

古董獎(jiǎng)杯

準(zhǔn)備迎接話傳說(shuō)，古董和昂貴的定義。我還沒(méi)有這么興奮試驗(yàn)車(chē)在月，它已經(jīng)同樣長(zhǎng)的，因?yàn)槲矣H眼目睹到車(chē)輛等不同，活潑的反應(yīng)，在這種情況下，梅賽德斯 - 奔馳G350 BLUETEC。

為了不被與超大型的GL-Class混淆，G級(jí)是我的表弟什么叫“原匪幫”。在G（“Gel?ndewagen”，德國(guó)越野車(chē)）最初是用于軍事用途，但引入在1979年揚(yáng)眉吐氣公開(kāi)。廣場(chǎng)線，防彈奧地利建筑，階梯底盤(pán)，低范圍和三個(gè)差異鎖很快贏得了傳奇般的地位，甚至達(dá)喀爾拉力賽的勝利。舉幾個(gè)例子去到南非，多年來(lái)，但梅賽德斯-奔馳SA正式重新啟動(dòng)對(duì)G今年-它誕生32年后這輛車(chē)得到的反應(yīng)可以保證其三十年來(lái)沒(méi)有從當(dāng)?shù)睾０?最崇拜者無(wú)法相信這是一輛奔馳?！暗侨绱硕?？。老“仰慕的很小的比例共享相同的熱情嘖嘖作為美國(guó)饒舌/流行歌星：”這是我見(jiàn)過(guò)的最酷 ??的事情......“ 雖然只是作為三一五門(mén)旅行車(chē)飾件和發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)，至少這些組合所代表的范圍最寬的擴(kuò)散。首先登場(chǎng)的是功利G300CDI專(zhuān)業(yè)，然后是這個(gè)G350 BLUETEC，以及最后但并非最不重要的是瘋狂的G55 AMG。右。現(xiàn)在的定價(jià)。你可能想坐下來(lái)此。由于大多數(shù)人坐在一邊看書(shū)，我強(qiáng)烈建議你站起來(lái)，并再次坐下，并根據(jù)需要重復(fù)。的G300 CDI成本R789，979。該G350成本R1，242,274和G55將設(shè)置你回到R1，897159。明白我的意思貴嗎？不要說(shuō)我沒(méi)提醒你。每單成本查詢贏得了我們的G350測(cè)試車(chē)的批評(píng)和拒絕一個(gè)巨大的堆，通常調(diào)味具有超強(qiáng)的車(chē)輛在這個(gè)價(jià)位的名稱(chēng)。想到卡宴，路虎攬勝等等。不幸的是，我認(rèn)為批評(píng)是令人難以置信的錯(cuò)誤和短視; 唯一的希望來(lái)自于一個(gè)好朋友斜線投資銀行家。他，就像他的客戶，完全忽略了價(jià)格，看到的G350，它是什么：一個(gè)獎(jiǎng)杯。身份的象征。第三個(gè)汽車(chē)為您的赫曼努斯的房子。這款車(chē)的皮革缺乏的是盡快傳說(shuō)中形狀擁抱駁回。這里有一些更多的東西一個(gè)G（大眾）不具備：空氣動(dòng)力學(xué)，吸能區(qū)，一體式施工，道路控股，杯架，恩典在這個(gè)模型中，古色古香的形狀來(lái)拉皮條先生或太太百萬(wàn)富翁的期望并擁有自動(dòng)雙氙氣大燈，導(dǎo)航，6碟DVD換碟機(jī)，哈蒙Kardon揚(yáng)聲器，藍(lán)牙，天窗，語(yǔ)音命令，倒車(chē)攝像頭，安全氣囊，ESP車(chē)身穩(wěn)定控制和ABS / BAS剎車(chē)，在其他之中。的SL / CLK木' ? ??真皮方向盤(pán)電動(dòng)調(diào)節(jié)（如窗戶和鏡子）和音頻功能按鈕和一個(gè)全面的行車(chē)電腦前面的-C級(jí)組合儀表中的控制權(quán)。該G350還具有巡航控制車(chē)速限制器功能。直立的駕駛位置提供合理的空間和機(jī)艙的其余部分解除與皮革，木材和鍍鉻亮點(diǎn)。后排乘客的腿部房間不是很大，但簡(jiǎn)單而寬敞的引導(dǎo)將很樂(lè)意攜帶沉重的和骯臟的負(fù)荷。在G350 BLUETEC做的職責(zé)是梅賽德斯-奔馳的嘗試和值得信賴的3升雙渦輪柴油發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)V6（155kW/211hp / 540納米）實(shí)現(xiàn)8.8秒到100km / h和175公里每小時(shí)通過(guò)如絲般光滑的7速自動(dòng)變速箱與尖端功能的最高速度。所聲稱(chēng)的平均11.2L/100km消費(fèi)承諾了一系列850多公里從巨95L油箱，但城區(qū)行駛很快就會(huì)看到這個(gè)數(shù)字達(dá)到了十幾歲。郊區(qū)的道路也將揭示G350的重處理，甚至更重的轉(zhuǎn)向和令人驚訝的堅(jiān)定停牌。轉(zhuǎn)彎和剎車(chē)都低于標(biāo)準(zhǔn)桿為現(xiàn)代標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，但優(yōu)秀的1970年的遺物。假如身體壯實(shí)木材斷了線，在ESP踢輕輕地抑制直接穿越別人的房子它的沖動(dòng)。高速巡航通常是梅賽德斯-組成，但是有點(diǎn)吵。短的越野之旅與低范圍和所有三個(gè)差別照亮了證明，Gel?ndewagen植根于泥土，并且可能已經(jīng)處理得多，比我沒(méi)敢多扔它。車(chē)輪鉸接是不是驚人的，在我們的測(cè)試樣機(jī)閃亮的踏腳板已經(jīng)采取了從以前的郊游了敲門(mén)聲。

奔馳G350 BLUETEC

最強(qiáng)大的和最快捷的梅賽德斯-奔馳G級(jí)，因?yàn)樗窃?979年推出，而內(nèi)飾和規(guī)范的范圍進(jìn)行了全面的升級(jí)頭更改梅賽德斯-奔馳'持久的所有越野車(chē)的清單。

新?63 AMG，搭載一臺(tái)544馬力的5.5升雙渦輪增壓直噴V8發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)，加入經(jīng)修訂的梅賽德斯-奔馳G350 BLUETEC渦輪增壓柴油發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)的陣容。這兩款車(chē)都能夠穿越地球上最荒涼的地形，但每個(gè)人都有自己擅長(zhǎng)的領(lǐng)域。

在G 63 AMG可以從0-62英里5.4秒加速，一時(shí)間足以匹配許多高性能運(yùn)動(dòng)轎車(chē)的，但它是15％以上的燃油效率和更低的擁有13％的二氧化碳排放比對(duì)G 55 AMG KOMPRESSOR它取代。奔馳G350 BLUETEC，現(xiàn)在發(fā)展211馬力（超過(guò)1馬力增加以前的型號(hào)）和540 Nm的扭矩，從BLUETEC技術(shù)和的AdBlue?添加劑的好處，使其大大減少了有害氣體的排放尤其是氮氧化物，。

有細(xì)微的修改，以永恒的，功能性為導(dǎo)向的外觀設(shè)計(jì)

自1979年推出以來(lái)經(jīng)受??住了G級(jí)大有裨益，更全面的變化是在內(nèi)飾約會(huì)和標(biāo)準(zhǔn)規(guī)范，由此引發(fā)的狀態(tài)被發(fā)現(xiàn)G級(jí)作為一個(gè)真正的奢侈品去任何地方開(kāi)車(chē)到一個(gè)新的水平。