MotorTrend’s Jonny Lieberman takes the latest muscled G-Wagen through L.A.’s currently snowy Angeles Crest Highway
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MotorTranscript
00:00 Hi there!
00:01 Welcome to another episode of Behind the Wheel.
00:04 I'm Johnny Lieberman and this is the all new
00:07 2019 Mercedes AMG G63.
00:12 How all new you ask?
00:13 Well, there's only three carryover parts from the last one.
00:17 The door handles, the spare tire covers,
00:19 and these little guys right here, the headlight washers.
00:22 Other than that, every single part on this truck is new.
00:26 Come take a ride with me in the all new G.
00:30 (upbeat music)
00:32 You wanna hear something crazy?
00:40 There's a year long waiting list for a car
00:42 that no one's seen or driven.
00:44 So why?
00:45 What do people love about this thing so much?
00:47 Well, I mean, there's the obvious stuff
00:49 like the sound of the door locks.
00:51 It's just, it's awesome.
00:53 It's like five rifle bolts clicking in unison.
00:56 And when they redesigned the car,
00:57 they made sure they kept the stuff like that.
00:59 Now, they got rid of the stuff that people didn't like.
01:02 It used to be that it didn't have great brakes.
01:05 This G63, there are massive Brembos,
01:07 10 piston calipers up front.
01:09 People also weren't huge fans of the steering.
01:12 Remember, it used to have two solid axles.
01:14 So whenever you have a solid front axle,
01:17 it steers like a Jeep.
01:19 So the biggest change to the G has to be
01:23 the elimination of the stick axle up front.
01:25 However, it still has a solid rear axle,
01:28 independent front, just like some very capable vehicles
01:32 from Toyota.
01:33 Talking about the 4Runner, the Land Cruiser.
01:35 They've increased the capabilities across the board.
01:37 Now it's got a little bit more ground clearance,
01:40 the approach and departure angles are better.
01:42 It has more fording depth.
01:43 The second big thing they changed was the size.
01:51 This SUV is now almost five inches wider,
01:55 almost six inches longer,
01:56 and most of that increase in length is in the wheelbase.
02:00 So it really shows up in the rear seat,
02:02 which used to be very tight, very cramped, and now isn't.
02:05 You know, massaging seats, heated seats, cooled seats,
02:09 all the amenities you expect from a Mercedes-Benz.
02:12 The other big change is gone is the old 5.5 liter
02:16 twin turbo V8.
02:17 Now it's got the M178, they call it.
02:20 It's a four liter twin turbo, well, shrink in size,
02:23 powers up, 577 horsepower, 627 pound feet of torque,
02:28 meaning that we were able to get this thing
02:31 to 60 miles an hour in 4.1 seconds, which is nuts.
02:36 And because it has an independent front end,
02:40 the steering is much better.
02:42 It's gone from recirculating ball
02:44 to a proper rack and pinion.
02:45 It drives wonderfully.
02:48 And there's just this feeling you get from a G.
02:52 Hard to explain, but you feel indomitable.
02:56 You shut the door, you're in your own private world,
02:59 and that, I think, is what people love.
03:01 Yes, it still has three locked diffs, super capable,
03:05 but it's the feeling.
03:07 I mean, this is just, this is it.
03:11 This is the ultimate SUV, as far as I'm concerned.
03:14 (rock music)
03:16 (upbeat music)
03:19 (upbeat music)