Autoblog contributor James Riswick shows us around the 2019 Mercedes-Benz G-Class. Head on over to http://autoblog.com to find out more.
TranscriptJAMES RISWICK: This is James Riswick for Autoblog, and as the sign says, this is the new G Class. Going to give you a walk around of the visual differences between the various G Class versions. The blue one here is the new G 550, and the matte brown one is the G 63. Now, the most obvious difference between the two is in the grills. The G 63 has the AMG Panamericana grill that we first saw on the AMG GTR. And then the Mercedes Benz G 550 has vertical slats.
Here's one visual difference between the G 550s. This particular one has the night package on it. So it has gloss black trim. You can see that in the grille. And then inside the headlights, the turn markers here, they're darkened. You have gloss black here in the side guards, as well as in these 20-inch wheels.
Let's go over to the one without the night package. and you can see that this is chrome, and these are white, and the guard here is also white, and the wheels are not black. So there you go. So this is the standard one. This is what most G 550s will look like. And then with the nigth package, that's what it looks like over here.
Now, of course, you still do have those side marker lights, like the old one, and as before, you, of course, have round headlights. But you do have LED elements. That's an LED headlight, as well as LED accent lighting here.
There are only three old parts on this car that carried over-- only three. One of them is the headlight washer guy. The other is the door handles. And let's take this opportunity to remind you of the coolest part of a G Class-- oh, yeah. The sound the door makes when you close it and open it. It is so very cool. And then the last part-- the spare tire cover. That is also carried over. And again, this item here, black, whereas over there, you can see that it's chrome on the regular G 550 without the night package.
But here you go with the G 63 in the rear. Not as much differences in the back. But of course, this is the AMG, so you do have side pipes, whereas you do not have them on the 550, because if you're going off-road, these aren't the best things to have here on the AMG. Of course, AMG wheels, and you have AMG there on the red calipers. You have cross-drill brakes on the rear. They are not cross-drilled in the rear on the 550, but they are up front.
Again, these are 20-inch wheels that you have with the night package. These are 22s on the AMG. Also, moving over to another one quickly, you can get red accents on the wheels, and on the mirrors, and then matching inside.
Now let's move back to the new car. So here's the new interior. Of course, there are many different interior variations that are possible here in the G Class. This is one of the most customizable vehicles on the road. This particular one has open-pore wood trim. Very nice.
Some of the items that have carried over from generation to generation-- they still want to have the differential locks prominently featured and an alloy trim. You still have this big, beefy grab handle here. But of course, this is quite all-new, very modern Mercedes, as opposed to 1979 Mercedes. So you have the latest command functionality. You have fantastic massaging multicontour seats. You have these really cool rotary air vents.
But then what's special to the G Class-- I love these speakers here, because if you notice, they match the corner lights up there. Very cool. One thing they did remove is there used to be a cupholder here. It was mesh, and well, it kind of looked like a jockstrap, and that's what we called it. I guess Mercedes thought that regular cupholders were better. Pfft. Silly guys.
Moving to the back seat here, there is a whopping 6 extra inches of back seat leg room. There's still, you know, a ton of headroom. Abe Lincoln with the hat could fit back here. But this makes a huge difference. 6 inches of leg room is gigantic in car terms and really makes this car that much more functional. The front seat has about 2 extra inches of leg room, which is a good thing because there just was never enough front leg room in this car. There still could be a bit more if you're tall, but now, it's much better for more people. This is generally a more functional, more comfortable car now.
And then moving to the back, the bank vault opens up. You even have quilted leather on the door here. The humps here are a little higher than before. They used to look like troop carriers, but they're a little higher now, so they don't, although I suppose you could still use it as a bench if you wanted to. These seats do recline. Again, these are a little more comfortable. So this is another way in which it's a little more functional than before. And that will always be cool.
So this is the all-new G Class-- your AMG G 63 and then the G 550.
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