The Mercedes G-Professional is no compromise hard-core commercial workhorse. Perfect, in other words, for a serious workout in the hands of long-time NZ4WD magazine tester Ashley Lucas.
Tony, the land owner was a bit taken back when I rang saying I wanted to test the Mercedes G-Class Professional on his King Country property, cautiously asking what sort of tyres was the test vehicle fitted with?
It was the middle of winter, after all, and the beef and sheep property has some very steep clay based tracks. Tracks on which usually, you don’t venture far on without good mud tyres as a minimum………… and the Mercedes was only equipped with BF Goodrich All-Terrains. Would they be enough or was I heading for trouble?
I’ll get to that, of course. Before I do, however, I need to add another word or two about the G-Professional. In short, it is the ultimate ‘Tuff Truck,’ one squarely aimed at the lines companies, rural fire fighting, forestry contractors, bee keepers, emergency services and yes, here in NZ, farmers.
The G-Professional is based on the Military versions of the G-Wagen with a heavy-duty chassis, strong robust mechanicals and a bare bones minimalistic interior that can be completely hosed out. Seriously! The floor is painted, there are token rubber mats in the footwells and the black vinyl seats only have the most basic adjustment – fore and aft, and recline. There are even two water drain plugs in the floor to drain the water out and the windows are manual wind up.
Don’t go looking for cup holders and other such luxuries either as there are none, and no access to what would normally be the centre cubby box between the seats. It is sealed containing the vehicles electrics and serves as an arm rest. There is a glove box though, plus two storage boxes under each of the seats.
You sit up high with a commanding view over the bonnet, which is also available as a ‘walk-on’ option fully reinforced and with a body-coloured grip surface treatment. Turning the key on lights up the dash for a few seconds illuminating the many and varied warning symbols before firing up the 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel which develops 135kW at 3800rpm and 400Nm of torque from a low 1600rpm.
This is mated to an extremely smooth five-speed automatic transmission with a permanent four-wheel-drive and two speed transfer case with centre, rear and front locking differentials. Low range reduction can be selected while on the move, along with the front and rear locking differentials.
It doesn’t matter what order you lock the differentials; it will only lock them in a set order of centre, rear and finally, front. The selection is soft touch and the orange light on the left indicates that it has been selected but it is only fully engaged when the red light on the right illuminates.
That V6 diesel engine is certainly responsive and the roar of the air into the raised air intake (snorkel) on the right hand side was a bit like listening to a race car exhaust. The snorkel could be quite loud when the window was down but when you thought about it the vehicle was originally designed as a left hand drive and the driver would be on the other side. I didn’t mind the noise when the window was open and it was certainly quiet enough inside when the window was up.
The suspension is live (or beam axles) front and rear with coil springs, front radius arms and rear trailing arms, proving that you don’t need leaf springs to carry heavy loads. Final drive ratio is 5.287
On the road you appreciate the few safety features that the G-Professional has such as driver and passenger airbags, ABS brakes as well as Brake Assist (BAS), Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD) and Electronic Stability control (ESP) which is selectable on/off for off road. Brakes are ventilated disc at the front and drum for the rear and the pedal gave a good feel under braking.
It’s off road where the real abilities are with the G-Professional and once at Tony’s property it was soon in the thick of it.
The property is split into two blocks, the family farm down the bottom and Tony’s own block higher up with a steep bush track as access instead of the long way around the roads. The first part of the track drops down and follows along the river flats before crossing the river and climbing the hills.
With its 38 degree approach angle and 35 degree departure angle dropping into the stream was well within its limits as was the wading depth of 650mm with the standard snorkel. It was coming up the other side where the first problem was encountered.
The bluff part of the track which had to be blasted through with dynamite years ago would be OK as it was metal based but it was further through the bush where things got slippery.
It’s one thing to climb the slippery hills its another to come back down but once again the benefits of the torquey diesel V6 engine, super smooth gearbox and a good low ratio it handled the conditions extremely well.
To sum up, the new G-Class Professional would have to be one of the best performing vehicles off road that I have driven in standard format and I can only imagine how capable it would be with more suitable tyres for the adverse conditions encountered.
It might be a no compromise basic vehicle but when it comes to off road performance and ability there is no compromise.
SPECIFICATIONS
Mercedes-Benz G-Professional Cab Chassis
Engine: 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel max power 135kW @ 3800rpm, Max torque 400Nm at 1600-2600rpm
Transmission: five-speed automatic Drive 4WD permanent 4WD transfer case with locking centre differential.
Wheelbase: 3428mm
Track: 1568mm
LxWxH: 5192x2500x2090mm
Turning Circle 15.9m
Ground Clearance: 252mm
Unladen Weight: 2410kg
Payload: 2085kg
Gross vehicle Mass GVM: 4,490
Towing: 750kg unbraked 2210kg or 3200kg braked (depending on tow bar set up).
Fuel Tank 96 litres
Price $129,900+ORC
To read the full story in the November 2018 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (October 19) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.
