SimplyAbuDhabi XXXIII

2 3 7 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I instead, the G 63 is the result of delivering on a promise to customers by giving themwhat they have actually asked for, the same G-Class they’ve enjoyed for decades. it has its own personality and presence and Mercedes-benz is to be applauded for listening to their loyal owners, most of whom—on a per capita basis—live right here in the UAE, by giving them exactly what they wanted, more of the same but refined for 2019. by that, i mean its contemporary, modern interior that fits in somewhere between the S-Class and a Maybach along with all the safety trimmings accompanied by a more fuel efficient four-litre V8 to replace the old 6.2-litre unit. it punches out 576bhp and 850nm of torque from its twin-scroll, twin-turbocharged V8 and runs through a state-of-the-art, nine-speed automatic transmission. it should be noted that while the 2019 G-Class ‘looks’ almost identical to the earlier models, it is in fact entirely new, with the only carry-over parts being the windscreen wipers, rear-door-mounted spare wheel carrier and external door handles. So, it’s lighter, stronger, stiffer and meets all the latest crumple zones and impact crash tests while still looking retro cool. This means that while it still sits on a ladder frame chassis, the dreaded old live axle front suspension has been replaced by an independent, double wishbone arrangement. The rear suspension is unchanged, but the car now rides on air suspension with anti-roll bars front and rear. Aside from being 170kg lighter thanks to the use of aluminium panels, Mercedes has also shuffled things around inside to allow for more interior room. Most notably there is 150mm more rear leg room, 70mm more elbow room and 38mm more front leg and shoulder room. overall the new Mercedes-AMG G 63 is 101mm longer, 121mm wider and 40mm taller than the outgoing version. Headroom? don’t worry about it. you could wear a 10-gallon hat and get away with it in there. its upright seating position was one of its biggest draw cards for me and answered a lot of my questions as to my fondness for “The big Gee.” it all gets back to generic new car design which starts with a heavily angled windscreen for the best aerodynamics but has the knock-on effects of requiring high window sills that continue to rise along the profile towards the rear, ending at a tiny rear window that’s aiming for the sky and delivering precious little rearward visibility. This modern design trend is why we need reversing cameras and even though the AMGG 63 also has a 360-degree camera with front and rear parking sensors, it’s not an essential tool for parking as you can clearly see all corners from the driver’s seat. The other thing i immediately noticed with the G-Class was that because you sit upright and closer to the flat windscreen, the front doors are shorter and therefore allowed me to open them fully within a normal parking space without risking them touching the car next to me. brilliant! Without that high hipline on other new cars, you can see clearly out of every window and across the large expanse of its mostly flat aluminium bonnet to the very edges of the front guards and indicators. i’m guessing i now know how the captain of a container ship feels as i sat back and guided the front of the G 63 through traffic.