Photo: Daimler AG
Remember the 2017 Mercedes-Benz G-Class speculation that Autocar unleashed upon the interwebs this weekend? Well, we weren't ready to leave that rumor being spoon fed to us and we resorted to writing a report that one of our readers tagged as “childish”.
To each his own, but that didn't stop us to dig a little deeper into the subject, for mostly two somewhat major reasons.
Firstly, we are huge fans of the iconic G-Wagen and we're interested in any tidbit of information regarding the venerable off-roader's future.
Secondly, as the G-Class is set to be manufactured at least until 2019 in its current form, we were more than curious to find out where the 2017 huge facelift idea originally spawned from, especially since that period should actually coincide to an expected facelift for the car.
Well, as it turns out, most of the information that Autocar's Greg Kable thought that it was concerning an alleged G-Class facelift is simply misconstructed information about the third generation of the big GL-Class, and it is indeed coming from a leak.
Ironically, the GL-Class was initially developed to replace the Bauhaus G-Wagen back in 2006, which it thankfully didn't, so it is even easier to see how someone would confuse tiny drops of insider information.
The good news is that a G-Class facelift is coming, but it won't be as radical as Autocar and other magazines tried to tell you in recent days and it won't arrive in 2017 but about a year earlier.
New interior features such as head-up display, Comand Online with a touchpad controller, extended Pre-Safe functions integrated in the Intelligent Drive array of safety systems and most of all new engines and transmissions are coming on the old dog starting with 2016. As we said before, it won't have a wider body, lose its traditional body-on frame construction or replace its front rigid suspension with a multi-link one.
Engine-wise, the new family of modular and twin-turbocharged inline six-cylinder engines (both gasoline and diesel) should provide the G-Wagen with much-improved fuel economy and even more power, while the hyper-efficient 9G-Tronic will be finally rolled on Mercedes-Benz's oldest model as well.
The even better news is that the extensive use of aluminium and the huge drop in weight will actually be experienced by the upcoming 2017 Mercedes-Benz GL (X167), which will be built on the future MHA (Modular High Architecture).
Expect the 2017 GL-Class to weigh about the same as the current M-Class, while parts of its underpinning should also be used by the on again/off again Aston Martin Lagonda SUV.
Firstly, we are huge fans of the iconic G-Wagen and we're interested in any tidbit of information regarding the venerable off-roader's future.
Secondly, as the G-Class is set to be manufactured at least until 2019 in its current form, we were more than curious to find out where the 2017 huge facelift idea originally spawned from, especially since that period should actually coincide to an expected facelift for the car.
Well, as it turns out, most of the information that Autocar's Greg Kable thought that it was concerning an alleged G-Class facelift is simply misconstructed information about the third generation of the big GL-Class, and it is indeed coming from a leak.
Ironically, the GL-Class was initially developed to replace the Bauhaus G-Wagen back in 2006, which it thankfully didn't, so it is even easier to see how someone would confuse tiny drops of insider information.
The good news is that a G-Class facelift is coming, but it won't be as radical as Autocar and other magazines tried to tell you in recent days and it won't arrive in 2017 but about a year earlier.
New interior features such as head-up display, Comand Online with a touchpad controller, extended Pre-Safe functions integrated in the Intelligent Drive array of safety systems and most of all new engines and transmissions are coming on the old dog starting with 2016. As we said before, it won't have a wider body, lose its traditional body-on frame construction or replace its front rigid suspension with a multi-link one.
Engine-wise, the new family of modular and twin-turbocharged inline six-cylinder engines (both gasoline and diesel) should provide the G-Wagen with much-improved fuel economy and even more power, while the hyper-efficient 9G-Tronic will be finally rolled on Mercedes-Benz's oldest model as well.
The even better news is that the extensive use of aluminium and the huge drop in weight will actually be experienced by the upcoming 2017 Mercedes-Benz GL (X167), which will be built on the future MHA (Modular High Architecture).
Expect the 2017 GL-Class to weigh about the same as the current M-Class, while parts of its underpinning should also be used by the on again/off again Aston Martin Lagonda SUV.
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