Jeep Gladiator 6x6 vs. Mercedes-Benz G550 4x4 Squared Tug of War Ends in Failure

The first thing that pops into anyone's mind when seeing the lineup is just how cool it would have looked if the G550 4x4 Squared was replaced with a Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG 6x6, but good luck getting hold of one of those these days unless you live somewhere in the richer parts of the Middle East. Also, good luck finding anything that could defeat it.

To be fair, it's not like the G550 4x4 Squared is such a common occurrence either. With only about 300 units built for the U.S. market, you have to count yourself lucky to see one, let alone own one. Well, the Dobre Brothers do, and they're known to put it to the test against all sorts of other vehicles.

On this occasion, they found something that could potentially prove to be more than a match for the mighty Benz, particularly in a tug-of-war where torque and traction matter more than the high-power output of its 4.0-liter V8 engine. So, let's meet its opponent.

"It looks like a 6x6 diesel," Cyrus Dobre says, looking at the beast as it entered the domain. "This thing is turboed, right?" Well, they pretty much stopped making naturally aspirated diesel engines in the very early 2000s, so unless somebody went through the trouble of heavily modifying a Jeep Gladiator and then swapping its engine for a twenty-year-old one with legendarily low power output then, yeah, it's a turbodiesel.

Based on what its owner says, despite the heavy modifications that also added plenty of weight, the engine was left mostly stock. He says it develops "over 450" lb-ft of torque, while the production-spec 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6 is rated for 442 lb-ft (599 Nm). At best, it may have received a remap, though it's definitely nothing with spectacular results.

That makes the two vehicles awfully close in terms of stats, apart from the obvious fact that one has two more wheels than the other. The G-Wagen makes 450 lb-ft itself, though it does need to go higher into the rev range to reach that number (that's gasoline for you), and they both weigh roughly the same (6,700 lbs/3,039 kg for the G550 and about 7,000 lbs/3,175 for the Gladiator). All this makes the prospect of a tug-of-war very enticing.

Unfortunately, the higher the expectations, the harder the fall when things don't exactly go according to plan. Thanks to poor quality ropes, the pulling contest lasts less than one second as the two ropes snap one by one. Twice. It's obvious the two machines develop quite a large amount of power, requiring something a lot sturdier to take the immense tension.

The guys decide to replace the tug-of-war with a few drag races on grass, but it's not nearly as interesting as the promise made in the title. Besides, we don't fully trust the results as it's hard to imagine the G550 losing to the heavier, less powerful Jeep. Check out the three races below and make up your mind about it.