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Mercedes G-Class Goes Extreme Offroading Where It Learned to Walk

It’s nearly impossible to make tough guys like the Mercedes-Benz G-Class open up and share their childhood memories, but the latest ad manages to do just that. If you’ve ever wanted to know about the place where the Gelandewagen learned to walk offroad, this is the best occasion.
Mercedes G-Class Goes Offroading 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
Mercedes-Benz took the G-Class to the Schoeckl mountain in Austria, which, by the way, is about 30 minutes of driving away from the Magna Steir factory that brings the car to the world.

Sadly, many G-Class models spend their time adorning driveways nowadays, far from the serious business the vehicle was intended for back in 1975 when it hit the market 35 years ago. Luckily, Mercedes-Benz has decided to release a commercial that put the Gelandewagen’s military roots to good use, as the full rugged terrain of the aforementioned location is used.

To be more precise, the Germans took a G350 Bluetec, the diesel model of the range, to the aforementioned mountain and thrashed it over the angry terrain.

So why is the G-Class that good offroad?

While the cabin and the powertrains have been seriously upgraded over the years, the rest of the G-Class has remained largely unchanged. This means the vehicle still packs the features that made it worthy of its original army vehicle purpose.

For instance, many of those who drive the car complain about its recirculating ball steering. Sure, this provides rather strange feedback and the steering wheel won’t even return to the neutral position in a normal manner, but there’s a good explanation for this.

The layout makes the steering system much more resistant to offroad abuse - rack and pinion systems are much more vulnerable when it comes to this.

Then there are the three manually-locking diffs. The central one is the first to lock, while the rear and the front ones, respectively, are next. Of course, you should know that locking the front diff will affect the vehicle’s ability to steer. You'll certainly notice it while offroading.

PS: in case you're looking for an ad that's more fitting for the upcoming cold season, Mercedes-Benz has this covered too, with its G63 AMG skiing ad.

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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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