You might have seen the Mercedes 6×6 G63 which made waves all over the internet. Now the German car maker is showcasing a 4-wheel version of the car and it is being billed as a “near-series” concept. The model follows in the footsteps of the G63 AMG 6×6 as it features an AMG front bumper, carbon fiber flares and a roof-mounted LED light bar. It also gets stainless steel underbody guards, a side exiting exhaust and 22-inch wheels with off-road tires. It looks brilliant and highly capable, and more practical.
The 4.0 litre V8 biturbo engine with 420bhp in the G 500 4×4² stands out for its sublime power delivery, the targeted lightweight construction, as well as its high efficiency. The newly developed eight-cylinder features twin turbochargers which are not mounted on the outside of the cylinder banks but rather inside the V configuration – what is known as the ‘hot inside V’. However, the portal axles developed for versatile applications are the technical highlight of the G 500 4×4² show car. As opposed to conventional rigid axles, here the wheels are not at the height of the centre of the axle, instead they are situated much further below on the axle heads due to the portal transmission. Therefore, on the G 500 4×4² the ground clearance rises to 450 millimetres and the fording depth – or rather the diving depth – to 1000 millimetres. The concept looks astonishing and will certainly receive good feedback at Geneva, and we could very well see this car make it to production sometime soon.
