Head 2 Head | Episode 46: Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6X6 vs. Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG - video Dailymotion

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On episode 46 of Head 2 Head

Transcript

00:00 Hi there, and welcome to a heavyweight episode of Head to Head.

00:04 Graz, Austria is home to strong things.

00:07 Among them, Arnold Schwarzenegger, my former governor, and of course, the Mercedes-Benz

00:12 G-Wagon.

00:13 Now, since they refreshed this vehicle a few years ago, I've been having a lot of fun with

00:22 it.

00:23 Justin Bell and I drove a G65, that's the V12 version, from Copenhagen up through Arnold

00:29 up through Arjeplag, all the way to the Arctic Circle in Sweden.

00:33 A little while ago, we put a G63 up against the new supercharged Range Rover in an episode

00:39 of Head to Head, and the G63 won.

00:43 What I've learned is that the combination of a body-on-frame, two solid axles, and three

00:48 locking differentials makes this perhaps the ultimate production off-road vehicle on earth.

00:54 I don't think there's anything that can compete.

00:56 Of course, I may have spoken too soon.

01:01 Meet the 6x6.

01:16 I think it's safe to say that G63 here doesn't have a prayer.

01:35 I'm driving the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6x6, which from here on out will be known only

01:41 as the 6x6.

01:43 I think it goes without saying, this thing is freaking cool.

02:02 First impressions.

02:03 Well, if you've driven a G63, it's immediately familiar to you.

02:07 Yeah, it's a little taller up, but you get in and you notice, oh, it looks big on the

02:11 outside.

02:12 It's got a rear ramp, but very comfortable on the inside.

02:14 If you've driven the AMG version, then you've noticed the designo leather, the steering

02:19 wheel's the same, the center stack's the same.

02:22 I still have got my three buttons for the locking differentials, and it just kind of

02:26 feels like your regular G-Wagon, except it's totally not.

02:31 You start to notice a few different things.

02:33 For instance, there's no radar cruise control.

02:35 In fact, there's no cruise control at all.

02:37 They actually pulled the stock out.

02:38 Then you start playing and you realize, wait a second, there's no backup camera.

02:44 You might laugh at that, except that this is a 19-foot long vehicle that's seven feet

02:47 wide and nearly eight feet tall.

02:50 Backup camera would be nice.

02:51 Then you start to notice this stuff up here, and this is very different.

02:57 I've got an auxiliary fuel tank, which I activate by hitting this switch here.

03:01 Then you've also got this.

03:02 I can turn on the compressor.

03:03 It's going to get loud.

03:05 This lets me inflate and deflate the tires, and I can do the fronts by themselves or the

03:10 four rears together.

03:12 It's really a huge compressor.

03:14 It works very quickly, so you can go from zero bar, in other words, no pressure whatsoever,

03:18 up to two bar in 20 seconds.

03:21 It's incredible.

03:22 Now we've got to go over the numbers because they're crazy.

03:35 Horsepower, 544.

03:36 A regular G-Wagon can drive through about a foot and a half of water.

03:43 This can drive through over three feet.

03:46 Instead of three locking differentials, this truck has five.

03:56 This doesn't drive like a truck.

03:57 It's not super lurchy.

03:59 It's quick to accelerate.

04:03 This thing weighs over 9,000 pounds.

04:05 It'll hit 60 miles an hour in less than eight seconds.

04:10 That's where the money is, is in the axles.

04:13 Speaking of money, I should tell you that as it sits, this truck costs 455,000 euros

04:21 or $625,000 US at the current exchange rate.

04:29 Why do we have to drive this car?

04:32 It's a head-to-head, right?

04:33 I don't understand.

04:34 Okay.

04:35 Right.

04:36 Now, I'm back in the regular flavor G63, which obviously, it's a very cool car still.

04:44 Just like all the G-Wagons, you get some things like the locking and unlocking of the doors,

04:49 which is one of the very coolest sounds.

04:52 In the regular G-Wagon, you get the sound of five rifle bolts instead of just four like

04:57 you do in the six by six.

04:58 Aside from the superior sound of the door locks, other advantages to the regular G63

05:04 are this.

05:05 It's faster.

05:06 The six by six is limited to 160 kilometers an hour.

05:10 This is more maneuverable.

05:12 It's quicker.

05:13 It stops shorter.

05:15 It's probably better on gas if you care about those kind of things, and it doesn't cost

05:20 as much.

05:21 But the biggest thing, the biggest problem I have with the regular G63 is that it doesn't

05:27 fly.

05:37 And we're here at the Magna Stair Proving Ground where I am steady state limit handling

05:42 the AMG six by six.

05:45 The secret to smoothing out the ride on this is to go faster.

05:51 Unlock the rear diff real quick, fly up this hill.

05:57 Bunch of boulders.

06:04 No problem for the six by six.

06:06 Oh, look at that.

06:08 Just goes right up.

06:10 Unlock the front diff for my sense.

06:19 It's a very easy vehicle to do incredibly extreme things with.

06:23 That's my big takeaway.

06:25 Push a button, two buttons, and you just go.

06:27 And you go over anything.

06:28 Like this really vibratey stuff.

06:32 So you know, here at the Proving Ground, it's interesting comparing this to the G63.

06:37 And we know that the G63 is a hell of an off-roader.

06:40 I've done a lot of off-roading in that.

06:42 I've driven that thing to the Arctic Circle.

06:44 It's an incredible car.

06:45 I think the difference, and at least in terms of the obstacles here, is the G63, the regular

06:51 one, will do it.

06:53 The G63 six by six will do it a lot easier.

06:57 It's just so-- nothing is going to slow it down.

07:01 It'll just go over or crush or kill whatever's in front of it.

07:15 So it's one thing to drive a super truck, such as a six by six, in a controlled environment

07:20 like a Proving Ground.

07:21 It's another thing entirely to take it out into nature.

07:24 In conclusion, look, the G63, the G-Wagon, hell of a car.

07:53 I would love to own one.

07:55 But the six by six is a dream.

07:59 It's an impossibility.

08:00 Unglaublich, as the Germans like to say.

08:02 I can't believe they actually built the thing.

08:04 And I totally can't believe they actually let me drive it.

08:08 It's just one-- it's a fantasy vehicle come to life.

08:12 It makes no sense, yet I want it more than anything else, which is why the six by six

08:17 totally wins this week's Head to Head.

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Head 2 Head | Episode 46: Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6X6 vs. Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG

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