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 AMG of Affalterbach , Germany , is a three-letter word sacrosanct in the car lexicon. It carries a reputation for performance and hardcore performance at that. i vividly remember the first time I got into an AMG (an SL63) more than a year ago and was simply bowled over by the power of V8 that is enough to give mortals a chill in the spine. Since then five AMGs have crossed all my expectations , all coming from the German company that once used to be a mere tuning shop busy fiddling with Mercedes cars and pumping them up for more horsepower. So when I heard of the G55 AMG coming for a test , I knew for sure that we were in for some fun. What’s more , the ‘G’ promised hardcore off-road abilities too.
Boxy , as if straight from a kid’s drawing book , the G55 AMG can easily be mistaken for anything from a blown up jeep to a Tempo Trax. The ruler-straight lines and a design that dates back by several decades are definitely not going to be able to impress all. There are a few who love the original G Wagon and only those few will be able to appreciate this One that carries every bit of the original G’s character. It was hardly surprising , then , that as I was driving down the old NH 4 , there were a few people who asked me for a lift , mistaking the G55 AMG for a people’s carrier a la the Trax.
However , once you get close to the G55 all the tiny bits from the AMG shop are revealed to you - the five-spoke dark , smoky alloys , for instance. Open the door and you instantly realise what differentiates the G55 AMG from any other car in this segment. The doors are heavy and I mean really heavy. The interior is posh , laden with leather and poplar wood (you get loads of options in that).  Brushed steel garnishing here and there adds a class to the interior. The ambient lighting offered is out of the world and sets just the right mood. Once inside the car , you are in a world of your own , sitting high above the rest , moving around dominantly.
While I was getting accustomed to the buttons here and there on the dash and trying to figure out what the car had on offer , Sanjay was asking me to hurry up towards the shooting location. Key in , brake lever depressed and ignition turned on , the 5.5-litre V8 came to life with a growl that was music to my ears. The four pipes peeping out of the body just in front of the rear wheels produce a note that will leave you weak in the knees. A little prod at the throttle engrosses you further and prompts you to start the playtime. The G55 AMG manages standstill to 100 km/h in 6.49 seconds – that’s quick enough to push you deep into your seats. Thanks to the 510 PS of peak power and 700 Nm of maximum torque , there is abundant force to exploit , in fact more than what you would need in your day-to-day life. There is a brisk response from the supercharged V8 engine to the throttle input. Unlike a turbocharged diesel , you feel no lag while driving the G55 and there is power throughout the revs. None the less , the shifts from the five-speed automatic transmission feel a little sluggish after having driven cars equipped with dual clutch boxes.
Getting into motion and gathering speed is something that AMG engines are extremely good at and the one powering the G55 does its job well too. Once past 70-80 km/h , though , you start missing your previous SUV or sedan or anything else that you were driving before getting into the G. The suspension is quite stiff and gives a bouncy ride at slightly higher speeds – no wonder they had to restrict the engine at as low as 210 km/h. Yes , the G55 AMG is restricted at 210 km/h and a good decision too , because you are not  going to be driving this car even at that speed given the kind of bouncy ride it offers.
Taking the G55 off the road was the plan for the day and I had been looking out for a good location to shoot for a long time before I spotted a small rocky route leading to a water body. With permanent four-wheel drive doing the job , I left the tarmac to exploit whatever the G had to offer. I started hunting for some more settings to make the off-road experience easier and worthwhile and I was taken aback for a minute or two. To my surprise , there was no button or dial to set the suspension for a different terrain. Neither was there an option to adjust the ride height. Lack of these settings on something that you call the ‘ultimate in off-roading’ is shocking. Agreed , you have got three differential locks , an option to shift from high gearing to low gearing , traction control , hill descent etc , but the absence of the aforementioned features was the last thing I expected of an off-roader for which one is expected to pay in excess of Rs 1.25 crore.
Another factor that led to a little disappointment was the tyres. Mercedes provide regular on-road tyres with the G that can negotiate your daily drive and are not meant for hardcore off-roading. With that in mind , I desisted from going deep into the water and stayed away from the stones that evidently had sharp edges. Though the G55 AMG has all the power and torque and four-wheel drive to negotiate off-roading , it failed to impress me to the extent I expected it to. Adding to these issues were the little cramped legroom at the rear and an indicated efficiency figure in the instrumentation cluster that never read anything less than 27.7 litre/100 km. That translates roughly into as little as 3.6 km per litre. Although one
does not expect much on the
fuel-efficiency front with a powerful , hand-crafted AMG engine roaring under the hood , 3.6 km to a litre is a little difficult to reconcile to even after driving in an extremely sane fashion.
At the end of the day , the G55 AMG is an enthusiast’s car and this is a fact that we cannot ignore. We also cannot ignore that this car will be bought by someone who knows the G Wagon history , appreciates it and is willing to live with a boxy wagon that looks more ordinary than the most ordinary car on the road. But at Rs 1.25 crore , it’s an expensive purchase , one that only those will go for who already have 10 different cars standing in their garage for 10 different purposes. This one will ably add to the collection of their lifestyle products.
More pictures:
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Boxy , as if straight from a kid’s drawing book , the G55 AMG can easily be mistaken for anything from a blown up jeep to a Tempo Trax. The ruler-straight lines and a design that dates back by several decades are definitely not going to be able to impress all. There are a few who love the original G Wagon and only those few will be able to appreciate this One that carries every bit of the original G’s character. It was hardly surprising , then , that as I was driving down the old NH 4 , there were a few people who asked me for a lift , mistaking the G55 AMG for a people’s carrier a la the Trax.
However , once you get close to the G55 all the tiny bits from the AMG shop are revealed to you - the five-spoke dark , smoky alloys , for instance. Open the door and you instantly realise what differentiates the G55 AMG from any other car in this segment. The doors are heavy and I mean really heavy. The interior is posh , laden with leather and poplar wood (you get loads of options in that).
Brushed steel garnishing here and there adds a class to the interior. The ambient lighting offered is out of the world and sets just the right mood. Once inside the car , you are in a world of your own , sitting high above the rest , moving around dominantly.
While I was getting accustomed to the buttons here and there on the dash and trying to figure out what the car had on offer , Sanjay was asking me to hurry up towards the shooting location. Key in , brake lever depressed and ignition turned on , the 5.5-litre V8 came to life with a growl that was music to my ears. The four pipes peeping out of the body just in front of the rear wheels produce a note that will leave you weak in the knees. A little prod at the throttle engrosses you further and prompts you to start the playtime. The G55 AMG manages standstill to 100 km/h in 6.49 seconds – that’s quick enough to push you deep into your seats. Thanks to the 510 PS of peak power and 700 Nm of maximum torque , there is abundant force to exploit , in fact more than what you would need in your day-to-day life. There is a brisk response from the supercharged V8 engine to the throttle input. Unlike a turbocharged diesel , you feel no lag while driving the G55 and there is power throughout the revs. None the less , the shifts from the five-speed automatic transmission feel a little sluggish after having driven cars equipped with dual clutch boxes.
Getting into motion and gathering speed is something that AMG engines are extremely good at and the one powering the G55 does its job well too. Once past 70-80 km/h , though , you start missing your previous SUV or sedan or anything else that you were driving before getting into the G. The suspension is quite stiff and gives a bouncy ride at slightly higher speeds – no wonder they had to restrict the engine at as low as 210 km/h. Yes , the G55 AMG is restricted at 210 km/h and a good decision too , because you are not
going to be driving this car even at that speed given the kind of bouncy ride it offers.
Taking the G55 off the road was the plan for the day and I had been looking out for a good location to shoot for a long time before I spotted a small rocky route leading to a water body. With permanent four-wheel drive doing the job , I left the tarmac to exploit whatever the G had to offer. I started hunting for some more settings to make the off-road experience easier and worthwhile and I was taken aback for a minute or two. To my surprise , there was no button or dial to set the suspension for a different terrain. Neither was there an option to adjust the ride height. Lack of these settings on something that you call the ‘ultimate in off-roading’ is shocking. Agreed , you have got three differential locks , an option to shift from high gearing to low gearing , traction control , hill descent etc , but the absence of the aforementioned features was the last thing I expected of an off-roader for which one is expected to pay in excess of Rs 1.25 crore.
Another factor that led to a little disappointment was the tyres. Mercedes provide regular on-road tyres with the G that can negotiate your daily drive and are not meant for hardcore off-roading. With that in mind , I desisted from going deep into the water and stayed away from the stones that evidently had sharp edges. Though the G55 AMG has all the power and torque and four-wheel drive to negotiate off-roading , it failed to impress me to the extent I expected it to. Adding to these issues were the little cramped legroom at the rear and an indicated efficiency figure in the instrumentation cluster that never read anything less than 27.7 litre/100 km. That translates roughly into as little as 3.6 km per litre. Although one
does not expect much on the
fuel-efficiency front with a powerful , hand-crafted AMG engine roaring under the hood , 3.6 km to a litre is a little difficult to reconcile to even after driving in an extremely sane fashion.
At the end of the day , the G55 AMG is an enthusiast’s car and this is a fact that we cannot ignore. We also cannot ignore that this car will be bought by someone who knows the G Wagon history , appreciates it and is willing to live with a boxy wagon that looks more ordinary than the most ordinary car on the road. But at Rs 1.25 crore , it’s an expensive purchase , one that only those will go for who already have 10 different cars standing in their garage for 10 different purposes. This one will ably add to the collection of their lifestyle products.
More pictures:
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