G 500 4×4²

The 4×4² — say it “four-by-four squared” — is what happened when Mercedes took the running gear of its six-wheeled G 63 AMG 6×6, removed an entire axle and bolted the result under an ordinary long-wheelbase G. The result stands 88 inches tall, clears 17.2 inches of rock and wades through 39.4 inches of water. Mercedes-Benz USA called it the most capable G-Class ever, and charged $225,000 to prove it.

FROM SIX WHEELS TO FOUR

It started as a show car. At the Geneva Motor Show in March 2015 Mercedes displayed the G 500 4×4² with no commitment to build it, saying production would depend on the reaction. The reaction was enthusiastic, and Mercedes put it into production in 2015. Underneath it is the body of the five-door long-wheelbase W463 on a shortened version of the 6×6’s chassis.

The trick is the portal axle. A gear drop at each hub puts the wheel centre below the axle tube, so the diffs and axle housings ride far higher than on a normal G — 450 mm (17.7 in) of ground clearance in European spec, against 9.3 inches for a standard G 550. The track grew too, by 299 mm, filled out with detachable carbon-fibre wheel-arch flares and 325/55R22 tires. For the 2017 model year the truck came to America as the G 550 4×4², at $225,000 plus destination.

TWO SPRINGS PER CORNER

Each wheel gets two spring struts in parallel — one with fixed damping, one adjustable — and Mercedes claimed the switch between Comfort and Sport took 15 milliseconds. Two stabilizer bars help keep it upright, and the drivetrain is pure G: permanent four-wheel drive split 50:50, a low-range transfer case and three 100% differential locks. Power came from the 4.0-litre twin-turbo M176 V8, rated 416 hp and 450 lb-ft in the US, driving through a seven-speed automatic.

Mercedes first showed the idea as a concept nicknamed “Extreme-G”. According to Car and Driver's prototype drive, cited by Wikipedia, the G-Class had sold more than 14,000 units in 2014, and that demand freed up budget for low-volume spin-offs like this one. KW developed the dual-strut suspension, and the truck could reach 60 mph in under six seconds. On paper it beat the Hummer H1 in almost every off-road measurement. The exception was side slope: it was limited to a 28.4° bank angle against the Humvee's 30°.

Mercedes-Benz USA’s numbers are absurd in the best way: 51.6° approach, 43.8° departure, a breakover of 44.6° at maximum load in the spec sheet (47.4° in the launch release), 69-inch-plus track widths, a 46.9-foot turning circle and a 6,694-lb curb weight. It returned 11 mpg city, highway and combined, according to the same sheet. Expedition Portal, not given to gushing about concept trucks, said Mercedes had knocked it “straight out of the park.”

THE END, AND WHAT CAME NEXT

With the second-generation G due in 2018, Mercedes announced it would stop taking 4×4² orders at the end of October; in Germany it had cost €231,693. Its portal axles and raised suspension lived on in the Mercedes-Maybach G 650 Landaulet, and in 2022 the idea returned as the G 63 4×4² — now with independent front suspension, 585 hp and a $350,050 sticker, and 379 lb lighter than the old truck.

Today the original is a collector’s off-roader that people actually use. Bring a Trailer regularly lists them — one 2017 G 550 4×4² with 39k miles came on Pirelli Scorpion ATRs, with plugs, a coil and transmission service in its records — and shops now build lookalikes: Houston’s Banyan Motors converted a 2000 G 500 with a LeTech dual-suspension setup, portal axles and beadlocks. Rivals? Nothing from the factory, though the new Defender and Grenadier owners will happily argue.