In the previous history section, we tried to sort out the product context of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class in the nearly forty years since its birth in the late 1970s to the present.
With the release of the new generation of Mercedes-Benz G-Class, the civilian version of the W463 series has been officially replaced, and thus the series of W461 and W464 series have been formally formed in the Mercedes-Benz G-Class on-sale product series. Compared with W463 and W464, which are more inclined to civilian use, it is obvious that the Mercedes-Benz G-Class of the W461 series will be more pure, and at the same time, it is more in line with the wild environment where the Mercedes-Benz G-Class should exist.
In fact, this is the Mercedes-Benz G-Class in our impression. In the domestic market, in addition to the W463 series and the upcoming W464 series, which focus on the luxury SUV market. The Mercedes-Benz G-Class of the W461 series is also sold in the domestic market through parallel imports. So, what does this Mercedes-Benz G-Class of the W461 series look like? Next, we will savor the original purity through G300 CDI Professional.
On the whole, the G300 CDI Professional of the W461 series maintains the shape of the classic Mercedes-Benz G-Class family. Under the square shape, it presents a larger space volume occupancy, and the sense of volume of the vehicle is therefore has been greatly improved.
Of course, compared with the W463 series that focuses on the civilian market, the Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional of the W461 series is obviously much simpler. There is no wide-body exterior package, and there is no large-size sports aluminum alloy wheels and low profile than sports tires. Of course, this does not include the paint quality with much higher fullness and gloss on the W463 series. The differences in these details make the G300 CDI Professional of the W461 series look much simpler.
Under the design concept and market environment in the late 1980s, the Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional is not as strong as the current medium and large SUVs in terms of size alone. In addition, the straight body panels also weaken the visual tension of the vehicle. From another point of view, straight body panels will be very helpful to the production of the vehicle.
For the driver, the straight body panels will also help the driver to judge the width of the body more accurately. Compared with the W463 series, the canceled wide-body body kit also makes the narrower body of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class have better passing performance when dealing with harsh narrow working conditions.
Therefore, on the whole, the first impression of the Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional of the W461 series is that it is more handsome and light than the W463 or W464 series. And this handsome visual perception also adds a lot of powerful effects to this car and brings confidence to the driver.
In terms of details, the kit configuration of Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional is also very professional. Judging from the suspension system without additional lifting, this is obviously not an off-road vehicle prepared for competition. On the contrary, it emphasizes the pursuit of long-distance crossing under diverse road conditions. From these detail kits, we can clearly see the multi-road environment set by Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional.
In the front part, the Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional version adopts a steel front bumper with anti-collision bars and anti-collision corners. All the characteristic details of the entire front end are not embellished with bright chrome strips. Including the Mercedes-Benz logo, they are also directly integrated into the characteristics of the air intake grille in black.
Under this purely functional design, the front face features of the Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional have actually been weakened, and there is no clear echo relationship between the air intake grille and the headlights. The round headlights no longer provide the headlight housing and xenon headlights like the W463 series models, but only retain the ordinary round lamp bowl. And a protective fence is also provided around the headlights. Similarly, the protruding turn signals above the fenders have also added protective fences. This configuration will help the Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional to protect the light source when traveling through the rainforest.
The steel front bumper also has an anti-collision bar. This design improves the approach angle of the Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional, and also avoids the subsequent workload of modifying the competitive bar. Strengthened the protection of the front position. On the top of the steel front bumper, external square fog lamps are arranged, which can also play a certain role as an auxiliary light source in the harsh crossing environment. There is a winch behind the front license plate. In addition, there is an additional fixing ring in the center of the front bumper, which can be used to fix the winch tow hook or other fixing purposes.
At the position of the right front fender, the Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional is equipped with a wading hose as standard, and a sand collecting cup is also equipped on the top of the wading hose, which makes the function of the wading hose no longer single. In addition to meeting normal wading operations, it can also meet operations in sandy and dusty climates. The anti-scratch strips that surround the side of the vehicle are naturally more substantial than the anti-scratch strips that are stronger for decoration on the W463 series.
As far as the paint surface is concerned, the Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional of the W461 series uses an anti-stone chip coating on the upper surface of the hood. Therefore, this area looks rougher to the naked eye than other parts of the body. The fenders behind the high-profile ratio wheels are also made of rubber that is easier to care for.
The exterior rearview mirrors on both sides of the door are external rearview mirrors with a large field of view. This structure is common in trucks. Compared with the passenger car-style exterior rearview mirror design of the W463 series, the Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional of the W461 series can obviously provide a wider rear view. Moreover, the Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional of the W461 series does not retain the side pedals for passability requirements. To a certain extent, this will affect the convenience of getting on and off the car to a certain extent. The so-called advantages and disadvantages depend on the positioning. Obviously, under the positioning requirements of long-distance crossing, the side pedal can only be tasteless.
At the rear of the vehicle, the most fashionable part of the Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional should be the spare wheel cover. This design is almost the same as that of the W463 series, but it lacks some high-gloss paint effects and chrome-plated embellishments.
The rear bumper of the W461 Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional is also made of the same steel material as the front bumper, and the longitudinal height has been significantly compressed, and the rear fog lights and reverse lights are embedded in it.
The W461 Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional is equipped with a tow ball as standard in the center of the rear bumper, and the tow ball kit includes an external plug. It can quickly realize the hook-up operation of the trailer. Since the rear bumper has been occupied by functional parts, the position of the rear license plate has also been moved up above the rear door.
There is no roof rack as standard, but the roof flange would be very helpful for direct fitting of the roof frame. Moreover, pedal pedals have also been prepared on the steel rear bumper.
The interior design of the vehicle is a typical W461 shape. Compared with the W463 after multiple luxury improvements, the interior of the W461 Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional can be described as simple. The entire center console panel has no design at all, but the left and right vehicle control buttons are arranged according to the convenience of functional partitions. Even so, the large center console panel only provides buttons for front and rear fog lights, emergency lights, rear window heating, and front and rear wipers.
And on the show car we photographed, there wasn’t even an entertainment system, just a plastic panel covering the area. Fortunately, it is not difficult to equip a 1DIN camera head in the aftermarket. Below the clear functional partition is the mechanical air-conditioning control panel.
The control panel of the four-wheel drive system is located in front of the sub-dashboard. The three buttons represent the locking of the three differential locks, and the order of the three locks is clearly marked on these three buttons. That is to say, the difference is first, then the difference, and finally the speed of the difference. Under the action of the full-time four-wheel drive system, the four-wheel drive switch has also become simple and rough. There are two buttons, one for high-speed four-wheel drive and one for low-speed four-wheel drive, that’s all.
In the entire interior of the W461 Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional, the most fashionable features are the steering wheel and the family-style shifting handle.
The seat layout in the car is a standard four-seater layout, and the front and rear rows are composed of two independent seats. The four independent seats do not consider comfort and wrapping too much, and they all show a straight image. Under the action of the non-load-bearing body, the rear seats have a slightly higher field of view than the front row.
The trunk space is also a typical and rough style, without too many packages, directly exposed the wheel wrap sheet metal and the floor that can be washed directly. If it is a military version, an opposite seat will be added above it. The trunk opening is also typically small in size.
In terms of power, the W461 series Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional is equipped with a 3.0L turbocharged diesel power, which is matched with a set of five-speed automatic transmission. It can have a maximum output power of 135 kilowatts at 3800 rpm, and a maximum torque of 400 Nm at 1600 to 2600 rpm. In addition, in order to cope with the severe cold environment, the W461 series Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional is also equipped with a fuel tank heating system.
Undoubtedly, compared with the W463 series, which is always in and out of urban high-end clubs, the environment that the W461 series can cope with will be more complicated. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, this Mercedes-Benz G-Class of the W461 series is actually the purest Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
