Mercedes-Benz G-Class G350d 2018 first drive

You’ll struggle to find any mode of transport more drenched in personality than the AMG-fettled G63. And yet, while the G350d isn’t as entertaining, it is without question the more likeable sibling. This is largely because diesel power reinstates a touch of utilitarian charm and honesty to the experience of driving a G-Class. You might be no more inclined to use the car to anything like its full terrain-conquering potential, but with the diesel the possibility of such a workout does somehow seem more probable.

And even if you don’t, there are more tangible benefits: our test car returned 32mpg along a flat stretch of autobahn between Innsbruck and Munich. Given the new G-Class weighs the thick end of 2.5 tonnes and still has the aerodynamic qualities of a parachute, that’s pretty good going. Mercedes pioneered in passenger cars the use of stepped-bowl pistons with its latest range of four-cylinder diesel engines, and the same propagation-enhancing technology is found within the OM656. In Eco – along with Comfort and Dynamic, one of the car’s three powertrain modes – the engine will also decouple from the lazily smooth nine-speed gearbox to coast at idling speeds for as long as you refrain from touching the brake or throttle pedals.

What's more, this new straight six is refined not only by the standards of those few machines with three locking differentials and a rigid rear axle, but by those of any segment. It first delivers all that torque with a wide, bass-heavy warble that quickly smooths out and remains smooth as silk through to 5000rpm. I’d say that sound is a bit more present from within the cabin of the G-Class than an Mercedes-Benz E-Class, though without a microphone you wouldn’t know for sure. That shows just how far this off-roader has come. Six hours in the saddle doesn’t precipitate the kind of aural fatigue you got in the old car – a feat all the more impressive given Mercedes has reclined the rake of the windscreen by only a single degree. Don't expect the same isolation from wind noise you'd get in a BMW X5, mind.

And, really, the G350d of 2018 still isn’t overtly cultured. This is especially true without the AMG-tuned suspension of the G63. Mercedes’ improvements to the car’s ride and handling are vast, but bumps in the road can still send a well-defined ripple through the chassis. At times it’s as though each suspension turret is two-foot taller than it actually is. Corner with any commitment and it’s all the suspension can do to stop the bodywork first collapsing over the hard-worked outside front tyre, then its counterpart over the rear. The G-Class is still very much a car with a high and peripatetic centre of gravity. On most roads a Range Rover Sport would feel like an Alpine A110 by comparison, and the driving position feels conspicuously perched (great off-road; less so on it).

The G-Class and Porsche’s Porsche 911 share a common theme: the most accessible model in the range is by far the most authentic. Porsche’s seminal sports car was conceived as a more delicate device than the ludicrously well equipped, fat-wheeled, wide-body spaceships of today and the G-Class originated as a military vehicle. The supercar power and low-profile tyres of the G63 are a fun sideshow but for many prospective owners it simply won’t be a sustainable relationship. After a few miles it’s all too tiring and, frankly, too superficial.

By contrast, the diesel engine in the G350d raises the G-Glass’s game. A relatively frugal but strong and quiet performer, it complements the car’s opulent interior and newfound capability as a cruiser. With the chassis and cabin improvements, it means that for the first time in a 40-year existence, the G-Class is something normal people, doing normal things, could happily live with. Just about. And, of course, you still get almost unparalleled off-road ability.

You might still be brave to look past the similarly expensive but more sophisticated, comfortable likes of a Range Rover Autobiography, but no longer would you be stupid. Maybe the G-Wagen's gone soft.

Mercedes-Benz G-Class G350d specification

Where Hochgurgl, Austria Price £94,000 On sale January, 2019 Engine In-line 6 cyls, 2925cc, turbocharged diesel Power 282bhp at 3400-4600rpm Torque 443lb ft at 1200-3200rpm Gearbox 9-spd auto Kerb weight tbc Top speed 124mph 0-62mph 7.4sec Fuel economy 29.4mpg (combined) CO2 253g/km Rivals Range Rover Autobiography SDV8, Bentley Bentagya Diesel