Way back in the mid 1980s I ran hundreds of acceleration tests on a big variety of vehicles at the sadly now defunct Oran Park racetrack. I did the straight-line stuff while Modern Motor’s editor Barry Lake did hot laps.
It seemed a bit silly to be photographed sitting in a huge 4WD with the aerodynamics of a house brick – the just launched Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen – but it was our policy to wear skid lids, so we did.
I can’t remember what the zero to 100 km/h time was on the big Merc off-road military based vehicle, but it was probably closer to 15 seconds than five.
The about to be launched new Mercedes-AMG G 63 (due in June), is a highly modified version of the first G-Wagen in 40 years, and can now do the zero to 100 in 4.5 seconds. Yes, 4.5 seconds!
By way of comparison, my testing of Brock Commodores in the mid 1980s saw them struggle to get under six seconds unless you managed to get a really clean takeoff and rammed the gearchanges through to perfection.
How times change…
The ultra-hot new 2018 Mercedes-AMG is powered by a bi-turbo 4.0-litre V8 making 575 horsepower (430 kW) and 850 Nm of torque. That’s up from the 420kW/760Nm produced by the outgoing model’s 5.5-litre V8.
Power is taken to all four wheels through an AMG SpeedShift TCT nine-speed automatic transmission to a permanent all-wheel-drive system, including a low-range ratio with shift-on-the-move. The new Mercedes-AMG G 63 will officially accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just 4.5 seconds.
Now come some interesting numbers. The new Mercedes-AMG has a recommended retail of $247,700 plus on-road charges. A top-class Blue Brockie will now sell for around $100,000. Hmm…
