Off roading in Austria, the G-Class proved its can live up to its potential.
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If your love for one of the boxiest of boxy SUVs knows no bounds, you need to book your ticket to Graz. This city in Austria, not far from the borders of both Hungary and Slovenia, is an industrial centre. As such, it’s not the country’s most obvious tourist destination — at least not with places like Vienna, Innsbruck, and Salzburg also up for consideration.
But what Graz gives away in terms of beauty, it more than offsets with traits like toughness. Example: Since 1979, the Magna Steyr GmbH & Co KG factory, situated some seven kilometres outside the city centre, has produced said boxiness, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. The production began when the factory was under a different ownership structure, but the Magna concern, a subsidiary of Canada’s own Magna International, took over in 2001.
Another example: Some 20 kilometres north of Graz, you find Schöckl, a rocky mountain 1445 metres in height. While this isn’t the tallest mountain in the country — that would be the Grossglockner, another more obvious tourist spot — its proximity to the Magna Steyr plant and its inherent rockiness give it added importance.
More specifically, there’s a test track on the mountain where engineers provide final sign-off on each new G-Class that rolls off the factory floor. The final stage of the final sign-off? Affixing a badge with the phrase “Schöckl Proved” to each vehicle… provided it has the mettle required to tame the test track.
Speaking of mettle — or, rather, metal — there has, since 2019, been a manmade version of the mountain called the “Iron Schöckl”. This has been an important development, too, because it’s located within something called the G-Class Experience Center.
This facility, also close to the Magna Steyr plant, is the only such place in the world dedicated to the iconic off-roader. It’s a former Austrian military airbase that’s been transformed into a 100,000 square-metre playground. The opening of the Center, in 2019, was timed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the G-Class, but the pandemic got in the way. Nevertheless, as the facility approaches its fifth year in business, some 3,000 visitors from 40 different countries have dropped by. Here’s what has drawn them to Graz.
Firstly, for clients hailing from Germany and Austria, the G-Class Experience Center is also a delivery centre. The main building houses a reception area with a customization centre, complete with a display of spare wheel covers in an array of colours mounted on a wall. The G-Class is available in 40 different “standard” paint schemes, but individuals can select from up to 20,000 additional hues.
The centre also features a wide selection of seats, up to 75 in total, as well as drawers upon drawers of fabrics, trim materials and the like. This is all part of the “G manufaktur” process, whereby G-Class customers have the opportunity to create something truly one-of-a-kind.
On the other hand, for those fans from other nations, the G-Class Experience Center is all about one thing: Getting behind the wheel and tackling some truly memorable obstacles. The facility includes an on-road course located on the former airstrips, a deep water crossing, a forested area, and an oversized mound of dirt with various routes to the top.
To tackle these challenges, the Center has a small fleet of late-model vehicles available, including a G 550 we sampled. (There are also some classic examples on-hand — including the Mercedes-Maybach Landaulet and the Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG 6×6 — but these are reserved for passenger rides.)
The program we experienced was just a taste-test, but it served to highlight the incredible capabilities of this authentic workhorse. First things first: The G-Class made quick work of the gigantic mound of earth. With an instructor riding in the passenger seat, we approached each path methodically, choosing which of the vehicle’s three differentials to engage, which gear to select and whether to employ the hill descent control system.
We probably didn’t need to be so methodical: The G clambered up every path to the top with ease, regardless of incline, regardless of the surface. One of the routes was covered in sharp rocks and boulders. We drove up going forward. Then, we drove up going in reverse. We probably could’ve taken on the rocks with two wheels in mid-air, but discretion was the better part of valour.
In the forest section, it was more of the same: Obstacles that looked imposing upon first glance proved insignificant. We powered through deep water, roared through muck, cleared ruts and negotiated a berm with a 38 percent lean angle. The G rocked from side-to-side, but just kept on rolling. It was all child’s play for the military-borne Mercedes.
There was one final obstacle to end the day, the aforementioned Iron Schöckl.
Now, this was a worthy challenge — so worthy, in fact, we weren’t allowed to drive. We switched seats with the instructor, then held on tight as he sent the G up the metallic ramp. One side of the ramp has an incline of 100 percent, the most extreme angle available at the G-Class Experience Center.
This was an absolute roller coaster moment.
The angle of attack was so extreme, it felt like we might tumble right off the ramp and experience a very big impact. On the way up the Iron Schöckl, our backs were hammered into the seats. On the way down, we were locked in place by the seatbelts, but still felt the need to grip the grab handle on the dashboard for more support.
It was a fitting way to conclude the visit, an experience that hinted at the extreme engineering that makes the Mercedes-Benz G-Class such an icon. The metal of the ramp creaked as we passed from one panel to the next. The tires slipped a millimetre from time to time before regaining traction. The brakes held fast with barely a whimper.
At one point, it felt like we were defying the laws of physics. It seemed impossible to be perched at such an angle on such a surface under such conditions. But impossible is when the G-Class seems to be at its best.
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