Golly G, What’s Different? 10 of the 2019 Mercedes-Benz G-class’s Biggest Updates

While the 2019 Mercedes-Benz G-class outwardly looks like it’s as stuck in the Cold War era as the original, which dated to the late 1970s, it’s entirely new. For those keeping track, that means this second-generation Geländewagen marks the breed’s first top-to-bottom redesign in nearly 40 years. Really. To celebrate this momentous occasion, here are ten of the most standout changes that Benz’s engineers and designers bestowed upon the G to bring it into the 21st century:

Robert Lesnik, head of Mercedes-Benz exterior design, worked to smooth every surface on the G-wagen while maintaining the original’s chiseled, flying-brick appearance. “It’s not possible to make it sharp,” he told us. European pedestrian-impact regulations require beveled edges-in most cases, a radius curve no less than 2.5 millimeters-but unless you’re standing by the flush taillights, you’d never tell the G was any different. It’s harder still to notice the curve in the windshield or the 2.1-inch-longer and 4.8-inch-wider body.

A smoother G-class doesn’t necessarily mean a more aerodynamic G-class. Like a cement mixer, the G’s turn signals sit atop the front fenders, right where they were before. But the blocky lights lose the Phillips-head screws on top. In fact, in a crash, the lamps are designed to break away and disappear below the fenders should an unfortunate pedestrian get too intimate with the front end.

The chunky door handles with the round metal thumb switch are one of only three carryover parts from the previous G-class. (The others are the headlight washer nozzles and the spare-tire cover.) Look closely at the panel gaps; while it’s not as easy to wedge an entire finger through the new G’s industrial-strength door frames, Lesnik said he wouldn’t make the G-class look too perfect. At five millimeters (0.20 inch), the G-class’s panel gaps are twice as narrow as before but still wider than the three-millimeter (0.12-inch) gap Mercedes requires on its regular cars. The good news? The doors emit the same firearm-like click sound when locked or unlocked and the same satisfying thunk noise when closed.

The 2019 G550 model comes armed with a carryover twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 that delivers an entirely sufficient 416 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque. The exhaust still exits from beneath the rocker panels, just ahead of each rear wheel, ensuring that occupants continue to be treated to a 1960s muscle-car soundtrack set to “loud.” New to the 2019 G550 is a nine-speed automatic transmission, which replaces the previous-generation model’s seven-speed unit.

Mercedes recently announced the 2019 Mercedes-AMG G63, which trades the outgoing model’s twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V-8 for a version of AMG’s ubiquitous twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8. Packing 577 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque (increases of 14 hp and 66 lb-ft), the new G63 will hit 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, Mercedes says. We also expect the G65 to return with its 621-hp twin-turbo V-12 and seven-speed automatic, the only transmission capable of taming the engine’s 738 lb-ft of torque.

The original G-class’s solid front axle and recirculating-ball steering that helped it-a ponderous and borderline demented vehicle-to drive at highway speeds are out. In their place, the 2019 G employs an independent control-arm front suspension mounted directly to the frame and electrically assisted rack-and-pinion steering. Despite the modern front-end bits, the Benz’s ground clearance, breakover and departure angles, and water-fording depths are all marginally improved.

We hated the old G’s retrofitted, net-type cupholder (note the singular noun), which branched off the center stack like a basketball hoop and knocked against the passenger’s knee without doing a stellar job of, you know, holding a drink. The new G-class fixes that with a conventional cupholder in the center console-plus one more, right next to the other. Two cupholders? What luxury!

The last vestiges of a mechanical handbrake, clumsily-designed infotainment controls, and all the packaging constraints of a 40-year-old truck were erased in Mercedes-Benz’s redesign. Only the 2019 G-class’s dash-mounted passenger grab handle and trio of differential-lock switches look familiar. The rest of the interior borrows heavily from other modern Mercedes models. The touchpad, climate controls, and dual 12.3-inch displays are obvious grabs. G-specific pieces include thick aluminum trim surrounding the air vents and twin Burmester tweeter grilles atop the dashboard that echo the turn signals on each fender. As before, the cabin’s leather and stitching are all cut and sewn by hand.

In Europe, the chromed steel brush guard that was standard on the outgoing, U.S.-spec G-class has been illegal for years thanks to pedestrian-impact regulations. Although the signature feature was missing from the G-wagens displayed at the 2019 model’s Detroit show debut, we’re told the brush guard will be back. At first it will be an option, although by the second model year of production, every U.S.-spec G-class will have it standard.

Jeep has long touted the “Trail Rated” capabilities of its SUVs with both an actual test of fortitude on the formidable Rubicon Trail and, more visibly, a physical badge saying as much affixed to customer cars. Mercedes-Benz is getting in on the action with a badge signifying the G-class’s own off-road litmus test. Only Mercedes doesn’t use the Rubicon Trail for testing, it uses the Schöckl, a gnarly mountain trail in Austria near the factory where G-wagens are made. Open the 2019 G-class’s front door and you’ll see a “Schöckl Proved” stamp right on the door jamb. Try not to be Schöckled when you see it.