Face Off: Mercedes-Benz G550 vs Range Rover Supercharged
There's this silly myth out there that all car media types think alike, but they've obviously never been around for Sadlier-Riswick 135i fisticuffs . These disagreements can get lively and it's about time we busted that myth.
In Face-Off, we will pit cars against each other, but instead of the full-blown, highly scrutinized, professional comparison test, this will be something different. One editor will defend the honor of one car, and make the case for why they would buy it -- and why the other guy is wrong. In the end, you can decide who wins.
Today: $100,000 super sport utility vehicles. In this corner, yours truly Automotive Editor James Riswick and the 2009 Range Rover Supercharged Autobiography. In that corner, Vehicle Testing Assistant Mike Magrath and the 2009 Mercedes-Benz G550. A coin toss determined who will present their opening arguments first.
Opening Arguments
James Riswick for the 2009 Range Rover Supercharged
Supple leather swathes every surface of cabin, interlaced by fine matte finish wood tastefully applied like structural elements rather than glued-on bits of tree. It is a warm environment, whereas the G550 feels like a leather-lined troop carrier. The ride is supple, yet the chassis is communicative. The 2009 Range Rover Supercharged is truly in the same luxury league as a Jaguar XJ, Mercedes S-Class or BMW 7 Series. But then it also has five pre-set off-road settings, hill descent control, and high and low settings that make the G550 and its locking differentials seem positively ancient (that's because it dawned during the Carter Administration). Plus, its adjustable suspension makes it possible to go rock crawling and enter a parking garage without clipping its roof like LeBron James entering a Chinese bathroom stall. The "Access" height made it easier for my mother to climb aboard -- good luck in the G.
While I appreciate the G550's awesome presence and ridiculous capability, it's simply less liveable on a daily basis. It has more wind noise and its tippy handling makes the Plastiki seem like a stable craft. I'd also offer that I'm more comfortable in the Range Rover -- people must've been shorter in 1978, because the driver seat doesn't go back far enough for tall dudes like me.
Mike Magrath for the 2009 Mercedes-Benz G550
What I've never understood is people's predilection for a well-tailored casket. You know, the ones with suede headliners, silk pillows, hand-turned brass rails, perfectly dyed mahogany and liquid smooth hinges. A casket is little more than a box with a specialized purpose: it's a place to shove a corpse when you chuck it in the ground.
Take, for instance, the 2009 Range Rover Supercharged. It's a fine vehicle and a well made piece of kit. High and low suspension settings, decent driveability, actual turning potential, multiple off-road settings -- things the 2009 Mercedes Benz G550, thankfully, is not concerned with. The G-Wagen doesn't have eleventy-five off-road settings -- the G has three real locking diffs. The kind that sometimes get stuck and require you to back up and drive forward to disengage. You can drive it off road or you can't. The computer isn't going to analyze the soil and determine the correct program. There is no adjustment for the suspension height. If your mother can't step into a G550, buy a ladder or tell her to drive herself. If you can't park it in your house, move. It's a billion pounds because every piece of the car is metal -- heavy metal that won't bend when you drive it up a wall. Or through a wall.
The G is completely unapologetic even in its 100,000 dollar sticker price. Think that's too much? You can't afford it anyways, buddy, shove off. The G turns every drive to work into an epic siege of some foreign land: the engine roars from the side exhaust; the suspension crashes. You're 10-feet above everyone else and all-too-soon, you're keenly aware that you're going too fast to turn. Look out, Prius.
Rebuttals
Riswick:
I will certainly agree that the G550 is unapologetic about its humungous, brash nature that somehow manages to make a Range Rover seem subtle. It indeed makes you feel like a ruthless dictator bedecked with beret, aviators and under-arm baton; raising your arms in triumph to the adoring crowds shouting your name at gun-point. But I fancy myself as more of a regal sort: the Third Duke of Riswick, retreating to his Highlands castle in the majestic, luxurious comfort of his Range Rover Autobiography. It's civilized, refined and capable -- a comfortable place to enjoy the high life.
Magrath:
If you want civility and refinement, buy a full-size sedan. SUVs get dirty. That Land Rover requires slippers to drive*. And a monacle. But by God, if you want a vehicle you won't have to worry about when the schmidt hits the fan and you've got to pack up the family and head to safer territory, buy a G550. Long after hoards of zombies have eaten your neighbor (foolishly, he was raising the height of the car before exiting his driveway) the G550 will be cruising the desert, muscling lesser vehicles from their watering holes and keeping you and your loved ones safe with 90-pound doors and a no-nonsense purpose that makes everything else look like little more than a comfortable place to die.
So, who/which wins?
* Riswick actually did this
- Posted by
- James Riswick March 16, 2009, 12:02 PM
- Permalink
- Categories:
- Face-Off, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz
There's no freakin' way I'd spend $100,000 on a SUV that dates back more than 30 years. Especially if they didn't update it enough to be comfortable. Range Rover Autobio, please.
Great post.
The Rover has a nice style, but there are, to my eyes, even better looking SUV's such as X5 or Escalade. Some say the G is dated, I say it's classic.
Plus, a brand that gets sold every five years starts to lose its appeal.
Like Magrath says, if you want a luxury coccoon, buy a sedan. If you want an SUV, I'll take a G55. Something you're not afraid to scratch the paint. It's like a rich guy's Jeep Wrangler.
Heh. Eleventy-five.
Me likes this feature. Here's hoping that Face-Off will be a regular occurrence.
In this one, I'd have to vote for Riswick/LR-RR-S-A. For this money, I expect to be coddled. If I really needed to bash my ride hard enough to need the G-wagen, I think can buy/build something with as much capability for less cash than the G-wagen.
For a real SUV, it needs to be a luxurious, offroad, do-it-all vehicle. As such, the RR fails in an epic way. The horrid reliability instantly kills this selection in comparison to the iron-clad underpinnings of the G Wagen.
You can't "high tech" your way thru offroad terrain- (ask the USMC in Vietnam). You need practicality, realistic width/approach/departure angles and it's pretty hard to trump the G Wagen's solid axles and lockers. That alone kills the RR.
RR style and electric doo-dads won't be very comforting when you are stranded in the middle of a lonely trail.
To sum up the RR is the famous quote, "Why do English drink warm beer? Because they have Lucas refridgerators"
The G Wagen spends it's money where it counts= the frame & mechanicals. It's a simple formula that makes it timeless.
The RR is all show but when push comes to shove, in the harsh reality of mother earth, she's going to be the one asking, "Who's your daddy!"
MacGrath/G550 wins! For me, the fact that the Range Rover is a "well rounded" vehicle is meaningless......I completely agree with cruiserhead1 that "the G Wagen spends it's money where it counts= the frame & mechanicals. It's a simple formula that makes it timeless."
The Range Rover would make sense in a situation where the owner can only afford one vehicle and expects some livability or refinement. But folks who spend this kind of money on a vehicle can afford more than one vehicle. In that case, I'd have a sedan for when I want luxury, refinement and sportiness, and a real SUV like the G550 for serious and honest off-roading.
James, I really like this "Face-Off" idea! I'm looking forward to more in the future!
Range Rover for me please.
I'd love to see a real all-out comparison though.
I agree that the "Face-Off" idea is a great one. More, please
The RR is a great luxury wagon that can go off road and the MB is a great off roader that can impress people at the club.
Both are really silly choices though.
Buy a luxury car and a Jeep Wrangler. You'll spend less and be happier.
"Both are really silly choices though....."
LMAO, firstwagon! Well, honestly, all luxury vehicles are silly because they're not about value and economic sense. They're excesses meant to either pamper the owner (by offering luxury) or the owner's ego (by offering prestige).
Magrath wins because in a zombie apocalypse, the G550 is the ideal vehicle.