It was a road to hell before I reached heaven. Heaven, for me, is Mahabaleshwar, cloaked in a soothing bright green, a month after the monsoon. Getting there was hell. This year’s rains have pummelled the erstwhile NH17 Mumbai-Goa highway (now NH66). There are potholes as large as craters. It also suddenly morphs from a three-lane highway to a single lane of broken tarmac, often becoming a dirt track.
My weapon of choice to survive the drive is the Mercedes G-class. This boxy, old-fashioned SUV has stood against the winds of change for decades. The exposed door hinges and push-button door handles are still all there, as is the central locking system that makes a clak-clak sound (like an AK-47 being cocked and loaded), every time you press the key fob.
The G-class feels indestructible. It’s the car you’d want to be in when armageddon strikes. It was the car I had during the first lockdown, when I was stuck in Mahabaleshwar. I couldn’t drive the G350d anywhere for six weeks. But felt reassuring to have it in my driveway.
So, it’s with a sense of déjà vu that I drive to Mahabaleshwar, this time in the G400d, which has replaced the G350d. It uses the same 3.0 litre turbo diesel engine, upgraded to produce 330hp, a substantial 44hp bump up in power.
A great diesel engine is sadly a dying breed. This one is the best of them. It’s responsive, powerful and incredibly refined. At highway speeds, the sound of the wind tumbling off the flat windscreen and tall body is in fact, louder than the quiet engine. The G400d is also pretty quick, lumbering from rest to a 100kph in just 6.4 seconds, a whole second faster than the G350d.
Fuel efficiency? It’s pretty poor, but what can you expect from a car with brick-like aerodynamics? On the drive to Mahabaleshwar, I got just 5.8km per litre — though, to be fair, it involved a fair bit of hard driving, including a charge up the steep Ambenali ghat. The large 100-litre tank which offers a comfortable 550+ km range is very useful.
It’s quite a hike to the high driver’s seat (there’s no footrest), but once you’re perched there, you feel like you’re on the top of the world. Want to sit even higher? The Adventure edition of the G400d, which I drove, comes with a sturdy roof rack that’s big enough for a tent.
But camping is not what most Indian owners will want to do. The way the G400d shrugged off the worst roads gives it an air of invincibility. Nothing fazes this car, it ploughs through everything, even if a touch crudely. The ride is bumpy, it rocks from side to side on bad roads and through corners. It’s not the most comfortable car either. The rear seat is short on space. The small boot can be accessed via a side hinged tail gate.
Practicality is not a reason to buy the G-class. And neither is the absurd Rs. 2.6 crore price This is a car you buy with your heart to simply enjoy one of the most compelling and capable SUVs ever made.
