New Options for US-based Overlanders – Part 2
One vehicle that has the cachet of the Defender and is available in the US-in some form at least-is the Mercedes Benz G-class. A type 461 G-class was featured in a recent Sahara trek article in Motor Trend’s Truck Trend magazine written by Tom Sheppard, who wrote the definitive work on vehicle-dependent expeditions. Sheppard’s “G-wagen” is obviously not US spec-long wheelbase, diesel, van-body 461-but the type 463 G-class is available in the US with gasoline V8 power if you have a spare $100K or so. Despite being primarily regarded in the US as a status symbol for rappers and pop princesses cruising down the streets of Miami and LA, this is a serious off-road machine more at home on the Sahara. Mercedes also has the advantage of worldwide availability of parts and a reputation for reliability. The Mercedes Benz brand is know in North America for it’s refined luxury cars but in the words of a Dutch professional driver I once spoke to, “Mercedes is a truck” to the rest of the world.
But Daimler-Chrysler-as it is know these days-has other offerings with expedition potential and available diesel power in the US. In fact, the company is poised to become the US leader in diesel technology for cars and SUVs with its Bluetec program. Bluetec is a modular system for reducing emissions aimed at complying with the strictest regulations in the world while minimizing performance tradeoffs. After writing part of this series about Volkswagen and Audi’s diesel-powered offerings in the US, I learned that those companies have actually partnered with Mercedes in the Bluetec initiative.
In 2006 Mercedes began importing a version of the popular ML mid-size SUV with a 320 CDI V6 engine. The second generation of the ML features a rigid unibody construction for better on-road handling; however, it has less ground clearance than its predecessor. Despite this, the M-Class should prove a fairly capable off-roader having been used in Baja and won accolades in the production class of many cross-country rallies including the Dakar. (See Wolfgang’s ML Page.)
If more space or towing capacity is needed (the ML is rated at only 5000 pounds-3000 less than the Touareg), Mercedes is also currently offering the GL with diesel power; however, the GL is only available 320 CDI diesel engine and-like the 2007 diesel Touaregs-it is only a placeholder for the 2008 GL420. The GL420 will feature a 290-horsepower V-8 putting out a whopping 515 lb-ft of torque as well as 4matic fulltime AWD, 7-speed automatic transmission and automatic air suspension. The GL420 promises to be one serious truck with plenty of space for gear and for bunking in the rear cargo area with the seats folded.
A positive side effect of the Daimler-Chrysler merger is the sharing of technology among its various product lines. One such example is the new 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel. The new Cherokee couples a 3.0-liter common rail turbo diesel (CRD) engine built by Mercedes with Jeep “trail-rated” off-road capabilities. We would really like to see this approach applied to other Jeep products such as the 4 door Wrangler. The Wrangler should be even more capable off-road than the Cherokee and-with the addition of a custom hardtop-should make a great platform for a compact camper. Already concept vehicles based on the Wrangler have been unveiled at SEMA and elsewhere, such as the Earthroamer XV-JP and the AEV Wrangler Pop-top.
Luckily for American overland enthusiasts there are many indications that the trend towards diesels will continue to grow in the US. JD Power and Associates reported in 2006 that Global demand for diesel-fueled light vehicles will nearly double during the next 10 years. This increase is expected to be particularly noticeable in the US where, according to the report, [i]“share of U.S. light-vehicle sales is expected to increase from 3.2 percent in 2005 to more than 10 percent by the middle of the next decade.”[/i] This demand is primarily driven by younger consumers looking for more fuel-efficient alternatives to gas-guzzling SUVs. All this leads us to wonder when US and Japanese manufacturers will follow the lead of German automakers and “wake up and smell the diesel”. So far there have been no announcements of plans to couple diesel power to light pickups, although this would be a natural and welcomed development in the US. Chances are we will begin to see such vehicles emerge soon after the 2008 models covered in this article hit the streets.
