Behind the wheel

• Easy to use infotainment
• Quality feel
• Commanding view of the road

Climb up into the G-Class’s interior (it really is a climb for most people) and you’re greeted by a cabin that feels much more in sync with other modern Mercedes-Benz cars. In fact, you’d be forgiven for thinking they’d taken an E-Class cockpit and dumped it straight in. Twin 12.3-inch digital screens dominate the dashboard, with the right-hand screen replacing traditional dials.

These are customisable so you can change both the style and content of the display via a touchpad on the right steering wheel spoke. It’s a bit fiddly initially, but you soon get used to scrolling through the menus.

We found the range of seat and steering wheel adjustment plentiful to enable a wide range of body sizes to get comfortable. Even in its lowest position, you tower over most other cars and SUVs giving you a commanding feel.

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How is the quality and layout?

The physical attributes of the G-Class cabin impress. This is a well-made interior and the choice of materials and build quality in general feel worthy of the lofty prices charged. The cabin is swathed in good quality leather and we love the mechanical rifle-bolt latching sound when you thunk the doors shut. You feel like you’re ensconced in the Bank of England vaults when the door closes. Poke around, though, and you’ll discover a few plastic finishes that are below-par for a £100,000 car.

At least there are plenty of physical buttons, switches and dials for things you’ll use regularly like the climate control and stereo, making it far easier to control things than with touch sensitive icons.

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Infotainment and tech

There’s another touchpad on the left spoke of the steering wheel that lets drivers flick through infotainment menus on the move; it takes a little getting used to, but it’s only one way of operating the system – you can also rely on the rotary controller ahead of the central armrest and voice control that works reasonably well. To help further, there’s also physical shortcut buttons for things like the navigation and radio.

It won’t take you long to learn your way around, although it can sometimes be a little fiddly. Each manufacturer’s infotainment system works slightly differently, and we reckon that the Mercedes-Benz Comand set-up is logical and easy to navigate your way around, if not quite as well as BMW’s iDrive setup.

Equipment

The G-Class is so well equipped, we feel bad for calling Edition entry-level. Yes, it’s the cheapest version of the G-Class, but you still get 19-inch alloy wheels, adaptive LED headlights that allow you to keep the main beam on for longer, a 360-degree camera and a towbar. Inside there are heated leather seats front and rear with electric adjustment up front, ambient LED lighting and three-zone climate control.

AMG Line Premium adds 20-inch wheels, an electric sunroof, heated windscreen, adaptive dampers that you can stiffen and soften, a sportier steering wheel, leather-wrapped dashboard and an upgraded stereo. AMG Line Premium Plus adds flashier 20in wheels, more customisable ambient lighting inside, ventilated front seats, plusher leather on the dash and filtration for the climate control.

Opt for an AMG G63 and you basically get all the toys of Premium Plus, 22-inch wheels and sportier styling inside and out befitting of the powerful V8 engine under the bonnet. Magno Edition adds black styling on the outside and fancier leather inside for a not inconsiderable extra fee.

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