Clarkson and Corby give the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen a spin

This trendy beast leaves both Jeremy Clarkson and Stephen Corby in a spin, literally.

Stephen Corby

Clarkson and Corby for head to head to review the new Mercedes Benz G580.

4 min read

14 hours ago.

Updated 6 hours ago

You, or indeed any sane person, might be tempted to ask why the fully electric new version of the venerable and venerated Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen offers a fantastical feature that allows it to spin on the spot through 720 degrees – but the answer is obvious.

Mercedes, which has had a great time naming everything to do with the new G580 “G-Something”, says that off-road types will use the G-Turn if they discover they’ve gone too far down a tightening track, and they don’t feel like performing a multi-point manoeuvre, to get out.

This still doesn’t explain why it can spin around completely, twice, presumably on a chosen G-Spot, rather than just 180 degrees, but I happen to know that this car is largely bought by rappers and gangsters who are far more likely to use the G-Turn when a deal has gone bad and they need to escape, but not before spinning around and knocking the guns out of all the bad guys’ hands.

The rather shorter answer – when a naive journalist questioned the point of the G-Turn at the launch of this three-tonne behemoth carrying an even heavier price tag ($249,900) – is just one word: “Instagram”.

Mercedes Benz G580.

In case you’re wondering, no, you’re not meant to use the G-Turn on public roads. Nor the G-Steering feature – which also takes advantage of the fact that this absurdly overpowered hunk of metal has one electric motor in each wheel, meaning it can operate in one-wheel drive – for G-Steering drifts. The four electric motors also allow the G580 with EQ Technology to send its wheels in opposite directions, for silly spinning on the spot.

How does all this G-Whizness feel from the driver’s seat? I’m sorry to report that it’s hilarious, and hugely fun. From the outside, the G-Turn looks like it will make you nauseous, but when you try it from the driver’s seat, it just makes you giggle.

What will turn your stomach, however, is the almost laughably large torque tsunami this bonkers Benz delivers, with 1164 Newton metres hurling you forward, and almost making you hurl (it’s also got 432kW and the ability to hit 100km/h in 4.7 seconds).

Mercedes might argue that all that torque is the reason this EV G-Wagen is even more capable off-road than the famous combustion-powered old ones (and old they are, this model dates back to the 1970s, and in looks terms it hasn’t changed a lot). And, sure, you could use all that torque to drag you up cliffs, or sand dunes, but in the real world, where people don’t take $250K vehicles very far out of town, if ever, it’s more likely to be used for crushing the faces, and insides, of passengers.

On the road it takes some getting used to, as you watch the power meter lurching from zero to 1000 per cent so fast that no analog needle would be able to cope.

The launch speeds are insane, and bring to mind perhaps the only competitor this G580 has, Tesla’s offensive Cybertruck, but the sense that so much weight and mass simply should not be allowed to move that fast is always with you.

That doesn’t mean it’s not an enjoyable experience, at least once you’ve been able to recalibrate your brain. Rather just that it’s quite unique physically. For a big beast, it actually corners surprisingly well, although the cruise ship-like sense of being a long way off the ground, and top heavy, clearly presents itself if you try to change direction sharply.

The interior does, at least, feel worthy of the price tag (Mercedes’ reps said they were “very proud” of setting it at $249,900; I’m not sure if their pride is in their profit per unit), while the ride most certainly does not. The decision by Benz to stick with the traditional ladder-frame set-up might be related to the G-Wagen’s proud heritage, but it does make for a vehicle that sends shocks through the cabin, and your body, with some intensity.

WISH Magazine cover for July 2025 starring Nicky Zimmermann. Picture: Bill Georgoussis

The big difference between this EV variant, and the widely desired V8 G63 version, is that the G580 is notionally silent. It does come with a fake-noise unit, dubbed G-Roar, which Mercedes-Benz describes as producing an “ominous” sound that emulates a combustion engine to provide “a sense of power and aura”. Remarkably, this sound isn’t just pumped through the cabin via the excellent Burmester speakers. Benz has installed sound bars at the front and rear of the vehicle to please the ears of people you’re driving past. While I was obviously worried that this ersatz engine noise would be as unrealistic and awful as these things tend to be in electric cars, the G-Roar was more of a polite grumble, and genuinely sounds pretty good.

I’m sure the Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ Technology is unbreakable and freakishly capable off road, but I’m equally sure almost no one will find out (the Mercedes spokespeople doth protest they have no idea how many people actually go bush bashing in their G-Wagens).

What’s absolutely certain is that a lot of people will buy a G-580 because it is the latest and greatest G-Wagen, and because it will look very, very cool when they do a G-Turn on Instagram.