G-wagon

[Grover-98]

Has anybody ever been off road in a G-wagon on paper they seem like a fair dinkem off roader with lockable diffs all round low gearing plenty of power built army tough so i would imagine them to be pretty darn reliable and durable.

But how are they in the real world?

[Slunnie]

Dunno, but they are now the Australian Armys replacement for the LandRover fleet.

[Grover-98]

Dunno, but they are now the Australian Armys replacement for the LandRover fleet.

You would expect them to be good then! and they also have some Styre Puch influence in them as well. So good blood. :)

[Bytemrk]

Never driven in one, but there is a guy in the club with one.. I'm lead to believe they are pretty impressive in the tough stuff..

Mark

[Michael2]

Dunno, but they are now the Australian Armys replacement for the LandRover fleet.

But on the previous army tender, when the G-Wagen competed against the 110, it wasn't chosen.

[Slunnie]

But on the previous army tender, when the G-Wagen competed against the 110, it wasn't chosen.
I'm sure there were a lot of reasons for that then, especially with Rovers platform flexibility to build a range of different purpose built vehicles. Thats not a statement on their performance, reliability or real world experience. I would have thought that the G-wagon would be significantly better offroad than the Defender, if only due to the difflocks which also require a stronger driveline. then again, winning the Army tender doesn't say much for how it operates in the bush either.

[TwoUp]

I was led to believe that the Army wanted a one vehicle interchangeable parts fleet. Also that Land Rover was not prepared to supply a heavier vehicle (mog size).

As for the G Wagon we had one in our group here and it had the lockers and was a good vehicle. He sold it for the then new Td5 Defender!!

Regards,
PeterW

[Psimpson7]

Mate of mine had a 2002 G500 SWB which was awesome to drive!

I am not convinced by their prowess off road in standard from as they dont have much wheel travel, which is why they need lockers, on top of the weight.

They can be made to be every bit as good as capable as anything else with a bit of effort.

[sclarke]

Yes been in one....

Nice... very German and industrial....

A refined Defender....

[big guy]

Was gonna buy one before the Disco.
Theyall come with standard front and rear diff locks, high and low of course and diesels.
The one I drove had 300k on speedo and it showed as you would expect.
Very slow and ran out of puff at 100km/h.
The guy wanted $13k for it. I offered $5k and I know he sold it for $8k.

I did some research and running gear lasts forever, whatever that means and everything else would have cost me a mint.

As said above, very german but also very agricultural, couldn't have found a better way to describe. Spoke to another fella in the Adelaide hills who had one since new and best car he ever owned, older bloke(65) and only ever broke down once, in however many years. He would put his life on it. His words not mine.

The payload is very small and that could have tipped the Army towards the Defender.

I still like it but they are slow.
One day maybe.

[lambrover]

i am lead to believe that price had alot to do with the buying of the rover over other makes,now we are getting the G-wagon because it's better on road ability and parts are available when deployed there are more UN and euro armys that run them. the rover when loaded and in convoy travel at 80 or 90k where the G-wagon can do 100k.

[Newbs-IIA]

The G-Wagon is my 4WD of choice when playing Screamer4x4 on the computer :p

In saying that... I wouldn't buy one even if they are AWESOME simply because of the fact that they are very rare in australia compared to tojos, dattos or rovers which means spare parts and servicing are few and far between and I imagine would be $$$. I know there are people on this forum who have switched over to Toyotas & Nissans for this exact reason (they did live in a semi-remote region I believe though)

just my $0.02

[JamesH]

i am lead to believe that price had alot to do with the buying of the rover over other makes,now we are getting the G-wagon because it's better on road ability and parts are available when deployed there are more UN and euro armys that run them. the rover when loaded and in convoy travel at 80 or 90k where the G-wagon can do 100k.

I heard Landrover did not submit a tender to supply ADF.

[hook]

But on the previous army tender, when the G-Wagen competed against the 110, it wasn't chosen.

Someone didn't have their hand in their pocket.

[geckos]

I heard Landrover did not submit a tender to supply ADF.

Thats what happened, and back years ago when LR won the last tender, the g wagon was the older model. The dutch use the older model in afghan and have just ordered the new model for gun cars.

I heard land rover couldnt make the armoured versions (the brits buy them off someone else), and g wagon already have them made as kits.

just a thought
geck

[Grover-98]

So as i had suspected they are best compared to the Defender as they are the similar strong ruggered idea.

Reasons i would have one:
1. Reliable
2. Durable
3. Lockers (Strong Driveline)

Reasons i wouldn't:
1. Hard to find
2. Servicing/Parts would be hard to come by.
3. Short list of after market products???
4. Pretty darn uggly.

But even if i would never buy one i hope to drive one someday on and off the road to see if they are what people say they are.

[PAT303]

The G wagons need diffs locks like other 4wd's because of lack of wheel travel,they are slow,my 2a could go faster than my fathers mate who had one,like all mercs you can get parts anywere,it's only people who don't have one that say you can't,no different to LR's and you could buy a defender and fit locks and outdrive one on road and off and still have money for a camper.The germans don't assemble cars,they build them,full stop. Pat

[B92 8NW]

The G wagons need diffs locks like other 4wd's because of lack of wheel travel,they are slow,my 2a could go faster than my fathers mate who had one,like all mercs you can get parts anywere,it's only people who don't have one that say you can't,no different to LR's and you could buy a defender and fit locks and outdrive one on road and off and still have money for a camper.The germans don't assemble cars,they build them,full stop. Pat

Well said Pat.

[hoadie72]

Except they're built in Austria.

[101RRS]

Except they're built in Austria.

Probably on the Chrysler assembly line.

Garry

[PAT303]

Except they're built in Austria.

Mercs are built in a few places,you know what I ment. Pat

[DeeJay]

I fished out a whole lot of early Busdriver mags & found the initial test of the 300 GD in March 83 edition.
Overall a good wrap but the reviewer was disapointed in on road performance. especially suburban hills around Sydney- screaming in 2nd & 3rd not up to it..
It went wherever they pointed it but had no underside protection & they bent a steering arm on the test & it followed a Jeep j10 Landcruiser & MQ Patrol that had no probs.
40 grand was a lot of money back then too :eek: