TANK YOU
Mercedes launch new £154k 4×4 which can rotate 360 degrees like a TANK as footage shows military-grade feature in action
Watch the G580 perform the tank turn in the player
MERCEDES has launched a new £154,000 4x4 which can rotate 360 degrees like a tank.
The German manufacturing giant's battery-powered G-Wagen can be seen turning like an armoured fighting vehicle in astonishing footage.
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The G580 is a competitor to the upcoming EV Range Rover, which can also perform the same party trick as electric power comes to the all-terrain SUV.
It boasts a top speed of 112mph, with 0-62mph in just 4.7 seconds, with a range of 283 miles and has charging capacity of up to 80 percent 200kW DC in half an hour.
In First Edition format it develops 587hp but costs up to a whopping £180,860.
The G580 weighs a behemoth 3,085kg, meaning if the driver loads it with any more than its 415kg payload - equivalent to five adults - they'll breach the 3.5-ton limit on a standard driving licence and need a Category C heavy goods qualification.
A hefty climb inside - and being careful not to be swallowed by the 555 litre boot, you'll be faced with twin oblong screens akin to a jumbo jet's cockpit.
"First impressions are of looking down at the rest of the world from a high-riding mobile greenhouse; at the wheel, you feel every millimetre and kilogram of the G580’s structure," a review in the Daily Telegraph says.
"The steering, which has a meaty weight, doesn’t really tell you much about the road surface under the 20in tyres."
The review goes on to describe the tank turn as a "mechanically unsympathetic gimmick" but says the car's off road ability is "amazing".
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The wagon's three-stage driving modes mean the driver only needs to steer, with the reviewer adding: "It takes the skill out of moderate off-roading."
A video posted to the ASV Mercedes YouTube channel shows the G-turn in action, with the 4x4 demonstrating its tank manoeuvre in a desert setting akin to Mad Max: Fury Road.
It describes it as the "future".
Each wheel works on a different motor, with the left going forward and the right backwards to complete the turn.
One commenter said: "This stunt is officially limited to unpaved dirt terrain with less to no traction and don't try this on a tarmac or a parking lot unless you want beyblade other vehicles."
Another added: "I could watch that the whole day."
A third said: "James Bond is gonna looooove this."
History of the Mercedes G-Wagen
The G-Wagen was developed in the 1970s as a military vehicle known as the Wolf, inspired by a suggestion from the Shah of Iran.
The first civilian Mercedes Geländewagen was released in 1979 and become renowned for its military go-anywhere ability.
After a number of facelifts over the decades, Mercedes unveiled a ground-up redesign at the Detroit Auto Show 2018, with massive improvements in comfort and ride quality.
Since then it's been engineered as an EV, accepting a 116kWh lithium-icon NMC 12-cell battery pack which powers four motors.
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