Who’s the hard man? G300 CDI Professional vs Land Cruiser 76

The Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional is an extremely capable off-roader. But how does it compare to a Land Cruiser 76 Series station wagon that has been fitted with a few extras – but is still a few hundred thousand rand cheaper? Jaco Kirsten investigated.

The 4x4 world is abuzz with news about the new Mercedes-Benz G-Class. Grown men get the giggles, like little boys, when they spot one. Dominees are reported to be playing the Lotto on the sly. Women nervously wonder what precisely their husbands are watching on their computers late at night. Because there’s probably no other 4x4 station wagon that is as tough and capable off road. But there is one small problem: Its price of R797 740 – without any extras (not even a car radio) but at least with an optional service plan for R23 750.

After scratching our heads we eventually decided to compare it to a Land Cruiser 76 Series station wagon, in terms of off-roading ability and value for money, because the Cruiser costs R480 000. 

We couldn’t get hold of a Land Cruiser test unit from Toyota South Africa, but Willie Engelbrecht of Market Toyota Culemborg in Cape Town lent us his personal 76 station wagon. There was one important difference, though: Willie’s Cruiser was fitted with Old Man Emu suspension. The cost? A reasonable R17 000, which means that it is still a lot cheaper than the G300 CDI Professional.

We expected the Merc to be better than the Cruiser. But would it be almost R300 000 better?

What are their recipes?

Both are hard-as-nails legends. The G-Class, originally known as the Geländewagen (pronounced Ge-lende-wagen), has been around for more than thirty years. In the years that followed the series got a host of new engines and a few cosmetic upgrades. But the basic body has remained unchanged. 

The fact that the G-Class was originally developed as a military vehicle explains a lot of its characteristics – like the boxy design with big windows and lack of luxuries. And, of course, its legendary off-road ability, thanks to a combination of fixed axles, coil springs, full-time four-wheel drive and three mechanical diff locks.

In principle, the Land Cruiser 76 isn’t that much different and where the G-Class is used by a few first-world armies, the Land Cruiser 70-Series variants are favourites in civil wars in Africa and the Middle East, because few vehicles are as tough and simple to maintain. The 76 station wagon also uses fixed axles, but only has coils at the front – the back makes do with leaf springs. It uses part-time four-wheel drive, but also has mechanical diff locks at the front and rear.

In other words, you have two tough, diesel-engined 4x4 station wagons with few frills. The only other vehicles one can compare with these two is the Land Cruiser 78 Series Troop Carrier and the Land Rover Defender.

What lurks under their bonnets?

The Mercedes-Benz has a 3-litre turbodiesel that develops 135 kW power and 400 Nm torque. In other words, you won’t really run out of power. But the G-Class is made for the military where drivers are soldiers that have to be trained fast and therefore the automatic gearbox makes sense. In fact, today’s autoboxes are so good that they’ve made manuals almost obsolete. But as the G300 CDI weighs more than 2.5 tonnes, the 135 kW sometimes feels like 110 kW.

But it’s still comfortably more than the 76’s 4.2 litre 1HZ diesel engine that develops a humble 96 kW power and 285 Nm torque. If you’re used to turbodiesels, you might be surprised at how much this engine needs to be revved if you want to make some progress. Initially it feels strange to hear it scream like that, but later on you simply turn the Johnny Cash louder and ignore it.

The Toyota has a five-speed manual gearbox. And, typically Toyota, it’s fairly tight and notchy. Just like some Defender owners have managed to convince themselves that the cab isn’t that cramped, some Cruiser owners actually believe that their vehicles have “good” gear changes.

How do they look inside?

Austere. The G300 was designed for military use. Looking at the interior it's pretty obvious that "fun" and "driver satisfaction" weren't part of the brief.

If you step inside the G300 CDI you feel like you’re about to invade Poland. Okay, make that Lesotho. Because this is Germanic military minimalism at its best. Except for the necessary buttons and instrumentation there’s absolutely nothing else going on. There are small pockets in the doors to store stuff. And a cubby hole on the passenger side. And that is that. Absolutely no nook or shelf for your keys, cellphone or camera. 

The windows open and close manually. And there’s no radio or CD player. Maybe you are expected to whistle German marching tunes.

But there is a nice reading/map lamp on top of the instrument panel. It has a long, flexible stem and will come in really handy – when it works. I adjusted it on day one and heard a crack. And that was the end of the light.

At least it has central locking. But before you can get there, you first have to get into the vehicle. The door handles require quite a strong thumb and you really need to slam the doors shut. In the second row the G300 CDI has two rather narrow individual seats instead of a bench. In the cargo hold at the back there are a few very sturdy D-rings though.

By comparison, this made the 76 station wagon feel positively luxurious. The irony of a 76 Cruiser being described as “luxurious” didn’t go unnoticed, believe us. I mean, there are electric windows, cup holders, a huge storage space between the front seats, a full three-seat bench at the back, a CD player/satnav unit… you get the idea.

The G300 CDI’s driving position was remarkably similar to that of a Defender. Not quite as restrictive on the sides, but you definitely felt as if you were sitting on top of the steering wheel. The 76, on the other hand, felt like just another bakkie.

Neat. While no one can describe the Land Cruiser's interior as plush, it's actually very comfortable with all the trickery you could ask for, even satnav.

How do their 4x4 abilities compare?

The G-Class is phenomenal. Not that we expected less. Its weight was noticeable in the Namib a few months ago, but we knew that its actual forte would be loose, rocky terrain. On the Klipbokkop 4x4 Trail near Worcester it was obvious that the combination of automatic gearbox and three diff locks (coupled with the right tyre pressure) meant that it simply idled over obstacles. Its excellent approach and departure angles of 36° and 31° degrees respectively, obviously helped.

The only time the wheels did spin was when I switched it off (the middle and rear diffs where locked) for a while and then proceeded to drive further. The electronics deactivate the diff locks when you switch off the vehicle, it turned out. But after switching them on again, I simply idled further without any issue.

To select low-range you simply press a button in the steel middle console. Same for locking the front, middle and rear diffs. Locking and unlocking happens very fast – unlike some vehicles where it may take a while to disengage.

And then we got into the 76 Cruiser. Suddenly the lazy 1HZ engine made sense. In low-range it simply idled up very steep inclines. And the fact that it too had diff locks at the front and rear, meant that it didn’t have any problems either.

But didn’t we say that it had Old Man Emu suspension? Yes, that’s right. And it made a huge difference. So much, in fact, that it was more comfortable over the rough stuff than the G-Class. If we didn’t experience it ourselves we wouldn’t have believed it.

Yes, sometimes the Cruiser was a pain in the behind to get in and out of four-wheel drive, especially if the transfer case lever didn’t want to budge. And the fact that it’s a manual means that you have to work a bit more.

In the sand route we followed at Klipbokkop, the 4.2 diesel did everything required. Yes, it isn’t very good at dune driving, but for sand driving – and there’s a big difference between dune driving and sand driving – it is perfectly adequate.

Thanks to its coil springs, the G-Class’ wheel articulation was very good. But the Old Man Emu suspension helped the Cruiser and when a wheel did hang in the air, the diff locks came to the rescue.

When we finally sat back and thought about it, we realised that the G-Class couldn’t give the 76 Cruiser a knock-out punch. At most, it scored a points decision over 12 rounds.

How do they do on the tar?

Look, none of them are built to guarantee comfortable 1000km days behind the wheel. The G-Class is noisy, due to its bad aerodynamics and its lack of sound-proofing material. And then there’s the snorkel that makes an induction noise reminiscent of a partially-blocked drain, as well as the accelerator’s spring that is so stiff I’d seriously contemplate taking a heavy brick along as speed control over long distances.

The Cruiser is a lot quieter and more comfortable – but it runs out of steam a little from 110 km/h onwards and from 120 km/h you need to plan overtaking manoeuvres a day or two ahead.

Both have a high centre of gravity and aren’t exactly light (the Toyota is about 300kg lighter than the Merc), disqualifying them for use in the backstreets of Paris, for example. But then again, if their wide turning circles really put you off, you might want to consider a Smart car.

If you look beyond the Cruiser’s asthmatic engine it is by far the most comfortable long-distance vehicle of the two, thanks to its seats, driving position, (relatively more) quiet interior and comfort equipment inside.

Conclusion

The G-Class is slightly tougher. It also scores on off-roading ability, albeit not much. But to utilise that you’d have to get yourself into really extreme situations. And that’s not what most journeys are about. It is the type of vehicle that you’d be able to drive for 20 years without worrying too much about the mechanicals. It is also the type of vehicle that will make other people extremely jealous, whether they like to admit it or not. But for about R300 000 less (the R17 000 suspension included) the Land Cruiser 76 station wagon is the more shrewd buy – even if it won’t quite turn the heads the way the G-Class would.

Gerrie van Eeden says:

The Cruiser and Merc are like gouda and Roquefort. Both add a little something to a plain tomato sandwich, but the difference in price makes the gouda a more popular choice. But that’s where the metaphor ends. 

Land Cruiser. You have to admit that the Cruiser we used already had some extras to make it a more comfortable ride, which is noticeable, compared to the G-Class. It is also more comforting to turn a dial to engage the diff locks, rather than pushing a button and waiting for a light to go on before you can be sure it worked. With the Cruiser one can accurately modulate the engine speed at low throttle openings, compared to the Merc whose accelerator offers very little control between idling and balls-to-the-wall acceleration. On the open road, the Cruiser unfortunately is as slow as the drying rate of paint.

Geländewagen. The first impression is that it looks rough and ready for the bush. Inside, there is nothing fancy that may be unnecessary on safari. Everything is there with a job to do, and to do it well. If you keep the engine running and the diffs locked, you get the idea that no mountain will be too steep. It may be that this is the entry-level model, (its bigger brother is sure to have all the bells and whistles for comfortable off-roading) but there is no doubt about its capabilities. If only the cheese spread cost as much as the Roquefort… 

Key stats:

Land Cruiser 76 station wagon Mercedes-Benz G300 CDI Professional

Engine: 4 164 cc, inline six cylinder 2 987 cc, V6 turbodiesel

Power: 96 kW @ 3 800 rpm 135 kW @ 3 800 rpm

Torque: 285 Nm @ 2 200 rpm 400 Nm @ 1 600 - 2600 rpm

Top speed: 150 km/h 160 km/h

0 – 100km/h: 15.6 sec 9.1 sec

Transmission: 5-speed manual, part-time 4x4, high- and low-range, three diff locks

5-speed auto, full-time four-wheel drive, high and low-range, three diff locks

Suspension: Fixed axles, coil springs front, leaf springs rear. Fixed axles, coil springs

Brakes: Ventilated discs front, drums rear. Ventilated discs front, drums rear

Tyres: 265/70 R16C 225/75 R16

Ground clearance: 230 mm 213 mm

Approach angle: 35º 36º

Departure angle: 23º 31º

Wading depth: 700mm 600mm

Vehicle mass: 2 180 kg 2 510 kg

Fuel tank: 180 litre 96 litre

Fuel consumption: 13.1 litre/100 km 11.7 litre/100 km (combined cycle)

Warranty: 3-year 100 000km (no service plan).   2-year /unlimited distance (service plan optional)

Service interval: 5 000km 20 000km/1 year

Price: R480 000 (plus R17 000 Old Man Emu suspension)

R773 990 (plus R23 750 for optional MobiloDrive service plan)

Drive Out says:

The Cruiser 76 might not be as sexy as the G-Class, but it offers 95% of the G-Class’ off-roading abilities – and sometimes it trumps the latter, especially regarding comfort and equipment inside – at 62% of its price.