TOTALLY SQUARED

Taking Off-Roading to New Heights

- JEROME ANDRE

We may all love our lifted-up 4x4s, built to conquer any off-road challenge, but the truth is they can be cumbersome to drive for extended periods on the road. And while some more luxurious versions of our favorite off-roaders are certainly more comfortable and refined, they often sacrifice some of their off-road capabilities. So, is there a perfect middle ground, or are we destined to always compromise?

For the German company LeTech, finding a solution was essential. Their team set out to take the already luxurious Geländewagen's latest G63 generation, with independent front suspension (IFS), and make it even more effective on every type of terrain. To put their creation to the test, we took it to the Nevada desert, where Bill Rader Motorsports (BRM), LeTech's distributor in the U.S., built the very first IFS W463A (a.k.a: the latest generation G) in the USA.

LeTech is responsible for designing and manufacturing the portal axle conversion systems used on the factory AMG G-Class 6x6 and the massive 4x4 'Square', officially presented by Mercedes-Benz last summer. With BRM, they recently introduced an aftermarket, retrofit version of the conversion system for the new G-Class. This was perfect timing for BRM since a customer from California required an updated version of the factory 4x4 on his new IFS W463A G-Wagon. At the time of his decision, there were no official projections that a factory vehicle would be available, and the owner needed the additional ground clearance to browse his avocado plantation ASAP.