Dirt Dispute: Land Rover Range Rover or Mercedes-Benz G550?

Stephen Elmer / August 29, 2017

Off roading is not usually about luxury, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have it all. Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz certainly think that off roaders can be posh, and our latest poll seeks to find out which one you like best.

While there are plenty of classic to compare (and we’ll get there), today we’re looking at two modern off-road models from the two brands, the Mercedes-Benz G550 and the Land Rover Range Rover.

Powering the modern-day iteration of Mercedes’ famous boxy trail basher is a 4.0-liter turbocharged V8 making 416 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque. The G550 retains many of the things that made its predecessors so good off road, namely solid axles, body-on-frame construction, a two-speed transfer case and three sequentially locking differentials. Approach and departure both measure in at 30 degrees, while breakover is 24 degrees thanks to a ground clearance of 8.1 inches. Pricing for the Mercedes starts at $122,400.

For 2017, an update to the Range Rover brings new levels of refinement and speed. A total of five different powertrain outputs are available from three different engines: a supercharged 3.0-liter gas V6, a 3.0-liter turbodiesel, and a supercharged 5.0-liter V8. The small gas V6 can be had with either 340 or 380 horsepower, while the diesel makes 254 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque. Finally, the big V8 can be had with either 510 hp or a massive 550 hp and 501 lb-ft of torque, a state of tune only available in the top trim SVAutobiography Dynamic model.

Now, as for off roading, the Land Rover has plenty of tricks, though it differs from the G in a number of key ways, the biggest being that the British SUV is unibody and has four-wheel independent electronic air suspension. Standard ground clearance sits at 8.64 inches, though the body is lifted up to 11.63 inches in full off-road mode. A two-speed electronic transfer gearbox is used here to implement a 2.93:1 crawl ratio, while the approach angle is 34.7 degrees when the suspension is fully lifted. Departure and breakover come in at 29.6 and 28.3 Pricing for the Range Rover begins low at around $85K, but top-end models can climb close to the $200,000 mark.

So, which off-roader would you rather park in your driveway? Vote below!