The new 585bhp Mercedes-AMG G63 has supercar-spec suspension and a gnarly ‘OFFROAD PRO’ pack

Worry not, anyone who scanned through our report on the new, (slightly) slipperier Mercedes G-Class and found little mention of a stupid V8 thunderblast version. Here’s the tweaked, tittivated G63. Still replete with a 4.0-litre, 578bhp twin-turbo heart. None of that four-cylinder hybrid malarkey here, danke shun.

Instead of focusing on upping the power, AMG has decided to leave that to the likes of Brabus, and instead attempt to make the G63 sportier to drive in the corners. Brave move.

Their technique involves repatriating the same sort of anti-roll suspension technology used by the AMG GT, SL, and the likes of McLaren and Porsche in cars which don’t look like a block of flats.

It’s called AMG Active Ride Control, which is a German way of saying the four dampers are all hydraulically interconnected, so the car can basically pump up its suspension into a stiffer setting side-to-side and front to back depending on what sort of physics the hapless driver is trying to bend. You get a supple ride when barrelling along in a straight line, but less of the ‘oh gawd it’s going to fall onto its roof’ lean when you heave into a corner.

Cheekily, it’s an optional extra, but you can select it as part of something called AMG Offroad Package Pro. This unlocks Rock and Sand driving modes, knobblier tyres, and an overland-tastic roof rack. If that’s all a bit too military chic for you, then you can instead garnish your G63 with a carbon fibre trim package that makes the G63 0.0000006 per cent lighter and faster around the Nürburgring. Probably.

Still, with AMG claiming 0-62mph in 4.3 seconds and a top speed of 149mph, do you need something faster? Frankly, an A45 superhatch will be quicker, and seat just as many people with most of the same interior gadgets. But since when did logic play any part in the existence of the G63?