Brawn Identity

Bakkies outsell passenger cars in South Africa and at the top end of the spectrum there is a serious power war raging. We teamed up with one of South Africa’s legendary bakkie drivers, Hannes Grobler, to put these two German V6s through their paces.

When the Mercedes-Benz X-Class was unveiled, it broke the internet. Nothing else in recent memory has garnered so much interest.

Here was a 100-year-old company renowned for luxury automobiles, teaming up with a Japanese brand to build a double cab bakkie.

Mercedes had captured the attention of the motoring public by breaking out of its mould. Cue renderings of AMG models with carbon fibre bits, bonnet scoops and huge wheels.

But when the X-Class was eventually launched it was equipped with a 2.3 litre Nissan engine producing 120 or 140kW depending on specification level. Not exactly the tyre shredding monster that was expected.

When we finally drove this X-Class, it was met with a lukewarm response, even across these pages. The combination of the fairly rudimentary diesel engine and the fact that Mercedes didn’t do enough to add its flavour to the bakkie leftmany thinking this was all just a bit of badge engineering at a significant price premium. And the sales showed, with the X-Class hardly flying out of dealerships as expected.

Late last year, Mercedes launched the V6 model of the X-Class. With its own engine under the bonnet, capable of 190kW and 550Nm, the manufacturer didn’t hesitate to label it the most powerful bakkie on the market.

Under the skin, the X-Class features coil springs all round, a 7G-Tronic Plus automatic transmission with steering wheel shift paddles while Dynamic Select allows the driver to choose from pre-programmed driving modes ranging from relaxed and comfortable to sporty and dynamic. It certainly has the kind of equipment needed to get tongues wagging.