



Meet the Mercedes E400 All-Terrain 4×4 Squared, a wagon that you can take off- road. Actually, thanks to its portal axles and massive ground clearance, you can take it anywhere!

Jonny Lieberman from MotorTrend got to head over to Germany to experience what he says may be the greatest wagon of all time, and drive something even greater.

–

The review starts with Lieberman talking about how amazing the new E63 is.

Mercedes has pumped out 603 hp from a 4.0-liter V8 thanks to twin-scroll turbochargers, new intercoolers, a new intake and new engine software.

–







The E63 S wasn’t the only wagon that Lieberman got to drive in Germany. While the E63 S is great, it really can’t go off-roading, which is why Mercedes built the E400 All-Terrain 4×4 Squared. Mercedes seems to have a knack for building cars that no other company has the guts to build, then selling way more of them than anticipated.

The E400 4×4 Squared was built when a Mercedes engineer Jurgen Eberle asked the question, “why not put portal axles on a station wagon?” Even though the idea seems silly on paper, Mercedes went through with the idea and decided to build a working prototype.

–



All the work paid off. The All-Terrain 4×4² packs 420 mm of ground clearance, more than double that of the standard model. It can wade through 500 mm of water before trouble starts. For comparison, the G-Class is capable driving through 600 mm. With all that ground clearance, the 4×4 Squared wagon can go anywhere, and it does so in near-perfect luxury. Imagine driving over pillows. Huge piles of pillows.

The width has been increased by 200 mm to 2.10 meters with a 1772 mm track both front and rear. Straight on, the All-Terrain 4×4² looks wide and mean. Wheels are nicked from the R-Class SUV… thing… and shod with 285/50/R20s, which means that when coupled with the All-Terrain’s air suspension, you get a seriously jacked up semi-monster.

According to this video, the E400 All-Terrain 4×4 Squared has been confirmed for limited production thanks to the success of its predecessors.