At launch, over 35 years ago, the angular Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon was trumpeted as a robust commercial vehicle with outstanding off-road capabilities, tarmac performance being of secondary importance.

Such was its versatility, the G-Wagon soon became a stalwart amongst the hunting and forestry set, while a military variant, known as the "Wolf" was adopted by the German Bundeswehr.

A lot has changed in the intervening years. Early G models in good condition are considered classic cars, and are restored and used as such. Meanwhile, the model has evolved under the skin, even if its outward appearance has hardly changed over three decades.

The latest top-of-the-range G-Class models boast straight-line performance in the same league as some real sports cars. The G63 AMG for example, is powered by a 5.5-liter bi-turbo V8 making 544 hp and 760 Nm of torque. This powerhouse motor rockets the big, heavy 4x4 to 100km/h in just 5.4 seconds.

The old saying “Too much power is just enough!” applies here, and power hungry owners turn to aftermarket performance specialists like POSAIDON, who have tuned the G-orilla to a rousing 830 hp, accompanied by a stump-pulling 1,350 Nm of torque.

With this much grunt dispensed through its four driven wheels, the POSAIDON-G blasts to 100km/h in just 4.2 seconds, so you have to search very hard for worthy challengers at the traffic lights. Top speed is electronically limited to 265 km/h.

The additional near 300 hp and 590 Nm of torque come via a pair of more powerful turbochargers breathing through a modified air intake system and a modified intercooler. The larger diameter sports exhaust system reduces both backpressure and temperature.

Reliable deployment of 1,350 Nm requires significantly uprated internals for the AMG Speed Shift Plus 7G-Tronic transmission. Both the engine and gearbox ECUs have been suitably remapped to work perfectly with the revised hardware.