About a year ago, Mercedes-Benz rolled out G500 4×4² concept, a vehicle that could only be called “practical” when compared to its six-wheeled predecessor, the G63 AMG 6×6. Nearly a foot wider than the standard G500 and with an impressive 17.7-inches of ground clearance, the G500 4×4² is one of the most extreme Mercedes ever made. Amazingly, the German automaker will even sell you one, if you can come up with the $255,000 asking price.

Since most of us will never see one up close, we’ll instead have to make due with this in-depth video from Drive, bringing Icon’s Jonathan Ward into the picture to talk about all the fancy mechanicals beneath this Mercedes beast.

One of the most fascinating features of the G500 4×4² are the portal axles pulled from the 6×6 concept. Portal axles allow the wheels to be mounted further below the height of the axle center, contributing to that 17.7-inches of ground clearance. The portal axles include three different differentials that can be activated on the fly, and adjustable dampers control ride height, should you want to be a little closer to the ground.

All that said, Ward doesn’t seem particularly impressed with many aspects of the G500 4×4², including the 416 horsepower twin-turbo V8 which has the turbos inside the V, making it a “hot-V” as it were. That said, he also respects the hell out of Mercedes for having the cajones to put such a project together, and then go that extra step and actually sell it.

Ward’s conclusion, as well as our own, is that the Mercedes-Benz G500 is a breath of fresh air in a world ruled by focus groups and practicality. Sure, it doesn’t make one lick of sense for the average consumer, but it does get people talking about the brand, as well as giving Mercedes-Benz engineers a place to showcase their craft so people like Ward can admire their art in action.