Overview

A TURBOCHARGED 2.4-litre four-cylinder diesel engine recently made it into the GMW Tank 300 Large segment five-seat 4x4, tested here in top tier Ultra grade that sells for $51,990 driveaway.

In its short time on sale, the combination has proven to be far and away the most popular variant, proving Australian buyers still prefer the low-end torque and extensive range only diesel power can provide.

Lifted from the Cannon and Cannon Alpha utes, the 4D24-Series mill is good for 135kW of power at 3600rpm and 480Nm of torque between 1500-2500rpm, neither figures hitting the benchmark for the segment (at 150kW/500Nm).

Drive goes through a nine-speed conventional automatic transmission via a selectable 4WD system.

GWM quotes a fuel consumption average of 7.8 litres per 100km and CO2 emissions of 221g per kilometre with a claimed cruising range listed of 950km.

At the money, the Chinese-made Tank has a serious price advantage over similar rock hopping, stump jumping, proper 4WD vehicles in the segment as opposed to wannabe SUV wagons with AWD which you might take into the snow.

Numbered among genuine competitors are the South Korean KGM Rexton from $50k neat driveaway, the Thai-built Pajero Sport 4WD (if you can still get one) from $51,540 + ORC, Toyota’s long lived Thai-built Fortuner 4WD from $53,773 + ORC, and the Isuzu MU-X 1.9 4WD from $54,440 + ORC also out of Thailand.

Accompanying the diesel donk, GWM announced a series of upgrades including longer service intervals at 12 months/15,000km intervals instead of the 10,000km interval previously with the first scheduled service fixed at 12 months or 10,000km – whichever comes first.

Capped-price servicing moves from a measly 45,000km to a more decent 70,000km, and the really important news is Tank 300’s increased payload and towing capacity rated at 600kg and 3000kg respectively.

The load upgrades are facilitated by more than 20 engineering enhancements including: bigger front suspension knuckles, a toughened rear differential casing, larger wheel bearings, larger front brake rotors and callipers, reinforced tail shaft welding and a dual-range selectable four-wheel drive system.

All Tank 300 variants are backed by GWM’s seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, seven-year roadside assistance plan, and seven years of capped-price servicing.

Critical vehicle stats include a 12.0m turning circle, 75-litre fuel tank, multiple drive modes, wading depth at 700mm, ground clearance of 224mm, and approach and departure angles listed at 33.0 and 34.0 degrees respectively. The break-over angle is 23.0 degrees.

Of particular relevance for off road driving, the test model was equipped with front and rear differential locks, crawl control, and Tank Turn mode.

The well-equipped Tank 300 Diesel Ultra arrives with Nappa leather upholstery, heated and ventilated power adjustable front seats, 60:40 split-fold rear seats with adjustable recline, heated steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, driver seat memory function, and driver massage function.

Additionally, the model has LED ambient cabin lighting wireless device charging pad, a reading lamp, exterior mirror memory, addition chassis protection, front and cargo area 12-volt outlet , auto-dimming rear-view mirror, sunroof, roof rails, keyless entry and ignition, underbody protection and nine-speaker audio system.

Infotainment and connectivity features include a 12.3-inch digital instrumentation cluster, 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, native sat nav, DAB+ digital radio, voice control, front and rear seat USB outlets, and on-board telematics.

A connected app allows control over vehicle locking, climate control and heated/ventilated seats (where fitted), flashing the lights or sounding the horn, geo-fencing functions, open and closing the windows and sunroof, and fuel level and range monitoring.

It also allows over-the-air software updates, with GWM saying it will add additional features down the track.

Safety equipment covers extensive ADAS features, front and rear parking sensors, 360-degree camera, tyre pressure monitoring, rear seat occupant reminder, hill start and hill descent assist, ISOXFIX (x2) and top-tether (x3) child seat anchorages.

Driving Impressions

We like the old-school boxy look of the Tank 300 accentuated by round LED headlights with distinctive strike through horizontal elements and the rear-end dominated by a tailgate-mounted spare and square light clusters on the outer extremities… nary a light bar or boomerang shaped LED light to be seen thank goodness.

The shape pays dividends inside across all dimensions bestowing the Large segment fourbie with a generous amount of space across the comfortable five-seat passenger compartment and behind that in a large load area accessed by the side-hinged tailgate.

The interior has a conventionally styled dash featuring a funky fascia finished in brushed metal, four large round vents and assorted switchgear with a nicely integrated unobtrusive centre screen, round multifunction wheel and T-bar gear selector between the front seats.

It has a large sunroof that we would delete if it was possible, an acceptable audio system, efficient dual-zone climate control and relatively easy to access digital functions through a mix of screen controls, haptic and conventional switches.

But the indicators are a real worry as the three-blink touch function doesn’t always work necessitating another driver activation that then switches on the other blinker left, right, left, right...

The usual intrusive ADAS annoyances at times take control unnecessarily or incorrectly which saw us spending a few minutes before each drive turning the retched so-called “safety” systems off. And we could do without the cheesy “kerchang” sound when D is selected.

Access is good through large doors, but egress was compromised by the rock rails under them that stick out too far.

On another note, performance is underwhelming for a 2.4-litre turbo diesel with a claimed 135kW/480Nm output as it is seriously slow off the mark so much so that we found ourselves using to old “one thousand and one, one thousand and two” timing sequence to allow for the Tank 300 diesel’s lag.

On the move it’s OK and not too noisy but still not what you would call strong compared to say the Toyota Fortuner in our garage.

GWM could do worse than instruct its engineers to recalibrate the turbo system for better instantaneous spool to make the vehicle more responsive.

The nine-speed auto was problematic in the test vehicle with an annoying random hiccup simply driving along. It kind of fluffed then continued on its way which is not confidence inspiring to say the least.

Other than that, the ‘box operated smoothly rarely reaching ninth cog preferring seventh or eighth even on the freeway.

The multiple drive modes made little difference to how the Tank 300 diesel performed apart from possibly allowing it to rev out more which is counter-productive in a turbo diesel.

Fuel consumption hovered around the high-nine, low-10 litre mark, even at 110km/h on the freeway with cruise control engaged.

We really, really tried and saw 8.7 litres/100km but you can’t drive like that all the time, it’s too draining however with 75 litres in the tank you can go at least 750km.

Ride quality from the firm-ish suspension is good on and off-road and even the highway spec’ tyres provided good grip on both sealed and unsealed roads. The steering on the other hand is leisurely, the upgraded brakes however bite hard and give a progressive pedal feel.

We took the test vehicle for a bit of bush bashing and in the right mode found it surprisingly adept with decent ground clearance, dual diff locks and suspension articulation. The Tank 300’s relatively compact dimensions pay dividends in tight access while the plastic body cladding, bumpers and underbody protection inspire confidence in the rough.

The big question is: ‘Would we plonk down our hard earned on a GWM Tank 300 diesel?’.

And the answer is ‘no’. Quite simply put, there are far too many niggles for us.