GWM Tank 300 proves you don’t need to remortgage the house to go properly off-road.
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There was a time when Jeep was all you'd need. Need a rough-and-tumble rugged rock climber? Wrangler is for you. Need a large, capable, family overlander? Grand Cherokee's got you covered? Road-biased family car? Wagoneer for you, good sir (although not available in South Africa). And if you wanted something in between? Not as rugged as the Wrangler, but not as big and luxurious and wafty as a Grand Cherokee? Well then, the Cherokee (Cherokee Sport in some markets) was perfect for you. And in KJ generation specifically, it struck the perfect balance between off-road capability and everyday utility.
But Jeep has gone a different direction, and you're now either stuck with rugged Wrangler, or luxury small, luxury medium, and luxury large.
What if I just want a five-door, five-seat adventure vehicle capable enough to tackle the rough stuff, but not scale mountainsides, and do it in the kind of luxury I don't have to remortgage my house to afford?
The adventure vehicle space isn't exactly sparse, but there's very little catering to the price-conscious buyer who also wants to have a bit of fun.
A spiritual nod to the Jeep Cherokee KJ, reimagined for a new generation of adventurers.
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Sure, you've got the Scorpio-N from Mahindra, which still can feel a little scratchy on the inside, but we need a hero that offers adventure motoring in style and comfort.
Enter the GWM Tank 300.
I like to see it as the spiritual successor to the Jeep Cherokee KJ-series, in looks and brawn. It looks the part – part Ssangyong Korando, part Jeep Cherokee, part Wrangler, part G Wagon.
But packaged together in a way that should give five-seat Fortuners a run for their money.
For starters, it's a lot sexier inside than a Fortuner, which is in its price and size competitor range. There are shades of Mercedes-Benz AMG in the dash, especially around the backlit rotary aircon vents and moulded faux-aluminium dashboard panels. An analogue clock between the two central vents will also be familiar to luxury executive car owners. Quilted leather seats and doorcards belie its tough exterior.
It's in every way a budget G Wagon.
The Tank 300 is powered by a tough-sounding 2.4l turbodiesel engine, the same found in the P300, but surprisingly is quieter and smoother in here than in the double-cab. Its suspension, too, feels far better weighted than the P300, offering a smooth ride, even across bumpier, rutted surfaces. The 2.4l turbodiesel puts out 135kW and 480Nm, while the 2.0l turbopetrol delivers 162kW and 380Nm, and there's also a 2.0l hybrid that pushes out 255kW and 648Nm.
Trust me, the 2.4l turbodiesel is enough.
Proper ground clearance, serious traction, and just enough luxury to enjoy the journey there and back.
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It's capable too – on a steep, sandy incline without any of the 4X4 gadgetry activated, I managed to make it up without too much wheelspinning drama.
Practicality is also top of mind – a swinging tailgate and flat load lip makes packing the boot a breeze (but don't reverse park if you need to get something out the the boot); the rear doors open to almost 90º, so loading your car seat, children and pets are a breeze; the leather seats feel hardy while still comfortably supple to sit in; and the recessed infotainment and digital dials are well out of your way if you need to reach for your dashcam of grab loose items as you trundle through the rough stuff.
The Tank 300 really feels like it would handle anything you can throw at it, and on a particularly bumpy gravel road with undulating dips and potholes, it handled with far more surety than a Fortuner would.
Its on-road manners, too, are surprisingly refined. There's not too much body roll you'd expect from a car this tall and high off the ground. Speaking of, ground clearance is 224mm with a wading depth of 700mm! That's more than you'll need from an adventure vehicle.
Think classic 4x4 attitude, but with an interior that wouldn’t feel out of place in a premium SUV.
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Space in the back is massive, with room enough for me in the back to stretch my legs behind my own driving position (I'm about 180cm tall in the morning). The boot is not as big as I expected it to be, but it's cavernous enough to swallow a week's worth of roadtripping or overlanding luggage.
You also get running boards (which came in useful when I needed to move from the front to tha back in very moist, muddy conditions), roof rails (I used for the same purpose), a sunroof, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a smooth, slick infotainment touchscreen, driving modes and possibly one of the coolest features – the key fob looks like a tank!
If you find the BAIC B40 plus too Wrangler-like and the Jetour T1 a little too Toyota Prado-like and the T2 too Defender-like, the Tank 300 is exactly the car for you.
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IOL Motoring