From the bluff, upright dashboard to the conjoined 12.3-inch displays and circular air vents, it’s clear GWM has drawn inspiration from Mercedes-Benz’s iconic retro-modern off-roader. The cabin of the Ultra we tested is mighty impressive, from the ‘faux’ leather-accented seats to the quilted leatherette door inserts and clear resolution of the digital screens. It does have quite a bit of ‘wow’ factor. Perceived build quality is solid, especially for the segment. The (cheaper) Jimny and (more expensive) Wrangler are utilitarian by comparison.
Storage is decent too, with a good amount of cubbies and shelves to leave your odds and ends, though I wish the front door pockets were a little more substantial.
In the Ultra, the driver is treated to an electrically-adjustable seat which is neat, with both front seats also featuring heating and cooling. The Ultra HEV adds memory presets for both the driver’s seat and mirrors.
The faux leather steering wheel also offers reach and rake adjustment, but as in most vehicles in the 4×4 segment you often find yourself sitting quite high in the cabin, and sort of looking down into the instrument binnacle.
The GWM tank 300’s digital driver’s display gets top marks for colour and clarity, but a ‘needs improvement’ for layout and configurability. The menus and layout ape what we’ve seen in the Haval H6, with a Tank 300 for various graphics and a couple of extra off-road menus thrown in – colour matched to the vehicle though, which is cute. I’d love to see virtual dials, which no doubt would be desirable when off-roading. It would also be great if the left and right areas of the panel had greater customisability than just an array of widgets flanking a large centre section with limited configurability.
Moving to the left you have the giant 12.3-inch central touchscreen. Like the driver’s display, the infotainment system is a Tank version of what we’ve seen in GWM Haval products with the same menus, fonts, and layouts with fairly minimal differentiation.
In terms of features, you get Apple carPlay (wireless in the Ultra HEV) and Android Auto which look great on the high-resolution display, as well as DAB+. There’s still no embedded satellite navigation, which means if you frequent regional areas with minimal reception you could run into issues with mapping if you miss a turn on a pre-downloaded route.
Otherwise, it’s fairly quick to respond to inputs and load menus, even if some of those menus are a little convoluted. Hopefully with updates we’ll see simplified menus and cleaner text. My previous complaint about a shortcut bar on the right-hand drive side has been addressed, though you can’t access it while using CarPlay.
The nine-speaker Infinity-branded audio system in the Ultra is pretty decent for audio quality and depth.
Space in the back is good, thanks to the Tank 300’s boxy dimensions. At 6’1 I had good head-, knee- and toe room, though the high-ish floor means you have a bit of a knees-up seating position which is fairly common for ladder-frame platforms.
Rear amenities include directional air vents, USB power outlets, map pockets behind both front seats, bottle holders in the doors, and a fold-down centre armrest with cupholders.
The second-row seats fold pretty much completely flat in a 60:40 split, and kids are catered for thanks to top-tether points across all three positions as well as ISOFIX anchors on the outboard positions.
Oddly, GWM still doesn’t quote a luggage capacity for the Tank 300 in any of its official documentation.
Accessed via a heavy side-hinged tailgate, we can tell you the square, wide and flat load area is bigger than you’ll find in a Suzuki Jimny, and isn’t far off something like a Jeep Wrangler or Land Rover Defender 90.
There’s a full-sized spare wheel is mounted on the tailgate – not that you’d miss it.
What’s under the bonnet?
The Tank 300 HEV uses a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine producing 180kW of power at 5500-6000rpm and 380Nm of torque at 1700-4000rpm, paired with a 78kW/268Nm electric motor – system outputs are 255kW and 648Nm.
Hybrid models use a nine-speed ‘Hybrid Automatic Transmission’ and a torque-on-demand full-time four-wheel drive system. It features electronically-controlled mechanical front and rear differential locks, a Tank Turn function to reduce the turning circle on gravel, and a crawl mode.
The Tank 300 uses 9.5L/100km on the combined cycle, while the Tank 300 Hybrid quotes 8.4L/100km.
Despite the on-paper advantage of the Tank 300 Hybrid, the trip computer generally hovered between high-11s and low-12s with a good mix of highway and city driving – not much different to what we achieved in the petrol model.
All versions of the Tank 300 are rated to run on 91 RON regular unleaded, with the fuel tank rated to hold 75 litres. Towing capacity is rated at 2500kg with a braked trailer, and 750kg without trailer brakes.
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