2024 GWM Tank 500 review

1 month ago 9

GWM has lofty ambitions successful Australia.

Not contented with selling inexpensive SUVs to budget-oriented buyers, it’s gradually moving to instrumentality connected a fair-dinkum Australian icon successful the Toyota Prado.

The 2024 GWM Tank 500 is the astir costly GWM ever to grace section showrooms, with a terms nudging $75,000 successful Ultra guise. It’s besides the astir luxurious, and the biggest, and the astir awesome to look astatine successful person; determination are hints of different cars successful definite angles, but it’s a unsocial conveyance that volition crook plentifulness of heads.

Style isn’t capable successful this segment, however. The Tank 500 goes head-to-head with cars radical spot to instrumentality their families heavy into the wilderness, which means that benignant needs to beryllium backed with substance.

For the astir part, it delivers connected that beforehand too.

How overmuch does the GWM Tank 500 cost?

2024 GWM Tank 500 Lux: $66,490
2024 GWM Tank 500 Ultra: $73,990

All prices are drive-away

What is the GWM Tank 500 similar connected the inside?

Wow. This is simply a earnestly bully looking car down the wheel.

From the quilted leather connected the seats, to the monolithic screens, to the Bentley-aping timepiece betwixt the aerial vents, it’s a existent showstopper inside. GWM besides gets recognition for offering a prime betwixt black, oregon blue-and-white interior options successful Australia.

The fundamentals are bully arsenic well. I’ve struggled to get comfy successful different GWM cars, but the Tank has supportive beforehand seats with capable accommodation to accomodate awkward (or big, Australian) bodies. The seats themselves are generously padded, and near america feeling caller aft fractional a time down the wheel.

Everything you poke oregon prod feels solid, from the buttons connected the centre console to the leather-trimmed steering wheel, and adjacent the introduction car comes generously equipped. GWM is going to merchantability plentifulness of Tanks connected the spot of its cabin.

The exertion present is an betterment implicit what’s presently connected connection crossed the range. The cardinal touchscreen is immense and features polished graphics wrong the autochthonal software, portion the Hey GWM dependable adjunct is incredibly responsive… to the constituent it’s a spot excessively keen to leap successful erstwhile you notation the marque name.

It’s theoretically capable to power everything from the vigor to the windows, and astatine times worked perfectly – but it besides got its wires crossed connected a fewer inputs, turning disconnected the head-up show alternatively of opening the sunroof astatine 1 point.

Apple CarPlay (wireless) is tremendous connected the screen, with monolithic icons and agleam colours making it fundamentally idiot proof. Thankfully, it’s besides casual to crook the surface disconnected astatine nighttime utilizing the shortcut paper that pulls down from the apical of the screen.

The integer driver’s show doesn’t look each that cleanable – the graphics are inactive a spot fussy, and you can’t mimic old-school analogue dials. But you are capable to show a representation successful the cluster, and it’s casual capable to work connected the move.

Storage up beforehand is decent, with heavy cardinal cupholders, a heavy cardinal bin, and a cheap-feeling sliding cardinal tray successful betwixt the two. The doorway pockets person abstraction for bigger bottles, and there’s a neat cutout beneath the transmission passageway backing up the wireless telephone charger.

Rear passengers are good looked after. Legroom is fantabulous down big drivers, and headroom is plentiful contempt the panoramic sunroof. The gangly windows volition mean shorter passengers oregon kids tin inactive spot out, too.

Air vents diagnostic connected the transmission passageway and successful the roof, on with amenities similar a fold-down cardinal armrest with vessel holders and USB complaint ports. Interestingly, the rear outboard seats are cooled alternatively of heated successful the top-spec Ultra.

ISOFIX points diagnostic connected the outboard rear seats, and there’s a trio of top-tethers backmost determination for kid seats.

Accessing the 3rd enactment is tougher than it truly should be, owed to the two-stage spot fold-and-slide mechanism. You request to flatten the backrest successful 1 determination past usage different to descent the seat forward, and it takes immoderate flexibility to ascent backmost there.

Given the 3rd enactment has a convenient power-folding relation successful the Ultra, it’s a shame the 2nd enactment doesn’t person a much elegant mechanism.

Space successful the 3rd enactment is amended than expected. Adults won’t privation to walk excessively overmuch clip backmost there, but with the 2nd enactment slid guardant they bash acceptable – and kids are good catered for, with roof-mounted aerial vents. It’ll beryllium absorbing to spot however the caller Prado shapes up.

Boot abstraction is simply a claimed 1459 litres with the rear seats each folded, 795 litres with the 2nd enactment successful place, and 98 litres with the 3rd enactment successful place. There’s a full-sized spare instrumentality connected the side-hinged tailgate, which is simply a throwback that does marque the footwear harder to entree erstwhile you’re parked up against a partition oregon different vehicles.

What’s nether the bonnet?

All versions of the Tank 500 astatine motorboat volition diagnostic an electrified four-cylinder turbo petrol powertrain.

ModelGWM Tank 500 Hybrid

Engine	2.0L 4cyl-cylinder turbo
Transmission	9-speed automatic
Power	180kW
Torque	380Nm
Electric motor	Single motor, transmission mounted
Power	78kW
Torque	268Nm
Combined highest power	255kW
Combined highest torque	648Nm
Fuel depletion (claimed)	8.5L/100km
Fuel vessel capacity	80L
Fuel rating	91 RON
Kerb weight	2432kg

It has a braked towing capableness of 3000kg, a GVM of 3395kg, and a GCM of 6705kg.

How does the GWM Tank 500 drive?

We’re truthful utilized to large household four-wheel drives being backed by a rattly diesel soundtrack, it’s refreshing to thrust 1 that starts successful silence.

With its hybrid powertrain, you don’t get immoderate diesel clatter oregon rattle done the steering instrumentality astatine a standstill, and adjacent connected the determination it’s impressively quiescent and smooth.

Unlike a Toyota hybrid, it runs done the gears erstwhile you accelerate hard, and it feels comparatively electric at debased speeds. Along with the smooth-moving hybrid system, what instantly stands retired is however comfy the thrust is here.

It’s not uncommon for ute-based four-wheel drives (the Tank 500 shares its bones with the GWM Cannon Alpha not yet confirmed for Australia) to consciousness a spot brittle, successful a motion to their commercialized roots.

The Tank mostly avoids that trap, with a long-legged feeling that’s beauteous luxurious by people standards.

With airy steering and a decent presumption of the corners of the bonnet, our little stint successful the metropolis showed the Tank doesn’t consciousness similar a vessel successful confined spaces. GWM besides does immoderate of the champion operator assistance cameras successful the business, with crisp solution and the quality to pivot the presumption astir a 3D exemplary of the car.

That remains the lawsuit erstwhile you’re cruising astatine road speeds. It hums on nicely, smoothing retired rugged state highways without breaking a sweat – prevention for much upwind sound from the mirrors than would different beryllium ideal.

It’s nicely planted, settling without excessively overmuch bobbing astir implicit large road crests and dips, though the occasional crisp pothole oregon ace successful the roadworthy inactive elicits a shimmy from the car’s ladder frame.

But… GWM inactive desperately needs to bash thing astir its hyperactive operator assists if it’s going to person Australian families to walk agelong periods of clip down the instrumentality of its cars, alternatively of a Toyota oregon Ford.

The operator attraction monitoring strategy is determined to archer you to wage attraction to the roadworthy each mates of minutes, adjacent if your eyes are locked connected the horizon, and the exigency lane-keeping conscionable isn’t equipped to woody with state roads with mottled airy oregon gravel shoulders.

It’s astir belligerent successful its determination to get involved, perpetually chiming successful aft the operator has overridden it, forcing you to instrumentality your eyes disconnected the roadworthy to power the strategy disconnected successful the touchscreen. Safety first.

The GWM Tank 500 comes with immoderate coagulated off-road bona fides, with a 30-degree attack angle, 22.5 grade interruption implicit angle, and 224mm of crushed clearance. Maximum wading extent is 800mm.

It besides has immoderate precise clever technology, specified arsenic a vessel crook relation that allows this 5078mm-long four-wheel thrust to marque tighter turns off-road utilizing the brakes, and a scope of off-road modes beyond the modular 4H, 4L, and front/rear differential locks.

That’s the benignant of suite you’d expect of a Prado, and successful the existent satellite it grants the 500 beauteous coagulated off-road ability.

We took it up immoderate rugged trails and the biggest handbrake were the road-oriented tyres, alternatively than carnal issues similar the approach/departure angles, and the four-wheel thrust strategy switches smoothly from 4A, into 4H, oregon 4L.

You bash get immoderate unusual responses from the hybrid strategy astatine times, though. On a steep ascent it felt caught betwixt the bottommost of 2nd gear, wherever it was pugnacious to support momentum, and the apical of archetypal cogwheel wherever the petrol motor was truly straining.

We’re precise utilized to however a diesel motor reacts to definite inputs successful low-range; the hybrid strategy successful the Tank 500 feels precise antithetic – and arsenic if there’s inactive fine-tuning to beryllium done, particularly fixed however important it is for owners to spot their cars off-road.

While we’re talking fine-tuning, it takes a batch of fastener pushes to get to features similar the Tank Turn. Making them easier to entree would beryllium a triumph for owners who don’t needfully person clip to travel a atomic motorboat series connected engaged trails.

What bash you get?

Tank 500 Lux highlights:

Automatic LED headlights
18-inch alloy wheels
Rear privateness glass
Sunroof
Side steps
Black leatherette upholstery
8-way powerfulness driver’s spot with lumbar support
Heated beforehand seats
14.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system
Wireless Apple CarPlay
Wired Android Auto
8-speaker dependable system
12.3-inch integer instrumentality cluster
Semi-automatic parking assist
Surround-view camera with transparent chassis view
Electronic rear differential lock
Underbody protection

Tank 500 Ultra adds:

Nappa leather upholstery
Heated, ventilated and massaging beforehand seats
- incl. memory, invited functions
12-speaker Infinity dependable system
Second-row model shades
Power-folding 3rd row
64-colour ambient lighting
Power broadside steps
Electronic beforehand differential lock
Soft-close powerfulness tailgate

Is the GWM Tank 500 safe?

The Tank 500 doesn’t yet person a information rating, though GWM is “quietly confident” it volition gain 5 stars erstwhile enactment done its paces by ANCAP.

Standard information features include:

7 airbags
Adaptive cruise control
Autonomous exigency braking (AEB)
- Pedestrian, Cyclist detection
Emergency lane support assist
Lane support assist
Lane centring
Front cross-traffic assist
Rear cross-traffic assist
Traffic motion recognition

How overmuch does the GWM Tank 500 outgo to run?

The GWM Tank 500 is backed by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

It besides comes with 7 years of roadside assist, and 7 years of capped-price servicing.

CarExpert’s Take connected the GWM Tank 500

This is comfortably the astir awesome GWM merchandise we’ve seen successful Australia.

From the plan to the interior, which feels similar a lucifer for importantly much costly products, it’s casual to spot GWM selling plentifulness connected the spot of however the Tank 500 presents successful the showroom.

But there’s much to this than conscionable a agelong instrumentality list, and a batch of metallic for the money.

It drives with existent polish connected sealed roads, with a comfy thrust and level of refinement that makes it a earthy acceptable for families spending agelong periods of clip connected the unfastened road.

Based connected our motorboat thrust there’s plentifulness of off-road quality baked in, too.

Some complaints remain. GWM desperately needs to bash thing astir its operator assists – peculiarly the operator monitoring and exigency lane-keeping. They’re improved compared to earlier iterations, but they’re inactive distracting to the constituent of immense frustration.

There’s besides immoderate enactment to beryllium done refining the hybrid strategy off-road, wherever it doesn’t consciousness peculiarly natural. Neither is simply a fatal flaw and, based connected what we’ve seen of GWM lately, it would beryllium a astonishment if they haven’t been corrected soon.