15/06/2025

theSunday Special XIV ON SUNDAY JUNE 15, 2025

WHEN it comes to large SUVs with off roading prowess, the first thing that comes to mind is the legendary Toyota Land Cruiser. That is just how it has been ever since it was first introduced way back in the 50s. The Land Cruiser has some proper hard core DNA in its engine oil since Toyota was commissioned by the US military to pro duce a compact off-roader for military use in the region, particularly during the Korean war. Ever since then, the world has come to associate the Land Cruiser with being a dependable off-roader – helped in large part by the ultra-rich middle easterners who elevated the status of a Land Cruiser from a capable off-roader, to one that included lux ury as well. Hey, if it was good for the sheikhs, then it should be good for the rest of the world. Many have tried to dethrone it. Nissan tried with the Patrol, Land Rover with its Defender, Jeep and the Grand Cherokee and perhaps even Mercedes-Benz and the G-Class. None have succeeded. But let’s get serious. If any of us were to be offered one car to drive from the edges of Malaysia to the edges of Scotland tomor row, it will be a Toyota Land Cruiser. But alas, the Land Cruiser is not the ulti mate answer to all our worldly automotive problems. Over the years, Toyota has stacked on luxurious appointments on top of the ultra advanced off-roading technologies. And all that cost’s money, a lot of money. This has turned the Land Cruiser from an affordable, reliable off-roader to one that can take on the mighty Ranger Rover in terms of interior appointments and price. Visit any automotive classified website and you will be looking at a price tag upward of RM400,000 which is on the cheaper side of the Land Cruiser spectrum. Newer ones with more interior bling will set you back closer to RM700,000. And you can’t buy them brand new either. You have to buy a Japanese spec model from a parallel importer. Imagine that. And that has left an interesting gap in the market. One that has now been filled by Great Wall Motors (GWM) and the Tank 500. A little background So, who is this newcomer that dares take on the mighty Toyota Land Cruiser at its own game? The Tank 500 is a sub-brand under the gargantuan GWM umbrella. GWM needs no introduction. It boasts sales of over 14.9 million vehicles globally with over US$27 billion (RM114b) in annual revenue. Though this figure trails behind the goli aths in the form of Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen, it is only a matter of time until GWM becomes one of the titans of the industry. To achieve this, GWM introduced sub brands, with each targeting different seg ments. Haval is probably its most well-known brand and GWM’s flagship SUV, responsi ble for the majority of its sales. Of course, then there is Ora which spe cialises in electric vehicles and Wey, which is a premium SUV brand that will also soon be introduced to the Malaysian market. Tank is another such brand under GWM and it focuses on luxurious hardcore off road SUVs, and Malaysians were first intro

duced to the Tank brand back in 2024 with the introduction of the Tank 300. What does Tank focus on? Every brand has a single-minded focus, its raison d’etre , something that it has become synonymous with. BMW has become synonymous with power and performance, Porsche with motorsport, Ferrari with Formula 1, and Land Cruiser with dependability. GWM introduced Tank back in 2020 and positioned it so that it became synonymous with premium, hardcore, off-road SUVs. In fact, one of the core philosophies of the Tank brand is the “harmony between toughness and comfort.” Besides that, the Tank brand will also focus on diversified powertrains with mod els that range from traditional petrol engines, hybrid electric vehicles, as well as plug-in hybrid options.

In typical Chinese fashion, the interior offers gigantic screens and some hard keys.

Rear passengers get their own ventilated seats and air conditioning controls.

The analogue clock is a nice touch.

wading through 800mm of water thanks to its 224mm ground clearance. In case you’re unsure of how deep the water is, the SUV even has an in-built water depth detection sensor. So, you’re always in control of the situation. Electronic drive modes include the 11 mentioned earlier, of which four are for on road driving. On top of this, you also get intelligent four-wheel-drive system with electronically controlled front and rear dif ferential locks with a mechanical centre locker. Do you see why the Tank 500 has Land Cruiser buyers in its sights now? It wants to be everything the Toyota is by offering tech that the Toyota does not. It even has the same “transparent chassis” feature which debuted in Malaysia in the Tank 300. And this is further enhanced with a feature called “Conquerors Perspective”! These features work by providing the driver with a view of what is going on around and underneath the car, so you can conquer any obstacle, so to speak. But is it as good as the Land Cruiser? What is the interior like? It looks plush, expensive and high-tech when you first get in. Chinese car brands love their gargantuan screens with few hard buttons, and the Tank 500 is no different. Step into the car and onto the Nappa leather wrapped driver’s seat, and after you get comfortable in the eight-way electroni cally adjustable driver seat with massage and ventilation function, your eyes will be greeted by a massive screen to your left. This screen measures in at 14.6-inches

And you can see this with the local Tank line-up. The Tank 300 is powered by a pet rol engine and the newly introduced 500 is powered by a hybrid electric powertrain. So, what is the Tank 500 then? If I have not already made it obvious, the Tank 500 is a premium SUV with some serious off-roading capabilities. I didn’t get to try out it’s off-roading prowess during a test drive to Penang and back, but it has 11 driving modes dedicated to getting you out of any situation. And if you have not already guessed by the way it looks, it is inspired by and has the traditional Land Cruiser buyer squarely in its cross hairs. But unlike the old school premium SUV’s which rely on big capacity engines, the Tank 500 is powered by a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbocharged engine which is mated to an electric motor which in turn delivers its power to the wheels through a nine-speed gearbox. Is the engine good enough? Well, the power figures may suggest as much. The engine puts out 244PS and 380Nm of torque, while the electric motor churns out 106PS and 268Nm by itself. And of course, the combined output figure stands at a mighty 346PS and 648Nm of torque. But the Tank 500 is a car that weighs a little over 2.5 tonnes. So even though the power output is impressive, you really don’t feel it working to move the car. But driving character is something I’ll touch on in more detail later. However, this is where I will point out that some markets offer the Tank 500 with a 3.0-litre, twin-turbo, V6 engine that puts

Most of the hard keys are to control the four-wheel-drive system or to select a drive mode.

out 348hp and 500Nm of torque. Perhaps that may suit the character and purpose of the Tank 500 better than a 2.0-litre engine. Besides that, though, the Tank 500 has a squadron of clever electronic gremlins designed to keep the car going in almost all situations. Some of this includes the “Tank Turn Assist” feature, which can help you with tight manoeuvres by locking the inside rear wheel. Something like dropping an anchor to turn a tight corner, fans of the Battleship movie will know what I am talking about. On top of that, the Tank 500 is capable of