With the Tank 300 model alone, "Tank" has become a new independent brand under Great Wall Motors, and it has even pushed the heat of an original niche market segment to the extreme.
A friend told me that when he booked a car, he was ready to wait for 4-5 months to pick up the car - it seems that as long as there is an excellent product endorsement, the "hardcore off-road" can indeed no longer be niche.
With the promotion of the "brand up" process, the Tank 500 has once again successfully brought the heat of luxury hardcore off-road vehicles to the fire - since the opening of pre-sales, the factory has received more than 20,000 orders, which is a good proof. So, what are the hard-core strengths of this new car that make consumers so sought after it? ...... Only through test driving can we answer the questions in our hearts.
First of all, let's talk about the appearance, unlike the tank 300, the overall shape of the tank 500 is closer to the traditional SUV. The wide grille with its thick chrome strips creates a very strong hardcore style, and the towering front engine compartment also makes it look powerful.
Sitting in this car with a length of more than 5 meters, the sense of superiority is born - while waiting for the traffic lights, even the Audi Q7 parked next to it seems to have become a "younger brother".
As a stepping stone to enter the luxury car market, the power must be arranged "full"! The Tank 500 is powered by a 3.0T V6 turbocharged engine – in this era of transition to "electrification", the choice of a heavyweight new car to use a large displacement engine is already impressive.
What's more, the engine can also produce a maximum power of 260 kW (354 hp) and a maximum torque of 500 N·m, while also achieving a thermal efficiency of 38.5%, using miller circulation, integrated water cooling and dual VGT variable-section double supercharging.
In addition, the combination of the engine and the longitudinal 9-speed automatic transmission independently developed by the Great Wall can also be described as complementary, and its speed ratio range has reached 8.843; coupled with the 48V light mixing system, the factory calibrated 0-100km/h acceleration performance of 7.3s.
As for the actual performance of this power combination in the test drive process, it can be roughly summarized as follows - stable and fast, not as violent as imagined; accelerated linear, follow-up output can be described as a continuous stream.
By the way, large displacement = high fuel consumption? ...... Not necessarily. After more than 100 kilometers of comprehensive road test drives, the fuel consumption of 100 kilometers is 11.5L – which is already a good performance for a model with a weight of 2.5 tons.
Not only that, but the off-road strength of the tank 500 is also worthy of recognition. It adopts a non-load-bearing body structure, and the suspension design of the front double wishbones + rear multi-link integral bridge is also the standard for hard-core off-roading; at the same time, the car is also equipped with a timely four-wheel drive system, which can switch between two-wheel drive (2H), intelligent four-wheel drive (AWD), high-speed four-wheel drive (4H) and low-speed four-wheel drive (4L).
In terms of chassis tuning, the tank 500 is different from the Japanese hardcore off-road vehicle, and is closer to the texture of the German car. Compared to the former's "yacht" driving feedback, the tank 500 provides good lateral support when turning and merging.
Of course, such a tuning also comes with certain sacrifices - the tank 500 does not seem to be thorough enough in filtering the small vibrations of the road surface. Although the feeling in the front row is not particularly obvious, when riding in the back seat, it is obvious that the vehicle will jump when passing through the speed bump, but the amplitude is still within the acceptable range.
Since you want to play off-road, passing sex is naturally not a problem. The approach angle of the tank 500 is 29.6°, the departure angle is 24°, and the minimum ground clearance is 224mm; at the same time, the maximum wading depth of the business version is 700mm, and the sports version can reach 800mm. By the way, the model I test drove this time is the business version, and the spare tire is placed in the rear of the chassis.
In addition, the car is equipped with a 360° panoramic image and a "transparent chassis" function. As soon as the steering wheel reaches a certain angle of rotation or when the parking assist function is activated, the latter activates automatically, allowing the driver to better understand the surrounding environment – whether on urban roads or unpaved roads, which makes it easy and simple.
In particular, the performance of the tank 500 in terms of NVH can be described as unexpectedly good. Its front and rear windows are made of double-layer laminated glass, and high-grade soundproof cotton is used in many places throughout the car, and it also has an ANC active noise reduction function.
During the test drive, the vehicle's suppression of wind noise and tire noise is very good, achieving a good filtration effect - even at a high speed of 120km/h, the members of the car can communicate through normal volume.
In the author's opinion, the power system of the tank 500 can be described as its core competitiveness - 3.0T large-displacement engine + self-developed 9AT gearbox, which is precious in the context of "double integration" and is also worthy of its starting price of 335,000 yuan.
In addition, this heavyweight product has also achieved the ultimate in luxury atmosphere creation and intelligent technology configuration, supplemented by the central differential and rear axle differential lock, which is fully in line with the positioning of its luxury off-road model.
Set luxury, technology, intelligence, space, off-road and refinement in one - the comprehensive strength of the tank 500 is strong enough, undoubtedly set a benchmark for the domestic luxury hardcore SUV.