With the usual 17-inch wheels, the Tank 300 off-road fan lifts fluffy snow on its way to one of the peaks of the Borus mountain range, located near the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station. Here in Khakass Western Sayans, the Great Wall company brought in journalists to demonstrate the potential of the new machine with space images of the region untouched by civilization.
In fact, the Tank 300 should have arrived in Russia much earlier, as its Chinese debut took place in 2020 on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic, which placed the Celestial Empire in a long-term lockdown. There, the “three hundredth” was first sold under the Way premium brand, and then the history of the new brand, which was fundamentally different from other Great Wall SUV models, began to be calculated from it.
Abrasive drivers may notice somewhere that the “Tank” has a resemblance to the iconic Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen or the no less well-named Jeep Wrangler. Undoubtedly, the Chinese designers could not do without allusions, but nevertheless the image turned out to be their own, original.
Yes, jeep-style bumper ducts with protruding, plastic-coated, square-top wheel arches,
It has a recognizable windshield at a high angle, a tailgate that tilts to the side. “These are typical features of the segment,” the company replies. Unlike the corresponding SUV Haval Dargo, this deliberate rudeness of the Tank 300 is certainly appropriate: it is built on a new all-terrain platform of the same name and has in its arsenal everything required by the standards of this segment and even more. .
Chinese designers tried to follow the unspoken dress code of a cool SUV in the interior of the car, too. Mercedes-style air ducts are made in the style of turbine nozzles, and the instrument cluster and multimedia system screens are combined in one module. It is surprising that the interior of the Chinese Tank looks no worse than the German premium and is definitely a cut above its Japanese rivals.
After the “three hundredth”, for example, switching to the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado cabin is the same as changing the business class seat on an airplane for an economy seat, and in the case of Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, a boarding ticket on a low-cost airline.
In our test, we have an SUV in the second (and final) Premium configuration, the seats in it are covered not even with Alcantara, but with Nappa leather, which is loved by premium manufacturers. There are no questions about the molding of the seats – they are comfortable both in terms of lumbar support, lateral support, and in the notorious “Chinese seat” – they are not short, the legs do not get tired for a long trip.
The plastic of the dashboard, stylized as “winged metal”, is a very bold and dangerous decision: it was worth cheapening with quality, and this would instantly reduce reliability. We managed to walk right along the edge: The panel itself looks visually beautiful, although it gives its polypropylene origin to the touch with a popping sound. And even better, this
When driving on a bumpy road, all those “sandwiches” of soft roofs, 12-inch touchscreens, air ducts and various parts of the instrument cluster do not come to life with crickets and squeaks.
The tank multimedia complex is familiar to Russians from other Haval models, the interface is simple and straightforward. We drive on the roads of Khakassia with Yandex cards connected from a smartphone via Apple CarPlay. There is a similar possibility when docking a phone using Android Auto. In addition to pasting pictures from versatile cameras, the Tank 300 has a very useful “transparent” hood function that makes it easy to move around the terrain when the front of the vehicle seems to disappear on the screen.
Together with the “Tank”, there was a separate local victory for buyers of Russian cars from the Chinese auto industry – this is one of the few cars from China on the Russian market in which it became possible to turn off the mandatory electronic assistants once and without repetition.
All these Chinese vuvuzelki warn of lane changes, dangerous approaches and other “Achtungs”, infuriating the driver to the point of impossibility with their indisputable interference with each start of the engine.
In the Tank 300, the entire navy of assistants can be configured very individually via the media system menu, but the basic functions (climate control, heated windows and seats, all-terrain arsenal) have their own switches on the dashboard. In addition, for our market, the car is specially equipped with a heated steering wheel and windshield.
Visibility in the SUV is good, thanks to the high angle of the windshield and the low waistline. And if the obstacle is hidden behind ledges, then the 360-degree camera will certainly not distract from your eyes. The ergonomics of the driver and passengers deserve praise, the front driver has two levers – on the A-pillar and above the glove compartment.
Turn signals in the car are not fixed in positions, as in previous generations of BMW, they work by tapping. Many probably remember jokes about customers of the Bavarian brand, who allegedly did not know how to use turn signals. It is difficult to get a clear task from the automation, as was once the case with German cars: the needle flashes orange for a long time, or when the driver tries to turn it off, the electronics signal the turn. opposite direction. But the Russian office promised to regulate this process.
The rear of the 300 is very spacious, despite the fact that the Tank is slightly wider than the medium-sized Haval Dargo, but the advantage in length (4760 mm) and height (1903 mm) is solid – 140 mm immediately and 123 mm, respectively. Even a very tall person will not feel the strain in the knee area, but the high landing in the back row – the costs of the frame structure – may not like it. In addition to the armrest with cup holders for rear passengers, three-phase seat heating, two USB connections and individual air conditioning system air ducts are offered.
The 410-liter trunk easily accommodates three business suitcases and there’s still room for other things.
The compartment is equipped with lifting eyes, hooks and a 12 and 220 volt outlet. More importantly, when converted, it transforms into a truly flat floor without any steps, increasing the cargo volume to 1635 liters. It’s a travel bed! A minor drawback of the storage compartment is the absence of a luggage rack that protects its contents from prying eyes.
On the suburban asphalt, the 2230-kilogram Tank moves very confidently, the frame carcass rushes to overtake quite quickly and en masse, somewhat impressive at medium speeds. It would seem that for such a weight the engine power (220 hp and 380 Nm) should not be enough, but supported by confident overtaking, the car seems to honestly “hundred” its acceleration of 10.6 seconds.
As the Tank 300 is a classic SUV with a Part-Time transmission, by default the vehicle is rear-wheel drive.
In principle, for most off-road tests, the “Tank” has enough 4H modes with wired front-wheel drive. If you give it a little gas, the car climbs slippery hills without the help of locks with a single stabilization system that bite the freely spinning wheels. The knuckle of the suspension is great, the wheels are very reluctant to sag, stick to the surface all the way.
If you lock the differentials of the front and rear axles, including low gear 4L, the Tank will go forward until there is traction.
The algorithms of the multi-mode transmission include several options for driving on a bad road (“Snow”, “Stones”, “Clay”, “Sand”). They’re not really for show here – electronics change the response settings of the accelerator pedal, ABS steering and traction control. If you feel like an expert on the roads, you can completely remove the “smart” devices. The tank armament is even supported by the functions of turning in a small area (the rear inner wheel is clamped by the brakes to reduce the radius) and off-road “speed control” functions when the vehicle sneaks over bumps with the touch of the electronics.
In general, if we take the reference car Toyota Land Cruser Prado, which is the king in the “real SUV” segment in terms of price-quality ratio, then the Chinese “Tank” surpasses the Japanese car in terms of equipping it with modern electronic options. , at the high cost of the interior and even in the design. As part of the technical arsenal, it is no worse and no better than the “three hundredth” Toyota, its main advantage here is that only the Chinese car is officially sold at dealers (at a price of 3.7 million rubles). True, cars are still bought from car carriers.