New Toyota Prado, 2024 Mitsubishi Triton revealed and the GWM Tank 300

CarExpert

Jack Quick and Paul Maric join Sean on the podcast this week to talk about the brand new Toyota Prado, Paul’s trip to Thailand to see the new Mitsubishi Triton and the guys dissect the GWM Tank 300.  Welcome to our new video podcast! While we've been publishing the CarExpert podcast as an audio podcast for some time, we wanted to change things up with a video podcast! It is hosted by Sean Lander (one of our videographers).  GWM Tank 300 review: https://youtu.be/2ZsrHyhz4Sg  Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 2024 Toyota Prado 01:12 2024 Mitsubishi Triton 10:30 GWM Tank 300 Review 18:13 Outro 26:58  We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.  Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.  Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1  You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.  Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!  Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!  CarExpert: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au  Paul Maric: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Sean and welcome to the all new Car Expert podcast.

00:03 Now today we've got a really big show for you.

00:05 We're going to be talking about the all new Toyota Prado

00:07 that's just dropped, the new Triton that's just dropped,

00:10 and we've been driving the Tank 300.

00:12 So we're going to have a little bit of a chat about that.

00:13 Now to help me get through the next half an hour,

00:15 to help you get through the next half an hour,

00:17 I've brought along Car Expert's news machine, Jack Quick.

00:21 And because we had cameras out

00:22 and you can't keep him away from it,

00:24 Paul Maric is joining us too.

00:25 Boys, welcome, welcome.

00:27 - Hey Sean, hello Paul.

00:28 - Jack, this is your first time

00:30 on the new Car Expert podcast.

00:31 How are you feeling under lights?

00:32 - Yeah, pretty good.

00:33 I suppose this is the first time

00:34 a lot of people have seen my face

00:36 and might've heard my voice on the podcast previously,

00:39 but you now get to see all of this.

00:41 So yes.

00:42 - So if you're not watching on YouTube,

00:43 do head over to Car Expert on YouTube and watch the podcast.

00:47 You get to see Jack, your life will be much better for it.

00:50 Paul, what have you been up to lately, mate?

00:52 - I've just come back from Thailand.

00:54 So I was checking out the new Mitsubishi Triton.

00:56 - Oh, it was a business trip then?

00:57 - Yes.

00:58 - I'm joking this time.

00:59 And then also we've spent half the day filming content

01:03 on the new Land Cruiser, or both new Land Cruisers,

01:06 the 250 series and also the 70 series as well.

01:09 So some pretty exciting developments there from Toyota.

01:12 - Yes, it's been a busy week.

01:13 So let's not waste time.

01:14 Let's get straight into it.

01:15 If you haven't already seen the news,

01:18 head to carexpert.com.au and check it out.

01:20 Toyota just announced the replacement Prado.

01:23 It's better known as the Land Cruiser 250.

01:26 And if you understand the Land Cruiser naming system,

01:28 it falls between the 200 series and the 300 series,

01:30 which is where they get that.

01:32 The old one was called the 150.

01:33 Let's not get bogged down in that.

01:34 Let's get straight into it.

01:35 It's got a 2.8 litre four cylinder turbo diesel

01:38 with a mild hybrid, which is, it's sort of--

01:42 - Mild?

01:43 - Mild, yes.

01:44 Very mild.

01:46 We've talked about this recently

01:47 with the new Hilux is getting a mild hybrid system.

01:49 It sort of seems like a bit of a waste of time, potentially.

01:53 - It's essentially the same engine

01:55 as the previous generation Prado

01:58 with the 2.8 four cylinder turbo diesel.

02:00 But now it just gets mild hybrid assistance,

02:02 which is, from my understanding,

02:04 with this particular system,

02:06 just meant to help with start, stop.

02:08 It'll offer automatic idle start, stop.

02:11 And it'll make that system and process

02:13 a little bit smoother and easier.

02:15 It's fuel saving, essentially.

02:16 - Yeah, look, I think, I love the look

02:19 of the new Land Cruiser Prado.

02:21 I think they've done a sensational job with the styling.

02:24 Little bit of Sandy Taup in there,

02:25 throw it back to the 70 series.

02:27 And in fact, they spent the first 10 minutes

02:29 of the live stream talking about old cars

02:31 and then spent about 10 seconds talking about the new one

02:34 and we didn't actually get any information about it.

02:37 Later on, though, we did get information

02:39 and part of that was that it's going to get

02:41 the Hilux engine, which I think is a massive disappointment.

02:44 They've not gone with a V6 diesel.

02:46 There is no petrol option for Australia.

02:48 They're getting the turbocharged four cylinder petrol

02:51 in the States with the hybrid out of the Lexus RX.

02:54 I just think they've missed a big opportunity here.

02:56 This is going to be heavier as well.

02:57 It shares a wheelbase and a platform with 300 series.

03:00 And I can't imagine driving a 300 series

03:02 with a four cylinder.

03:04 - Yeah, so we recently did a tow test

03:06 with the current model Prado,

03:08 which has a 3000 kilo tow capacity.

03:10 And like it did the job, but it wasn't amazing.

03:12 And the numbers on this, not amazing either.

03:15 They're a 150 kilowatt, 500 Newton meters.

03:17 So it's not like a big jump up over the old one.

03:19 The hybrid system is not giving it any kind of boost.

03:22 I think in the States,

03:23 they haven't actually given us Australian figures yet.

03:25 So if you're wondering why we're a bit murky on that,

03:27 that's why.

03:28 In the States, it's rated to around a 2.7 ton tow capacity.

03:31 They have a different engine to what we're getting,

03:34 but do you think that it'll be 3000 kilos?

03:37 That's where they're going to try and get it to be?

03:38 - Yeah, I think their limitation is primarily due

03:40 to that hybrid system.

03:41 I think it's actually a platform limitation.

03:43 This platform is obviously 300 series,

03:45 the new Lexus, the GX, both have a V6 alternative.

03:50 So I think that I'm hoping that at some point

03:54 they will drop a V6 into this,

03:56 or at least the hybrid petrol option.

03:58 But it just seems, they do this all the time.

04:01 They go so close to wowing us and then it releases

04:05 and you're like, who do?

04:07 - I think they're going to try and force,

04:09 they've gone with this four cylinder turbo diesel for now

04:12 because the Lexus GX is launching

04:15 and with that cool twin turbo petrol V6,

04:17 which is what people want.

04:19 And I think they've kind of talked with each other

04:22 and that's what they're thinking they're going to lead

04:24 and push people towards.

04:24 If you want the V6, well, you have no choice

04:27 but to get the fancy Lexus.

04:28 - But that's a problem because that Lexus is expensive.

04:31 In Australia, the 300 series is only available

04:33 with a V6 diesel.

04:35 They would be crazy to go and drop that V6 diesel

04:38 into Prado because it's meant to be a cheaper car.

04:41 And the tech in Prado actually looks better

04:43 than Land Cruiser as well.

04:44 It actually has sway bar disconnects,

04:46 which we've seen previously on Wrangler and Gladiator.

04:49 And I think that they've ditched KDSS

04:51 because this seems to achieve the same goal,

04:54 but it seems to be a far simpler system.

04:57 KDSS was quite complex in a sense and heavy,

05:00 developed in Australia as well, in Western Australia,

05:02 which is kind of cool.

05:03 But yeah, I'm excited to see it on the road here.

05:05 It goes on sale in Australia, is it mid next year?

05:08 - Yeah, mid 2024 at this stage is when it's launching here.

05:11 - Yeah, and it'll be called the Land Cruiser in the States

05:13 'cause they actually had the big boy Land Cruiser,

05:14 but they killed it.

05:15 And now it'll just be called Land Cruiser in the States.

05:17 - It's gonna be Land Cruiser Prado in Australia,

05:20 Land Cruiser 250 in Japan,

05:22 and then also the Land Cruiser in the US.

05:25 So, I hope you will.

05:27 - Interesting chat on the forums, on the Reddit forums

05:29 for Land Cruiser pages.

05:31 It's a great looking car.

05:32 It has elements from the Defender.

05:34 It has elements from a 300 series.

05:36 Okay, it looks better than the new Everest,

05:40 but you'd be hard pressed to go one of these

05:44 over the new Everest, wouldn't you?

05:44 - Well, it'll be expensive.

05:46 I guarantee it'll be expensive

05:48 'cause Prado Kakadu caps out at like 95 grand.

05:51 This, I think mid spec will be about 95 grand.

05:53 So, it'll be significantly more than an Everest,

05:56 but I don't know.

05:57 I think this looks better than an Everest.

05:58 Unfortunately, the engine means

06:00 that it probably won't be as capable,

06:02 but let's see.

06:03 They also revealed the 70 series,

06:06 which was a bit of a surprise to all of us.

06:08 And I'm like, hold on, who went to AliExpress

06:10 and put some lights on a 70 series?

06:12 I'm like, oh my God, that's the actual design.

06:14 It looks so goofy.

06:15 - I mean, I think, growing up on a farm,

06:18 Jack, you grew up on a farm too.

06:19 I think the lights are the smallest problem

06:21 on the new Land Cruiser 70 series.

06:24 The biggest issue is they cut an engine in half.

06:27 And they're saying they've now got

06:30 a four cylinder Land Cruiser 70 series.

06:33 - With an auto.

06:34 So, they've taken the engine from the Hilux,

06:36 much like the Prado, and they've stuck it in the 70 series

06:40 with a six speed automatic.

06:42 150 kilowatts, 500 new meters.

06:45 Is this the downfall of the 70 series?

06:49 - Yeah, well, although it sounds terrible,

06:52 the four cylinder makes more torque than the V8 does.

06:57 So, theoretically, it'll be better to tow.

07:00 It just mightn't sound as good.

07:01 - But I've got to say, Matt, our commercial director,

07:03 who's over there at the moment listening keenly,

07:05 he's got a 70 series.

07:06 And the clutch is one of the limitations on those.

07:09 If you go get an auto in a 70 series,

07:11 they tend to be a bit of a monster.

07:14 'Cause that V8 diesel is so underrated.

07:16 And I think Matt's about to go drop

07:18 about 50 grand on his 70 series.

07:20 - I love that.

07:21 - But yeah, I think this new one,

07:23 the four cylinder does make a lot of sense.

07:25 But the mishmash of components there kind of doesn't.

07:28 So, auto only for four cylinder.

07:30 Diesel, the V8 diesel will remain manual only.

07:33 They've installed a new infotainment system

07:35 that adds Apple CarPlay and Android Auto,

07:36 but no volume knob.

07:37 So, you've got buttons now for volume.

07:40 Steering wheels changed.

07:41 It's got extra safety equipment.

07:43 And the goofiest of goofy headlights.

07:46 - Yes.

07:46 So, they've actually, you can see it,

07:48 if you're looking at the images

07:49 on our YouTube stream right now,

07:51 you can see it does actually have a little radar sensor

07:53 in the front, but no radar cruise control

07:55 as far as we can tell.

07:56 - Maybe it's coming.

07:57 - Maybe it's coming.

07:58 - This could be 2028.

07:59 They go, "Hey guys, we're gonna spoil you.

08:01 Have some radar cruise control."

08:02 - I mean, to be fair, this is Toyota 70 series.

08:04 So, it could be 2048 and then they'll spoil us with that.

08:07 - How old would it be by that stage?

08:08 God, it was like 1985 when it was revealed.

08:11 But I think the craziest part is with the change

08:14 that the interior is virtually identical

08:16 and sure, it has this new infotainment system

08:18 and cluster and stuff,

08:20 but it has USB-C ports that I noticed.

08:23 - I know, that's fancy.

08:24 - Yeah, whoop-de-doo, I suppose.

08:25 But in an interior that has like velour seats,

08:29 doesn't quite make sense.

08:30 - I've got a question for you guys.

08:31 You both grew up on farms.

08:33 Back where I grew up, we drove Yugos

08:36 and fled wars and stuff.

08:39 On a farm, why do farmers buy a 70 series?

08:43 Like what is the logic for someone

08:45 who's watching this going,

08:46 "Why would I spend 80 grand on that thing?"

08:48 - Well, I hate to sound like a Toyota salesman,

08:49 but they are just tough as hell.

08:52 I used to work in underground mining

08:55 and we all drove V8 70 series.

08:57 There's a couple of six cylinders still getting around

08:59 'cause they make them in South Africa.

09:00 But the outside contractors would bring in Hiluxes

09:03 and they'd fall to bits after a couple of months.

09:05 And the Land Cruisers were easy to repair,

09:08 easy to maintain.

09:09 You know, you recently tested the GXL single cab.

09:14 You pop that in low range, stick it in third gear,

09:16 you don't have to touch the clutch or the throttle all day.

09:18 It'll just get itself around.

09:20 I think they just go anywhere, do anything,

09:22 and tough as nails.

09:23 - I think part of it as well is,

09:25 let me just put on my straight man hat for a second.

09:27 It's just the parts are readily available.

09:31 You can kind of travel around Australia

09:33 and not worry too much.

09:35 If something breaks,

09:36 you'll be able to go to the nearest town,

09:37 whether that be two hours or so away,

09:40 and you'll be able to go to the mechanic and get parts.

09:42 And it's just reliable,

09:44 just that classic Toyota thing, I suppose.

09:46 - Well, would your people have worked on them on the farm

09:50 instead of taking them to the dealer?

09:51 - Oh, the big ones, yeah, definitely.

09:52 Yeah, you go out past Cobar,

09:54 sort of way out in the outback.

09:56 They have farmhands that are mechanics as well,

09:59 and they'll just do all the servicing themselves.

10:01 They'll go to the dealer in town,

10:03 they'll order in the past,

10:04 and they'll just do it themselves.

10:05 It's way easier.

10:06 And everything's there.

10:07 Like, you look at it,

10:08 you can see all the bits and pieces.

10:10 The only thing that is a pain in the ass to do

10:12 is the engine, really.

10:14 So other than that, yeah.

10:16 Oh, look, they'll probably sell them all.

10:18 - Yes, absolutely.

10:19 - I think, actually, if you haven't watched the videos

10:21 we've released on YouTube, do click up here.

10:24 You'll be able to see Paul's pretty face

10:26 talking about the new 70 series and the new Prado.

10:30 So Paul, you've recently, as you said earlier

10:32 in the podcast, you've just returned from Thailand,

10:35 and it wasn't a holiday.

10:36 - No, but it was hot and sweaty.

10:37 - Yes.

10:38 (laughing)

10:39 Yes, even in Australia, it's been hot and sweaty lately.

10:42 But you were driving the new,

10:43 or no, you weren't actually driving,

10:45 but you were checking out the brand new Mitsubishi Triton.

10:47 So tell us a little bit about that.

10:48 - Yes, so I went to the reveal, it was a global reveal.

10:52 At first, we were at this live stream,

10:54 and they had two of them there,

10:55 and I thought, oh, this is kind of a bit low rent.

10:57 And then all of a sudden, this curtain dropped,

10:59 and they had what they were calling Triton World,

11:02 where they had all of these utes there.

11:04 Walked out to have a look at the Triton,

11:05 and I'm like, oh, it's a TJM sticker on that.

11:09 And I said to the Mitsubishi Australia people

11:11 that were with me, I'm like, oh, it's good to see

11:13 you guys got TJM involved in the prototyping process

11:16 and stuff, and they're like, oh, news to us.

11:18 And we're like, okay, and we contacted TJM.

11:21 It was news to them as well.

11:23 So TJM's Thai division had come,

11:26 had been part of this prototyping process.

11:29 And it's not like you can just go put a bull bar on a ute.

11:31 You can, but it just might not last.

11:34 You might have restricted airflow, et cetera.

11:35 These guys had somehow done all the 3D laser modeling

11:39 to fit these things properly,

11:41 but no one knew it was happening.

11:42 But I've got to say that, look, the design of the Triton,

11:45 I wasn't a huge fan of, and design is entirely subjective.

11:48 I just thought it looked a bit underdone.

11:50 But some of the modified ones looked sensational.

11:53 Some of them had camp kitchens on them,

11:55 bull bars, off-road tires.

11:57 There was even like a slammed race truck version,

12:00 which I thought was cool.

12:02 But key numbers there, I just wonder if that's enough.

12:06 - Yeah, we know they've been testing this

12:07 in Australia quite a lot.

12:09 We know Ranger was first announced nearly two years ago

12:13 with most of its specs available at that point in time.

12:16 So just to fill you in, Mitsubishi's come out

12:19 with a 2.4 liter twin turbo four cylinder.

12:22 - Yeah.

12:23 - Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

12:26 - And what else?

12:27 - 150 kilowatts, 470 Newton meters.

12:30 Now that just doesn't seem like it's enough.

12:33 - Well, it would be fine if it was maybe five years ago

12:36 before there were V6 options readily available,

12:40 before we knew that Toyota was considering

12:42 going down the path of their hybrid drive trains

12:44 and potentially something a bit meatier as well.

12:48 Rear drum brakes, yeah, it's just a bit of an underwhelming

12:52 thing, I reckon.

12:54 Ranger is 500, Hilux is 500.

12:58 We recently did, again, mentioned before the tow test,

13:01 we did a Ute tow test earlier in the year

13:03 and Triton was right up on the weights

13:06 and right up at the edge of its limit with it,

13:09 but it had a lower tow capacity then

13:11 and now they've upped it to three and a half ton.

13:14 And you spent some time in the old Triton, didn't you?

13:17 - Yeah, it was meh.

13:20 It sorely needed a V6 'cause I know the Ranger's

13:23 600 Newton meters is very, very well appreciated

13:27 and I'd love to see that in the Triton,

13:29 but unfortunately it doesn't really seem to be the case

13:32 at launch anyway and we just get this bi-turbo thing

13:36 that is just, I suppose--

13:38 - Let's caveat this by saying we haven't driven it,

13:40 but look, I think that knowing Mitsubishi,

13:44 I'm hoping that it feels better behind the wheel.

13:46 I had a sneaking suspicion the D-Max was underrated

13:50 in terms of the power and torque figures

13:51 and I suspect this will be the same

13:53 if they've twin turbocharged this now.

13:55 It probably is making a bit more than 470.

13:58 The good news though, they used to have a couple of issues

14:00 when people were fitting camper vans and stuff

14:02 because the rear axle was a little too inward

14:04 of the chassis rails and was causing them to bend.

14:07 So they've actually extended the wheel base now,

14:09 which means you're getting better load distribution

14:12 on the chassis rails.

14:14 One thing that Ford and Toyota have done

14:16 in the new Ranger and also the Rogue

14:18 is moved the dampers outboard of the chassis rails.

14:21 Mitsubishi's stuck with inboard

14:22 and the outboard arrangement gives you better packaging,

14:25 but also better handling for the wider track setup

14:28 that they have.

14:29 So I'll be interested to see how this performs

14:31 'cause it is actually fitted with the Active Yaw Control,

14:35 which is the torque vectoring system that uses brakes

14:38 that we've seen on Outlander and was developed for the Evo.

14:41 So hey, maybe this will be a race car or something.

14:43 - Yeah, well they do have a Dakar spec version

14:46 or a rally spec version of this thing now.

14:48 - Yeah, that looked unreal.

14:49 - So, I mean, look, it's coming out with,

14:52 the initial offering's pretty good.

14:53 They've got a dual cab offering, they've got a club cab,

14:55 which is sort of like a super cab

14:56 with a rear bench seat in the back.

14:58 They have kept super select.

14:59 It's like a reasonable,

15:02 like the current gen's a reasonable off-roader, right?

15:04 - Yeah, so if for those that don't know,

15:06 what that means is it's like a full-time

15:08 four-wheel drive system where it allows you

15:10 to be in four-wheel drive while you're driving

15:12 on sealed surfaces, unlike a part-time four-wheel drive

15:16 system that is also available on the Triton

15:18 on the lesser grades.

15:20 - Yeah, that actually makes it unique as well,

15:21 'cause I think it's Ranger in V6 trim that does a 4A.

15:26 So I think that they've really thought about that

15:30 as a point of difference.

15:31 And look, if this is priced well,

15:32 I don't think it's actually the end of the world

15:34 that it doesn't have all of the big numbers,

15:36 because as long as they don't try and compete

15:39 with the big boys in terms of pricing,

15:41 we can't deliver in terms of what they have.

15:44 And I think it'll be okay.

15:46 I'll just be keen to see where they price it,

15:48 'cause the Chinese units are very cheap.

15:50 They're now getting pretty good as well.

15:52 So this really needs to be in that middle band.

15:54 They can't just go too crazy with it.

15:56 - D-Max, BT50, the like, I imagine, yeah.

15:59 - Yeah, I mean, about the interior,

16:00 they've put basically the screen out of the Outlander

16:03 into it, so it's got an infotainment screen,

16:06 digital elements in the dashboard.

16:07 - Dash clusters from the Navara, though.

16:09 - Ah, right. - If you notice that,

16:10 you've got analog gauges and a screen in the center,

16:14 which is from the Navara, as far as I can tell.

16:17 But the Outlander has a full digital display,

16:20 so they had that available to them.

16:22 And that also surprised us by saying that,

16:24 at the moment, there is no partnership with Nissan

16:26 to develop a Navara off this platform.

16:28 - Oh, that's the complete opposite from what I'd heard.

16:31 - We heard that from Kato-san,

16:32 who is the global boss of Mitsubishi.

16:35 So we were taken aback by that,

16:37 because our understanding was that this would spawn

16:38 a Navara platform, but he's saying at the moment.

16:41 But I think they say that because they probably,

16:44 you know, Japanese are a bit funny with that stuff.

16:45 So it probably will, but at this stage,

16:47 they're saying this is an all-new platform,

16:50 new engine, and all unique to Mitsubishi at the moment.

16:54 - There's, I know we saw a manual in the Trady Spec

16:58 in Thailand, is that coming to Australia?

17:00 - Manuals will eventually come to Australia,

17:01 but they will just launch with the premium grades.

17:03 Thailand is actually, we did a factory tour as well,

17:06 Thailand has already started production.

17:08 They're getting deliveries immediately.

17:10 They've bumped us to Feb next year for our arrival,

17:14 even though we are the second biggest market behind Thailand

17:17 and globally in Mitsubishi's portfolio, the most profitable.

17:20 So it is interesting they're focused on Thailand.

17:22 You would've thought they'd run them concurrently,

17:24 'cause Thailand is typically a four by two,

17:25 high rider, low rider market,

17:27 whereas we're four by four upper spec.

17:29 So it is fascinating how that stuff works

17:32 in the Mitsubishi world.

17:33 - So if you are considering buying a new Triton

17:36 between now and February next year,

17:38 I recommend you head to Google and type in

17:40 Help Me Car Expert, that'll take you to a special page.

17:43 You'll see some pictures of Paul and he,

17:45 well, he won't help you,

17:46 but the pictures of him will help you, guide you through--

17:49 - Put me there in spirit.

17:49 - Yes, that will guide you through the process

17:51 of finding a car, pricing it up,

17:54 getting a really good deal on it,

17:56 and then we can connect you to a wide range of dealers

17:58 all over the country to help you find your next new car.

18:00 So head to Help Me Car Expert on Google

18:03 and hopefully maybe get yourself a really good deal

18:06 on a Triton before they run out,

18:08 and, or maybe put in an order for a new Triton,

18:11 it's up to you.

18:12 So we'll move on to our final segment.

18:14 We're gonna talk about the car

18:15 that we've all driven recently.

18:17 - Yes.

18:17 - There was an announcement,

18:20 oh, it was a little while ago now,

18:22 that the Chinese were gonna make a Jeep,

18:26 basically, more or less, and it's finally arrived.

18:28 It's called the GWM Tank 300, it's got a fantastic name.

18:32 It does do tank turns, but not like a tank,

18:35 it does tank turns, it's more like a Land Cruiser's--

18:38 - It's like a GWM tank.

18:40 - Yes, yes, it's, disappointingly,

18:41 it wasn't the tank turn I expected it to be.

18:44 But it did come out, we got it, it was very orange.

18:47 It was actually very nice inside,

18:49 which was quite a surprise,

18:51 and it had a punchy little two-liter,

18:53 four-cylinder turbo petrol engine.

18:55 Jack, I believe you had a bit of a spin in it

18:58 over the weekend.

18:58 - Yeah, I did. - How was that?

19:00 - I did have a spin over the weekend,

19:02 and I parked it right up against my Jimny,

19:05 which I thought was a fair comparison.

19:08 I quite like the idea of stepping up to the Tank 300,

19:12 given its extra size, extra power.

19:15 - Was it significantly bigger?

19:16 - Yeah, it felt like, it looked huge in comparison,

19:19 although my Jimny does have a lift,

19:21 so it's almost the same height.

19:23 But a few things that really stood out to me

19:25 with the Tank 300 was how refined the powertrain was.

19:29 It's little, with a two-liter,

19:30 four-cylinder turbo petrol, was great.

19:32 I wasn't expecting that amount of zap and zing

19:35 when I got on the throttle.

19:37 And then paired with the automatic transmission,

19:40 I've driven a lot of GWMs and Havils.

19:42 I think for reference, the H6,

19:45 it has a dual-clutch transmission

19:46 that's a little bit clunky.

19:48 But this torque converter is just great,

19:50 and it gets the power to the road.

19:51 - Is it a ZF?

19:52 - I don't know exactly.

19:53 I'm not 100% certain.

19:55 I think, I can't remember if it's an eight

19:56 or a nine speed either, but regardless,

19:59 it feels really nice to drive, at least on the road.

20:02 I didn't get a chance off-road, but I imagine,

20:05 I thought you, did you have a chance off-road?

20:07 - Yeah, I'll quickly, actually,

20:09 you can Google this quickly while I chat about it,

20:11 but I'm pretty sure it was a ZF from memory.

20:13 But I found the same thing.

20:14 It was really nice and punchy, very refined.

20:17 And for the price, like 46,990 for the entry level,

20:21 jumps up to 59,90 for the top spec,

20:23 which is the one that we had.

20:24 Although it was incredibly well-presented.

20:27 And it drove surprisingly well.

20:29 A lot of the time when we test these Chinese market cars,

20:32 they'll come to Australia with some very random,

20:35 disappointing tires that just make them not great

20:39 in terms of handling.

20:40 Generally, the suspension isn't very good.

20:42 This, on the other hand,

20:43 the ride was actually quite well-sorted.

20:46 The handling was surprisingly good.

20:48 So they have put a lot of effort into this.

20:50 Where it did fall down though,

20:51 we did a brake test from 100 Ks an hour.

20:54 And during that emergency stop,

20:55 we measured the stopping distance

20:57 and the time it takes to get from 100 to zero.

20:59 When we played back the footage,

21:00 and I felt in the car that it felt a bit weird,

21:02 but when we played back the footage,

21:03 it actually left the ground slightly at the rear.

21:06 So the ride is a bit too soft at the rear

21:08 for what it's trying to achieve.

21:11 We've sort of brought that to the attention of GWM,

21:13 we'll see what they say.

21:14 But off-road, it was great.

21:15 Front and rear diff locks,

21:17 which is what you get on a Raptor.

21:19 Low range, you have stack of driving modes.

21:21 Unfortunately, most of the drive modes

21:22 only work in low range,

21:24 which kind of makes them a bit sort of pointless.

21:26 But I thought that it was quite impressive

21:28 in terms of how it did everything.

21:30 And the tank turn function was kind of fun as well.

21:33 - Yeah, I mean, the numbers on it are pretty good.

21:34 It's 162 kilowatts, 300 Newton meters.

21:38 It went really well.

21:40 Aside from it trying to do a mono,

21:43 it actually stopped in a pretty reasonable distance.

21:45 - Yeah, it was fine.

21:46 - If you had it loaded up,

21:47 it probably wouldn't have that issue as much, to be fair.

21:51 But it's probably one of the surprising cars,

21:53 one of the Chinese market cars we've driven recently

21:55 that's actually sort of good.

21:59 - And I found a lot of interesting things.

22:02 So I spent different points throughout the week

22:04 driving the car and I'd find a new feature

22:07 and a new trick every time I drove the car.

22:09 Admittedly, a lot of it was tucked in the touchscreen.

22:12 So I'd open a new menu and, "Oh, I can adjust this."

22:15 I found out you could do,

22:17 it had a heated steering wheel.

22:18 I found that out and you could program

22:20 one of the steering wheel buttons

22:21 to make that turn on and off.

22:23 And there was even this special, in the boot,

22:26 there's a special, you lifted up the flap

22:28 and you could erect a table of sorts.

22:31 - How interesting.

22:32 - It had little poles.

22:33 It was really interesting.

22:34 I've made a little reel

22:35 that I'm gonna post on Instagram at some point.

22:37 But you click it into the load floor cover

22:41 and then you can put it on the ground.

22:43 And it's this awkward 30 centimetre height off the ground.

22:46 I don't know what you--

22:47 - It's for jimmy owners.

22:48 - Yeah. (laughing)

22:49 - It's like a giant table for a jimmy owner.

22:51 Pop the jimmy up and do some work on it.

22:53 - I imagine it's for potentially like

22:55 having something for the spare tyre to put it on

22:59 or I don't know exactly.

23:00 But in the packaging it said it can hold up to 60 kilos.

23:04 So-- - That's interesting.

23:06 - In the menus as well,

23:07 there was actually a off-road cooling function as well.

23:11 So you press that and it'll run the engine fan.

23:14 So if you are driving off-road,

23:16 it can actually keep everything cool.

23:17 'Cause that's an issue we had with the Prado once

23:18 where we're doing sand driving

23:20 and the transmission overheated.

23:22 So that was a generation ago,

23:25 but that's been fixed since then.

23:27 But it's one of those things

23:28 where those functions actually come in handy.

23:31 I thought that a couple of random things

23:33 like the stop start system

23:34 would turn the headlights off very briefly.

23:37 And that was getting annoying

23:38 'cause if you're driving home at night

23:39 and stop start traffic,

23:40 people just kept thinking you were flashing them

23:43 with the headlights.

23:44 And towing capacity was a little under as well.

23:47 I mean, they wanna be a competitor to the Prado,

23:49 but in terms of towing capacity, it was 2,500 kilos.

23:52 So 500 down on Prado,

23:54 a ton down on a lot of the other bigger SUVs in the segment.

23:58 But I think it's a great start.

23:59 There was a hybrid coming and there's an even bigger,

24:02 this is the 300.

24:04 Was it a 500 or something?

24:05 - Yeah, and that's meant to be the proper Prado rival

24:08 from my understanding.

24:09 This is like the budget Wrangler, essentially.

24:13 - This might be a contentious thing to say.

24:14 I feel like it was a much better vehicle overall

24:17 than a new Wrangler is in terms of-

24:19 - Well, the steering wheel actually moved the vehicle,

24:23 which was positive.

24:24 - Not just the wind.

24:24 - Yes.

24:25 - It did also have a cool little mode

24:28 called car expert mode.

24:29 So we'd like to thank GWM for fitting that to the car.

24:31 We did appreciate that.

24:32 - What was that mode?

24:33 - It was, you basically put it into car expert mode

24:36 and then you could select some settings.

24:38 - Oh, yes, I remember that now.

24:40 Yes.

24:41 Hang on, sorry, that was Sean being funny.

24:43 Good job, Sean.

24:44 - Yes.

24:45 - Well done.

24:46 - GWM, I'll take my payment in crypto.

24:47 Thank you.

24:49 - I had no idea, mate.

24:51 Ask me how I know.

24:52 - We'll skip over that today.

24:56 So yeah, so the tank ultra,

24:57 GWM tank 300 ultra that we drove,

25:00 59.90, really, really good price

25:04 compared to pretty much anything else that's-

25:07 - Almost the price of a Jimny at this stage.

25:08 - Almost the price of the Jimny.

25:10 Actually, I'm curious to put it head to head

25:13 with the Jimny off-road and see how it goes.

25:14 - Especially when the five-door arrives,

25:17 'cause that's gonna be, oh, very slow.

25:20 - Yes, I mean, yeah, you go slow off-road,

25:22 but yeah, this thing was incredible off-road.

25:25 Like, it just did it,

25:27 which I guess there was some doubt for us,

25:30 for Paul and I, when we went and filmed it,

25:30 we were a bit unsure whether it would,

25:32 but it did it.

25:34 You know, if it struggled, you pop it into low range

25:36 and then it just totalled off

25:37 even on the road tires it was on.

25:38 - I'm interested, if you're watching this

25:41 or listening to this, have you bought one?

25:43 What's it like?

25:44 I know a couple of people have started

25:45 posting some stuff on the internet, videos and stuff.

25:48 And Facebook groups are going off.

25:51 - Yeah, it seems people are liking them.

25:52 I'm curious to see how this goes long-term.

25:55 It's been out now for a couple of years, I think in China.

25:58 So I'll be curious to see how it goes longer term

25:59 here in Australia.

26:00 - Yeah, so if you haven't seen the video,

26:02 do head to the Car Expert YouTube channel.

26:04 We'll put a link in the description of the podcast.

26:05 So you can go and check it out.

26:07 Paul driving the Tank 300, doing some stunts in it

26:11 and driving off-road.

26:13 So gentlemen, I'd like to--

26:15 - I should also mention it does burnouts.

26:17 - It did, yes, it did.

26:19 - I did a burnout in it just for fun.

26:20 - Yeah, it did a surprisingly good burnout.

26:23 Yes, I suppose they just need to fit a line lock function.

26:28 - Yeah, and the diff worked after it.

26:30 - And the diff worked after it, yes.

26:31 - So go GWM.

26:32 - Yes, what was the car that had diff problems, Paul?

26:36 - My Raptor.

26:36 - Oh, that's right, it was your Raptor, yes, I remember.

26:38 We also have a video of that on YouTube

26:40 if you haven't seen that.

26:41 - Love the plug.

26:41 - That's a very, very good video to watch.

26:45 So I'd like to thank you guys for joining me.

26:46 We're going to wrap it up here this week.

26:47 Any final thoughts you want to leave us with before we go?

26:50 - No, mate, thank you for the jokes.

26:51 - No, and thank you for having me, Sean.

26:53 It's nice to make my debut in person.

26:55 - Yes, yes, in 4K.

26:57 - Yeah, God.

26:58 - So if you are listening to this podcast,

27:00 I do make a request, go over to YouTube and watch it.

27:03 It's very fun.

27:04 We've also got great images of the cars, video footage.

27:07 So you can actually get a sense of what we're talking about.

27:09 If you are on YouTube, hit that subscribe button,

27:12 give us a like, leave us a comment.

27:13 If you're listening on one of the many podcast platforms

27:15 we're on, do leave us a rating and a review.

27:18 Five stars would be much appreciated.

27:20 Thank you very much.

27:21 And if you have any questions, we'd love to hear them.

27:23 We'd love any suggestions you have.

27:25 So you can email us, podcast@carexpert.com.au.

27:28 Next week, we're going to be talking about

27:30 the new Gran Turismo movie.

27:32 We're all off to see that very shortly

27:34 as a little team outing.

27:36 And we're going to be talking about the new Mustang.

27:38 One of our guys, Scott Colley,

27:39 if you remember from last episode,

27:41 he went to the States, the drivers.

27:42 He's going to tell you all about it.

27:44 - He's very tall, I don't know how he fit.

27:45 - Yes, well, everything's bigger in America, I guess.

27:48 So I'd like to thank all of you for joining us this week

27:52 and we will see you next time.

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