Flagship model of the Tank brand gets the same 2.4-litre oil-burner as the P300 bakkie and Tank 300, but with unchanged power and torque figures.
Available since its launch with conventional petrol, self-charging hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains, Great Wall Motors (GWM) has finally added a turbodiesel engine option to the Tank 500, but only in Thailand for now.
Black diesel
Debuting an unchanged exterior from its respective siblings, the 500 does, however, introduce a new darkened variant called the Black Warrior modelled on the flagship Ultra grade.
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Essentially a black exterior appearance, with gloss black 20-inch alloy wheels, the arrival of it solely offered with the diesel engine, further involves GWM having made subtle changes to the Tank 500’s platform to accommodate it.
Diesel changes
According to Thailand’s headlightmag.com, this involved the overall length being reduced by 192 mm to 4 886 mm and removal of the electric hardware resulting in a 25 kg weight drop to 2 560 kg.
Unchanged is the 2 850 mm wheelbase, the 1 934 mm width and 1 905 mm height, as well as the standard fitting the transparent underbody camera, Tank Turn function, front and rear diff-locks and Wading depth display.
2.4 for now
Shared with the P300 bakkie and Tank 300, the Tank 500 becomes the newest recipient of the in-house developed 2.4-litre turbodiesel engine
A likely stop-go until arrival of the brand’s new 3.0-litre turbodiesel V6 in 2027, the internally named GW4D24 has not received any additional power and torque for use in the heavier Tank 500, meaning outputs are unchanged at 135kW/480Nm.
A drop of 120kW/168Nm from the 2.0-litre HEV and down 130kW/20Nm on the twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol sold in China, the oil-burner is, once again, mated to a nine-speed automatic gearbox, with drive going to the rear or all four wheels, the latter via a part-time four-wheel-drive system.
In total, the Tank 500 offers three driving modes; Eco, Normal and Sport, in an additional six on four-wheel-drive variants; Sand, Gravel, Dirt, Snow, Mountain and Expert.
Wait starts
Still to be priced, the Thai line-up spans three trim grades, Pro, Ultra and Black Warrior, with only the former not having the option of four-wheel-drive.
Assembled at GWM’s Rayong Plant, the only facility outside China that assembles it, the Tank 500 Diesel, as mentioned, remains exclusive to Thailand for now as versions bound for South Africa and Australia are sourced from the main plant in Tianjin.
Given the introduction earlier this year of the Tank 300 Diesel though, don’t be surprised if an announcement pertaining to the oil-burning Tank 500’s local market availability is before year-end.
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