BYD Sealion 8 vs Jayco Eagle

What's the difference?

As the flagship variant, the BYD Sealion 8 Premium all-wheel drive makes a big first impression as it arrives with seven seats, a plug-in hybrid powertrain and a features list that reads like a wish list.

It’s also stepping into a competitive space, lining up against the Chery Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid, Kia Sorento GT-Line PHEV and Mazda CX-80 P50e Azami - all promising similar blends of efficiency, space and value for Australian families.

The Sealion 8 Premium looks like a strong contender on paper … but does that translate to the real world?

People with camper-trailers are increasingly looking to push their travel boundaries and so they head off the bitumen, onto dirt roads and go bush.

But on-road camper-trailers are not suited to cope with the extra stresses that dirt-road or gravel-track driving bring, which is why campers better equipped for light-duty bush driving, such as Jayco’s Outback versions of its models, are finding favor with buyers.

We took an Eagle Outback into the bush to check it out.