GWM Tank 300 vs Ferrari Roma

What's the difference?

Sometimes it really is all a matter of timing.

GWM was always going to offer up the plug-in hybrid version of its Tank 300 4X4, but for it to arrive in showrooms right now must be being looked on as some kind of blessing at GWM HQ.

Consider the circumstances: The Tank 300 Hi4-T PHEV (to give it its full name) not only saves fuel by making use of plug-in hybrid tech, but the fossil stuff it does use is petrol, not diesel with that fuel’s buck-a-litre cost penalty right now.

And with the planet on a knife’s edge waiting for the next increase in brinkmanship from those referred to as our world leaders, overseas travel has never seemed sketchier to the average Aussie. Which is when keeping it local and hitting the outback in a four-wheel drive suddenly looks really, really good. Except for the cost of fuel, that is, which is where we circle back to square one.

All of which means the GWM Tank 300 Plug-in hybrid concept could not really have come at a better time. But does the reality match the promise?

There aren’t as many Ferraris on the road in Italy as you might think. There’s the purchase price, per-kW taxes and poisonously expensive fuel. So, usually, they’re a rare sight, except around Maranello in the northern province of Modena.

Because that’s Ferrari’s home and in getting to grips with the subject of this review - the twin-turbo V8 Roma - I enjoyed a smile-inducing moment with a local milk truck driver.

On a narrow section, part way into a road test drive through local villages and twisting B-roads to the west of Maranello, the tanker pulled over to let me through. 

Gave a thank you double blink of the hazard lights on passing and received a quick headlight flash in return. They almost certainly thought I was putting kays on a test mule in the same way camouflaged prototypes so often do on the same stretch of road.

Maybe I’d inadvertently sipped some Prancing Horse Kool-Aid, but it felt special. Ferrari is so close to Italian hearts and the Roma is such a sleek and engaging example of its current output.

But is this ‘iron fist in a velvet glove’ 2+2 capable of tearing you away from its well-credentialled high-end competitors? Stick with us to find out.