Jeep Compass vs GWM Tank 300

What's the difference?

The Jeep Compass Trailhawk is a curious beast. On the one hand, it looks pretty cool, and it has a well-executed new interior, featuring one of the best multimedia set-ups in the business. It’s spacious and has a long list of standard comfort and safety gear.

Sadly, that’s where the positives end.

It is way too expensive for what you get, especially when you consider the quality of some of its rivals from mainstream and premium brands.

The driver assist features are badly in need of recalibration and the overall drive experience is a letdown.

If you really want a diesel-powered small SUV, perhaps look at one of the much better diesel models at the smaller end of the medium-SUV segment.

There’s a lot to like here. The GWM Tank 300 in any of its forms is a competent vehicle from the helm and backs up its off-road claims with real ability. The ride quality, in particular, is a highlight, and it’s a good size for couples or young families. Its value for money is also quite brilliant.

Add this plug-in hybrid driveline to the mix and the performance is quite astounding, while the petrol engine and EV potential have arrived at a critical point in history where such things carry more weight than ever before. It remains to be seen what happens globally and what effect that has on fuel prices, specifically the price gap between petrol and diesel. There’s also the question of what happens electronically when you dunk the Tank into Nolan’s Brook on the track to Cape York. But for now, this is a car whose time appears to have come.

But while the overall concept deserves praise, there’s still some work required in terms of the way the car drives and in its attempts at keeping its occupants safe. The calibration of both the throttle response and some of the driver aids is, frankly, in need of some final polish. And though it sounds odd, the Tank 300 would be a better thing to live with if GWM ditched the contentious driver aids and took the points hit on its ANCAP rating. Even better would be to stick with the tech but refine it to the point where it works in the background and not as an irritant.

When the second-gen Compass was revealed, it was seen by many as a mini Grand Cherokee. Which isn’t a bad thing. It looks tough enough, but also has a softer edge than something like the Jimny.

As part of the 2021 update, Jeep refreshed the styling with slimmer LED headlights and a new daytime running light signature, a revamped bumper and seven-slot grille, as well as a broader bonnet.

The Trailhawk features variant-specific red and black decals on the bonnet, and a unique grille treatment, as well as the visible skid plates and red tow hooks.

It certainly gives the impression of having some off-road cred, and while some will love the Trailhawk name emblazoned across the bonnet, it’s a bit much for me. The 'Galaxy Blue' premium paint looks too sparkly in direct sunlight and has an almost purple hue.

An example of wishful thinking is the green ‘Diesel’ badge with a leaf next to it on the rear of the vehicle. Save the eco badges for your electrified vehicles, Jeep.

Derivative is a strong word, but from most angles there’s a little bit of something else in the Tank 300’s exterior. We can easily see a bit of Suzuki Jimny in profile, and a dash of new Ford Bronco in the lights and grille. And if you squint there’s a blob of Jeep Wrangler in the wheel-arch extensions.

Which should mean it’s just a mash-up. Yet somehow, it isn’t, and the Tank has its own vibe.

Inside, that vibe suddenly becomes a bit overdone, and the plastic garnish above the glove box, in particular, looks like it will date pretty quickly (if it hasn't already). There's also a lot going on in here; this is a busy place and even the gear selector looks like a prop form the Star Wars franchise.

The Compass sits in the small-SUV category but its larger dimensions mean it’s almost big enough to compete with models in the medium-SUV segment.

It’s longer, taller, wider and has a longer wheelbase than other larger small SUVs like the Kia Seltos and Honda HR-V, but isn’t as big as a mid-size Mazda CX-5.

It feels larger inside than other models it shares a platform with – namely the Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X, that are no longer sold in Australia.

The biggest change ushered in by the update is the interior. Jeep has completely overhauled the cabin to the point that it’s unrecognisable compared to the pre-facelifted model.

The new dash design is much more appealing and the layout is well executed. There’s a mixture of soft-touch materials and plastic panels with red stitching running across the fascia. It’s so much more up-to-date than the old Compass and there’s a robust yet semi-premium look to the cabin.

A new steering wheel is in keeping with Jeep’s new generation of models that includes the Grand Cherokee due in Australia this year. It’s chunky, feels nice to touch and features clear audio, phone and cruise controls.

Jeep has persisted with its quirk of housing the volume and song/station skip buttons on the rear side of the steering wheel spokes. Once you remember which side volume lives (the right), it’s easy to change the levels. But surely it would be better to house them on the front of the wheel, with labels?

Storage wise, the glove box is narrow, as is the central bin, but it’s deep. The doors will hold 600ml bottles and the console houses two decent-sized cupholders with durable rubber lining which is easy to clean and can take a beating. The cupholders are separated by an upright phone holder.

Speaking of durable, that’s clearly the theme Jeep is going for with the Compass Trailhawk interior. It comes standard with rubber mats throughout, including the boot, which is great for protecting the carpet if you fancy a bit of camping.

What isn’t durable, however, is the cheap and tacky indicator stalk that feels like it will snap off every time you touch it.

After spending some time in European cars prior to the Jeep, it’s nice to experience strong air flow from the air conditioning system, especially at the height of a Melbourne summer. It’s also great to see physical buttons for the air con controls.

You can, however, also control the climate via the latest 'Uconnect 5' multimedia system housed in the 10.1-inch touchscreen.

This system is undoubtedly one of the Compass’ strong points. The modern graphics look very cool and the main icons make sense.

Once you dive into the menu there are extensive options but it’s not overwhelming. It’s intuitive and clever. The sat-nav visuals are clear and appealing too.

It’s an excellent set-up and better than systems from a whole host of Jeep’s mainstream rivals.

Apple CarPlay set-up was easy but there is an odd lag when selecting a command on the touchscreen that isn’t there when you use the Jeep system.

Another highlight is the exceptional Alpine nine-speaker audio system that’s part of the Trailhawk Premium package. It’s a belter!

The new digital instrument cluster has clear dials but changing the screen layout is fiddly. The Compass also lacks a head-up display.

The front seats with red embossed Trailhawk across the front look good, but the cushion feels like it’s elevating you in the seat. It’s not a problem with the power adjustment, it’s just the way the cushioning is designed. Thigh support is limited but upper body bolstering is good.

Visibility is impacted by the narrow rear windscreen and the tiny rear windows behind the C-pillar, that are pointless.

Rear occupants have access to lower air vents, a USB-A and USB-C port, 230-volt AC plug and a 12-volt DC plug. There are two map pockets, rubber floor mats and 600ml bottles will just fit in the door.

Space wise, there’s plenty of leg and toe room in the rear, and just enough headroom for this six-footer to avoid scraping the headliner.

Getting in and out of the front and rear seats is easy thanks to the Compass’ ride height.

The rear seats are flat and firm and the 60/40 split-fold seats have a fold-down central armrest with two cupholders.

When you open the power tailgate, the boot doesn’t look particularly big, but at 438 litres (1251L with rear seats folded), it’s five litres more than the Kia Seltos GT-Line and eight more than the Haval Jolion.

A full-size spare wheel lives under the boot floor and the cargo area features metal tie-down hooks and a small storage tray.

The cargo blind is useful but there’s nowhere to stow it when it’s not in use. And you have to lower the rear seats when you want to put it back in place.

While GWM is by no means the worst offender, we still reckon the Tank’s interior would be better without such a degree of reliance of touchscreens and menu-driven functionality. While it’s obvious that there’s a lot going on in the cabin, it still seems odd that important functions such as shifting from conventional hybrid mode to EV mode would require a dive through the on-screen menus when a simple switch would be faster, easier and simpler.

And even when GWM has provided switches, the end result is muddy. Take the volume controls for an example. There’s no central volume knob accessible by both front seat occupants, so you rely on the steering wheel mounted up and down buttons to change the volume. Except they’re not marked as volume controls in any specific way. Okay, if you know, you know. But if you don’t know, you’ve just missed the news headlines.

Overall, it's disappointing. And I resent the fact that GWM (or anybody else) thinks it’s okay for me to have to learn to operate a car all over again. The dashboard is also full of tiny symbols and lettering making things difficult to decipher if you normally wear glasses to read, but not to drive.

We’ll take issue with the indicator stalk, too, which has an indistinct feel when trying to discern whether you turned the indicators on for an intersection, or just tipped them on for three flashes for a lane change. And if you have accidentally gone too far and they’re still flashing away merrily after the lane change, turning them off manually is a lottery that might see you succeed, or mistakenly turn on the other side flashers.

The rest is better with proper buttons for the various off-road drive modes, diff locks and hill holder. There’s even an analogue clock for some real nostalgia. You’ll also find a single USB-A and USB-C charge port in the dash, and a pair of cupholders buried deep in the centre console which also has a lid and sliding drawer.

It’s obvious that this is a smaller vehicle than some, and the four-door layout dictates shorter doors. But that doesn’t alter the fact that the driver’s seat slides back a few centimetres every time you shut the car down. The trouble with that if you’re tall, is that the seat is now tucked back in behind the B-pillar, meaning you have to climb out and around it to exit the car. Perhaps you can switch off this slide-back function, but I didn’t have the spare hour to troll through the menus to do so. Oh, and there should be a driver’s grab handle on the A-pillar, too. There isn’t.

The rear seat is better with an adjustable backrest that provides proper comfort, and leg and knee room that hides the 300’s smaller dimensions well. There’s lots of glass and light and a pair of USB charge points. You also get a pair of rear reading lights and central vents, but no climate controls.

Even the cargo area is a decent size with the five seats in place (360 litres, up to 1520L with 60/40 rear seats lowered) but the under-floor storage space has been consumed by the hybrid battery, meaning the jack and tools and charging cable live in the cargo area and the spare tyre is bolted to the tailgate.

The single-piece tailgate is hinged at the side, and needs a fair bit of real estate to be swung open fully.

The Tank features vehicle-to-load capability, too, which means you can operate your power tools using the vehicle as the power source, and there’s a 220-volt socket in the luggage area to do just that. But when camping, too, this feature can also power induction cookers, microwaves, and all the other stuff you probably should have left at home. And if the hybrid battery runs out of charge, the Tank can run its petrol engine to act as a generator (your camping neighbours are going to love that).

The real gadget freaks out there can also download the Tank app which allows you to operate functions such as power windows, climate control, seat heaters, central locking and check your charging status all from the comfort of your smartphone. You can also use this functionality to flash the hazard lights to help spot your Tank from everybody else’s in the carpark.

The Tank 300 PHEV is available in two trim levels, starting with the Lux at $55,990 drive-away. That gets you 18-inch alloy wheels, roof rails and side steps and, perhaps a little surprisingly, a sunroof.

There’s also power folding mirrors, keyless entry and start, paddle shifters, adaptive cruise-control and a rear differential lock.

Inside, there are leather accents for the seats, a pair of 12.3-inch multimedia, ambient lighting, digital radio, wireless connectivity, wireless phone charging, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, automatic headlights, full LED lighting, and dual-zone climate control. That’s quite a bit of gear for the money.

But throw another four grand on the sales rep's desk, and you into the Ultra grade which adds heated, cooled and massaging front seats, eight-way power adjustment for the driver’s chair, Nappa leather inserts, underbody protection, a front differential lock and no less than 64 colour choices for the expanded ambient lighting package.

Fundamentally, then, your extra $4000 is buying the clever front seats and front diff lock, but that’s easily worth the money anyhow. That said, the entry-level variant is one of the better equipped at that price-point, so either way, you won’t be slumming it.

As mentioned, the Compass Trailhawk is now the only remaining small SUV in Australia offered with a diesel engine. Well, from a mainstream brand at least. The BMW X1 is the only premium small SUV offering with a diesel donk.

The Jeep uses a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel delivering 125kW at 3750rpm and 350Nm at 1750rpm. It is paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission and comes with four-wheel drive as standard.

The Tank’s plug-in driveline, starts with a petrol engine measuring 2.0-litres and contributing 180kW to the overall picture. But then there’s a single electric motor, sandwiched between the petrol engine and the nine-speed transmission. That means the Tank is still a mechanical four-wheel-drive platform, and when both powerplants are singing together, there’s an eye-opening 300kW and 750Nm of torque on tap.

The four-wheel-drive system operates as a rear-wheel drive on dry bitumen, and there’s the usual 4WD high range and 4WD low range. What there isn’t, is a 4WD-auto setting that allows you to use four-wheel drive in the dry on a paved road. That sounds minor, but for towing in particular, having all four wheels doing the driving is a major safety bonus.

All Tank 300s get a rear differential lock, but this version, the Ultra, also gets a locking front diff as well. Typically, the Tank also features a range of driving modes (no less than nine of them!) for the four-wheel-drive function, tailoring throttle, transmission and differential response according to the type of terrain being covered.

The Tank 300 is built the old fashioned way with a ladder-chassis upon which the body is bolted, and it still uses a live rear axle, too. But the front suspension is independent and the GWM uses coil springs rather than old-school leaf springs for much better ride quality.

Jeep’s official combined cycle fuel use figure for the Trailhawk is 6.9 litres per 100 kilometres. After a week of mixed but mostly urban driving, we recorded a much higher figure of 11.2L/100km.

The Compass has a 60-litre tank. Combined CO2 emissions are rated at 181g/km.

The headline number here is GWM’s official fuel consumption number of just 1.9 litres per 100km. Or it would be if it had anything to do with the real world. As it is, nobody is going to achieve that, and our mix of urban running netted an average of about 11.0 litres per 100km, with that dropping to 8.5 litres per 100km in country conditions.

The truth is, your consumption in this vehicle can go from zero to, say, 12 litres per 100km depending on how and where you drive and how much battery charge you have available.

Speaking of charging, the Tank 300 can use a commercial fast charger to absorb voltage at a rate of 50kW. At that rate, it can go from 30 to 80 per cent charged in about 24 minutes. A wall box (GWM offers one as a factory option) can take the 37.1kWh battery from 15 per cent to fully charged in 6.5 hours. And, of course, you can also charge the Tank from a domestic wall socket in a claimed 14.4 hours. We managed to add about 6km worth of charge per hour on such an outlet during our time with the car.

As far as range goes, GWM reckons there’s 115km (NEDC) of EV-only range, while starting a journey with a fully charged battery and a full 70-litre fuel tank should see you covering somewhere between 900 and 950km between top ups.

Jeep claims the Trailhawk has some off-road ability, but we didn’t get a chance to test that. Most driving was around town, freeways and city fringe.

The first thing I noticed when I got behind the wheel was the awkward position of the accelerator pedal. It could be the wheel arch intruding into the footwell, but the right side of my right foot constantly brushed the carpeted panel. It’s annoying and a clear design flaw.

Another flaw is the idle-stop system. When you park, the idle stop kicks in and cuts the engine off. But if you want to properly turn the engine off and get out of the car, you have to do something to wake up the engine, then turn off the ignition. Another annoyance.

The diesel engine is responsive enough, but it lags on take-off and it’s not as torquey as expected. Accelerating hard doesn’t reward the driver with instant response, and momentum is blunted by steep ascents.

It does come alive around 3000rpm which seems to be a sweet spot.

The nine-speed auto can sometimes hold gears and the brakes are on the spongey side.

The Trailhawk feels like a heavy vehicle on the road. Much heavier than its 1621kg tare weight would suggest. As a result, it lumbers along and makes for sloppy handling.

It moves around the road too much and there is quite a lot of body roll in corners. It’s slow to respond coming out of corners, too.

The steering feels lazy and it’s weighted on the heavy side. It doesn’t make for an engaging steer.

Ride comfort around town is well sorted. For the most part, it absorbs speed bumps and crumby urban streets, without offering a truly comfortable ride.

Overall ride quality diminishes at higher speeds. It’s busy and jittery and never feels settled.

Needless to say, this is not the small SUV to buy for navigating city traffic or to take for a fun drive on your favourite twisty country road.

A brief section of unsealed road highlighted the excellent traction of the Trailhawk.

The 225/60 R17 Falken Wild Peak tyres produce a bit of tyre noise on coarse chip roads but otherwise the cabin is fairly well insulated from outside noise.

GWM claims a 0-100km/h acceleration time of just 6.3 seconds for the Tank 300 PHEV, and that’s impressive. There are two caveats here. The first is that you need at least 40 per cent battery charge on board to extract maximum thrust. And, secondly, even in those circumstances, the Tank never feels that brisk. It’s more effortless than genuinely rapid, although the torque up hills is genuinely impressive.

There’s no getting around the refinement inherent in using volts for some of the time. And when the petrol engine does chime in, it’s all but imperceptible. You’ll eventually hear the engine if you wring it right out, but even then, vibrations are minimal.

All in all, the Tank’s relatively compact dimensions work in its favour in an urban setting, and the range of camera views (including an off-road one showing you the obstacles you’re about to encounter) make parking a lot easier than it might have been. Only a high degree of distortion in the birds-eye-view camera mode takes a bit of getting used to.

On the move the ride quality is quite exceptional, and those coil springs really do make a difference. Even the usual council speed bumps don’t bother the Tank and the short wheelbase pitching we’ve seen in some similar vehicles just never emerges. Well chosen damper rates help, too, and there has been some Australian input into the way the Tank handles. It shows.

Steering, too, feels light and natural, although the almost constant fidgeting at the helm by the lane-keeping assistance program is annoying. And switching it off is not only a multi-button job, it needs to be done every time you start the vehicle.

Far and away the biggest hurdle in living with the Tank, however, is a throttle calibration that is way off the mark. Pressing the accelerator pedal initially doesn’t seem to do much at all, and then suddenly, the power comes in and you discover you’ve input too much throttle as the Tank surges away down the road, threatening to actually spin its tyres if there’s any gravel about. But not until that initial hesitation has caused the driver behind you to wonder aloud (I can lip-read) if you’re ever going to move at all. This needs to be fixed as a running change.

The all-important off-road driving experience is pretty sharp and the Tank 300 is a genuine competitor in this discipline. It’s extremely stable and capable on unsealed roads and tracks and the front and rear diff locks make it a proper adventurer’s rig.

It’s relatively demure dimensions also mean that it fits down the tracks and trails that have been created by decades of vehicles of a similar size, unlike some of the bigger new off-roaders we’re seeing that simply don’t fit in to the terrain so neatly.

Ultimately, the Tank’s stock tyres will be the limiting factor, but there are plenty of alternatives out there for a bit more off-road bite.

The Tank has a strong safety story to tell, especially on paper.

Regardless of what specification you buy, you’ll get seven airbags including full-length side-curtain bags and a centre airbag to reduce head injuries in a side-impact crash.

There are rear parking sensors, a range of camera angles including an overhead view, tyre-pressure monitoring, Isofix child-restraint mounts, and the usual driver aids including autonomous emergency braking, rear cross-traffic alert and braking, blind-spot monitoring, traffic-sign recognition and rear collision warning.

But away from the brochure, features such as the lane-keeping assistance and the driver-fatigue monitor need work on their calibration. GWM is by no means on its own here, but it’s a fact that some other makers do a better job of making this tech transparent and vastly less intrusive.

The original Tank 300 launched in Australia in 2022 scored five safety stars in ANCAP testing, and that rating has been carried over to this car.

The Compass comes with a five-year or 100,000km warranty and five years of free roadside assistance. Every time you service your vehicle at a Jeep dealer, another year will be added to the roadside assist program.

The servicing schedule is every year or 20,000km for a diesel Jeep, whichever comes first.

Jeep offers a capped-price servicing scheme for the first five years. The Compass Trailhawk costs $399 for each of these services.

GWM offers a seven year/unlimited kilometre warranty on the Tank 300, as well as eight years of cover for the hybrid battery (also with no kilometre limit). There’s also seven years of roadside assistance thrown in, too.

Capped-price servicing is available for the first seven years, with the first service due at 12 months or 10,000km and subsequent services every 12 months of 15,000km after that. Prices for each service (in order) are: $320, $460, $460, $685, $685, $1075, and $370.

GWM has a network of 123 new-car dealerships able to handle servicing, and the company tells us that regional centres have not been forgotten.