Renault Duster vs GWM Tank 500

What's the difference?

The Dacia Duster, a well-liked small SUV in Europe, has been available in overseas markets for about 15 years and it’s now here, albeit rebadged as the Renault Duster.

At a time when people increasingly want to escape the modern-day rat race, vehicles such as the Duster offer a family- and budget-friendly way of achieving just that.

A new small 4x4 that actually might be somewhat capable off-road and with a manual gearbox? How refreshing.

But is the Duster a legitimate rival for something like the Suzuki Jimny?

Read on.

The arrival of the GWM Tank 500 Ultra PHEV is noteworthy because it’s the first plug-in hybrid Tank model in Australia.

It’s also a major event for the Aussie adventure-travel community because it’s a plug-in hybrid 4WD with five seats, high- and low-range gearing, and a front, centre and rear diff lock.

The Tank 500 PHEV gets more power and torque than its hybrid stablemate, offers about 120km electric-only driving range (listed), and it can be used as a 6kW mobile power station (V2L) at your campsite. Towing remains at 3000kg.

There’s a lot in this Tank’s favour: it’s a body-on-ladder-frame chassis large 4WD with a packed standard features list and real off-road adventure potential.

All of that – and more – for under $80 grand.

But does the plug-in set-up add anything substantial in terms of daily driveability or does it simply make this Tank an $80,000 camp-site generator?

Read on.