Getting out of the city and into the heart of regional Queensland is the best way to test a vehicle’s true “overlanding” potential. For our latest adventure, we took the 2025 GWM Tank 300 Diesel on a massive 700km+ day trip from Brisbane to the famous Yelarbon Art Silos.
This wasn’t just a sightseeing trip; it was a rigorous fuel consumption test and a long-range comfort evaluation of GWM’s new diesel powertrain.
Watch the Full Road Trip and Fuel Test:
The Destination: Yelarbon Silo Art
Located about 3.5 hours west of Brisbane, Yelarbon is a must-stop on the Australian Silo Art Trail. The mural, titled “When the Rain Comes,” was painted by artists Jordan Bruce and Brightsiders. It depicts a young boy cooling off by the Yelarbon Lagoon with a paper boat, capturing the vital importance of water in regional communities [10:07].
Road Trip Tip: While we did this as a massive day trip, I’d highly recommend staying overnight to support the local bakeries and cafes in towns like Texas and Yelarbon, they are the lifeblood of these rural areas [01:51].
The Rig: Built for Adventure
To give the Tank 300 a real-world test, we didn’t drive it “stock.” In collaboration with Cars Caravans Camping, we fitted the vehicle with:
- Front Runner Slimline 2 Roof Platform: Surprisingly, even at highway speeds, there was zero high-pitched whistling or wind noise [04:45].
- Storage Setup: We loaded the roof with two storage boxes, a jerry can, and a water tank. This added significant weight and aerodynamic drag, the perfect “worst-case scenario” for a fuel test [03:52].
The Verdict: Fuel Consumption & Comfort
The GWM Tank 300 Diesel is rated at 7.8L/100km (combined) in its stock form. Despite our heavy roof load and highway speeds, we averaged between 10.4 and 10.6L per 100km [03:36]. To put that in perspective, a similarly built-out Hilux often pushes 13L/100km, making the Tank 300 remarkably efficient for a boxy 4×4 [04:15].
Driver Comfort: For a 7-hour round trip, seat comfort is everything. The Tank 300 Ultra features a built-in massage function and heated seats. Pairing these together kept me feeling refreshed and helped manage lower back pain throughout the long day of driving [08:12].
The Tech: Coming back into Brisbane at night, the Intelligent Cruise Assist acted almost like auto-steer, keeping the car perfectly centred in the lane and automatically adjusting to changing speed zones with a single tap [14:39].