mReview: GWM Poer Sahar 2.4T ULTRA 4WD – An XXL pickup packed with full-loaded features, starting at just 849,000 Baht!

GWM Poer Sahar 2.4T ULTRA 4WD, a Chinese-built pickup truck that offers a fully loaded feature set, a capable engine, and true practicality.

What’s Great?

• The massive body size, offering highly comfortable seating and an spacious cargo bed.
• Fully loaded Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) paired with a comprehensively premium interior amenity layout.
• The suspension setup and structural strength are capable of handling heavy-duty cargo hauling.

What’s Good?

• GWM’s 2.4-litre turbodiesel engine operates with immense smoothness and is a B20 biodiesel compatible.
• Rear passengers can sit with true comfort across all four primary seating positions.
• Clever hidden storage are generously scattered throughout the entire vehicle.

What’s Not Great?

• The vehicle's dimensions are "extremely large", strictly ideal for owners with ample parking space and is highly unsuitable for tightly packed city traffic.
• The rear suspension, which is heavily optimised for "heavy cargo loads," causes a noticeable bouncy body roll during unladen, everyday driving.

The Poer Sahar delivers an exceptionally fluid driving response, operating so smoothly that it almost makes you forget you are driving a "pickup truck"—contrasting sharply with its highly aggressive and rugged exterior design language.

For everyday road use, the truck responds beautifully, delivering a plush and smooth ride. Even though its physical footprint is wider than many rural country roads, the smooth power delivery helps significantly reinforce driver confidence. At the same time, it serves perfectly as a family vehicle because the seating comfort and interior room are immensely spacious, complemented by rear seats that can actively adjust their reclining angle.

However, with a curb weight hovering around the early 2.5 tons, it can consume a fair amount of fuel during stop-and-go city traffic maneuvers. On the upside, for long-distance highway cruising, it earns an absolute A++ rating! 

Furthermore – the 4WD flagship variant truly shines when it is pushed to conquer demanding, real-world off-road terrains.

The powertrain is driven by a 2.4-litre turbocharged diesel engine—the exact same block found under the hoods of the Tank 300 and Tank 500 Diesel models—routing power through a 9-speed automatic transmission to generate a hefty 480 Nm of torque and 185 horsepower.

And regardless of how high that torque figure looks on paper, it must be stated beforehand that the core character of the drivetrain leans heavily into "smoothness" during gear transitions. Meanwhile, that massive reserve of torque is stored to be unleashed perfectly on unpaved dirt trails. It claws through mud and dirt aggressively, especially with the 2.4T ULTRA 4WD drivetrain configuration, which allows the driver to manually select between 2WD or 4WD modes to match real-time situational demands.

Even the rear end looks immensely powerful, while cleanly concealing significantly more practical functions than one might expect.

Boasting body dimensions that easily rank as "among the largest" in its respective class, it stretches to a length of 5,445 mm, a width of 1,991 mm, and a height of 1,924 mm, resting on a cavernous wheelbase of 3,350 mm. While this provides executive-level seating comfort, it simultaneously demands a fair amount of reliance on the 360-degree surround-view camera layout and the Transparent Body function to keep a close eye on immediate obstacles surrounding the vehicle.

Dimension of 5,445 mm (L) x 1,991 mm (W) x 1,924 mm (H) [Wheelbase: 3,350 mm / Ground Clearance: 224 mm]

Beyond the 360-degree cameras, parking sensors, and a heavy-duty payload capacity rated up to 1,140 kilograms, the vehicle is officially rated to tow loads exceeding 3.5 tons. It also comes packed with minor everyday conveniences, such as integrated hydraulic lift dampers for the rear tailgate, saving users from having to bear the heavy weight of a rugged pickup tailgate manually.

The interior architecture is designed to look highly luxurious, carrying an undeniable aura inherited directly from the premium Tank 500 Diesel.

Although a fair amount of ultra-premium material options were omitted to drop the retail price to its most accessible threshold, the design language of various components still manages to maintain its premium silhouette exceptionally well. The front dashboard features an elegant wood-grain trim intersected by silver chrome accent lines, while the metallic silver buttons surrounding the cabin feel high-quality and premium to the touch.

The central touchscreen fitted inside the 2.4T ULTRA 4WD variant is a massive 14.6-inch digital panel that feels ultra-responsive to the touch. Meanwhile, the base 2.4T PRO 2WD trim utilizes a slightly smaller 12.3-inch display, matching the size of the driver's gauge cluster. The system runs on GWM’s proprietary Coffee OS architecture, which allows users to access vehicle settings, offline navigation maps, and wireless smartphone mirroring layouts with ease.

Concurrently, the digital driver's instrument cluster renders graphics beautifully, delivering an ambiance comparable to a luxury SUV priced well over a million Baht. It provides real-time environment rendering, traffic sign recognition readings, or can even be configured to mirror navigation maps directly onto the cluster.

An exceptional suspension layout that prioritizes genuine off-road capability and cargo hauling; however, if you are looking for a plush, unladen highway cruiser, it might not feel entirely serene.

The front suspension configuration relies on an independent double-wishbone setup, while the rear axle is supported by a heavy-duty leaf-spring setup optimized for hauling cargo. With a towering ground clearance of over 224 mm, it is completely ready to wade through water and conquer harsh elements. The only step left is for owners to swap out the factory rubber for tyres that best match their specific driving lifestyle.

Nevertheless, because the rear suspension relies on a leaf-spring architecture, it performs beautifully when the bed is weighed down with heavy cargo. But if passengers have to sit in the rear cabin while the truck is completely unladen (empty bed), the ride becomes notably floaty and bouncy, which can easily induce motion sickness over wavy surfaces. However, if you are driving or riding solo, the overall handling characteristics remain perfectly acceptable across both on-road and off-road scenarios.

The Verdict

The GWM Poer Sahar 2.4T enters the Thai automotive market as a highly compelling alternative, particularly regarding its massive physical dimensions that dwarf segment competitors, its packed technology suite, and its smooth driving dynamics. However, to be completely frank, the reigning Japanese market leaders remain incredibly entrenched when consumers search for a pure workhorse utility vehicle, while American and European contenders hold a rock-solid grip on the lifestyle truck segment.

Where the Poer Sahar secures its ultimate competitive edge is its highly disruptive pricing structure, which officially launches with 3 distinct variants:

• Poer Sahar 2.4T Pro 2WD: 849,000 Baht
• Poer Sahar 2.4T ULTRA 2WD: 949,000 Baht
• Poer Sahar 2.4T ULTRA 4WD: 1,049,000 Baht

For anyone currently searching for a brawny, commanding pickup truck to answer utility needs, while wanting to experience next-generation technological features to the absolute fullest—and who isn't strictly tied down to mainstream legacy badges—this truck answers those needs beautifully. Just do not forget to take practical foundational factors like the "proximity of dealer service centers to your home" into serious consideration.

Author's Note – Regarding the final retail pricing, the author still observes multiple dealer showrooms displaying a promotional tag reading "Starting at 799,000 Baht." This represents an introductory campaign carried over from its initial launch phase, which effectively slashes an extra 50,000 Baht off the official retail prices mentioned above across every single trim level!

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