This article was first published on www.stuff.co.nz.
- HAVAL H6 LUX
- Base price: $34,990
- Powertrain and economy: 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder, 150kW/320Nm, 7-speed dual clutch transmission, FWD, combined economy 7.4L/100km, CO2 170g/km (source: RightCar).
- Vital statistics: 4653mm long, 1886mm wide, 1724mm high, 2738mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 600 litres, 18-inch alloy wheels.
- We like: Handsome, modern looks, great ride quality, so much standard kit for the money, impressive build quality.
- We don’t like: Still a few rough edges, driver assists are irritatingly vocal, too much reliance on touchscreen for basic operations.
- This road test was completed before the current coronavirus lockdown restrictions came into effect.
There is certainly no shortage of options in the medium SUV segment, so how do you stand out? In Haval’s case it is by offering simply brutal value for money with its handsome new H6.
Brutal value for money? Is that a positive thing?
It certainly is. The approach Haval has taken to the latest incarnation of its mid-size H6 SUV is akin to stuffing a chicken with a sledgehammer – it has jammed so much stuff in to the $34,990 Lux model that it makes your eyes water. It certainly would have made the chicken’s eyes water.
Standard equipment on the H6 Lux includes 18-inch alloy wheels, LED lights all round, a 10.25 inch colour LED instrument cluster and a 10.25 inch colour infotainment touchscreen, a backing camera and rear parking sensors, a leather steering wheel, Comfort-tek artificial leather seats, dual zone automatic climate control and heated front seats with a 6-way electrically adjustable driver’s seat.
Standard safety kit that includes autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and bicycle detection, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition, driver fatigue monitoring, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, traffic jam assist and a 360-degree camera.
There is also an impressive level of material (although the artificial “leather” wasn’t exactly convincing) and build quality on display for a $35k vehicle, something we are fast coming to expect from Chinese manufacturers.
And the Lux is only the mid-grade model in the H6 range – the Premium kicks off the range at just $31,990, while the Ultra tops it at $37,990 and adds AWD into the mix.
So there’s lots of stuff, and it is well-built, but how does it all come together?
It is one thing to offer up a lot of flashy kit and build it nicely, but quite another to pull it all together in a competent package.
Our recent experience with Haval/GWM product has shown a clear path of improvement and refinement across subsequent model releases. The GWM Cannon ute we tested a while back was deeply impressive, but had a quite few rough edges, whereas the slightly newer small Haval Jolion SUV was even more impressive, yet still had its quirks.
The H6 is even newer again and shows the company has largely ironed out the Jolion and Cannon’s most annoying quirks – mainly around crude and overly-intrusive driver assist systems – and presented the H6 as a truly convincing package.
It’s not perfect though – those driver assist systems are far more refined and far less intrusive, but the symphony of chimes and bongs that accompany them are as irritating as ever, and are only able to be muted by turning off the individual assist systems. Which isn’t ideal.
The layout of the infotainment screen takes a bit of getting used to, with a few puzzling placements and things hidden a few menus deep that should ideally be a bit more accessible. And while the responses of the touchscreen are vastly improved and faster than both the Cannon and Jolion, there is still an occasional slight lag that can be irritating.
Also, the move to a largely buttonless interior throws up the same irritations that a number of other manufacturers are re-introducing buttons to resolve – things like having to jump into menus to change the temperature or fan speed are exceedingly annoying…
While the H6 is an undeniably handsome thing (although you do have to be fond of chrome), the slick styling – mainly the thick, swooping D-pillar at the rear – does restrict rear visibility a wee bit. The price of fashion, I guess. Still, it is bristling with cameras and sensors, so it’s not really an issue.
Generally though, the H6 is a genuinely comfortable and capable medium SUV that does most things very well indeed.
What about driving? Does it do that well?
Yeah. It does.
The new H6 weighs around 100kg less than the old model, thanks to its new underpinnings – the unfortunately-named LEMON platform. No joke – they really called it that.
According to Haval LEMON stands for “Lightweight, Electrification, Multi-purpose, Omni-protection and Network”, none of which particularly makes sense, and it is still a terrible and thoroughly inappropriate name for a car platform.
Naming aside, however, it is a very capable platform that provides the H6 with surprisingly low 1600kg weight and a pleasantly nimble nature as a result. The chassis is teamed up with a thoroughly refreshed version of the old H6’s 2.0-litre turbo petrol four-cylinder engine that now produces 150kW of power and 320Nm of torque.
The engine is hooked up to a slick seven-speed dual clutch transmission driving the front wheels and feels nicely eager, with a surprisingly brisk turn of pace. While it is relatively easy to achieve the numbers quoted by Haval in terms of average fuel consumption (7.4L/100km), it is vaguely disappointing that they couldn’t do a bit better in that regard.
The H6 feels nicely accurate and controlled out on the open road, with a pleasantly supple ride. It quickly defaults to understeer when you start pushing it, however, but the nicely judged ride qualities are far preferable in a medium SUV than ultimate corner wrangling anyway. That said, a Mazda CX-5 will run rings around it.
The biggest thing really letting it down in terms of handling and performance are the Hankook tyres that tend to let go after very little provocation from the engine, chirping and howling at even the slightest hint of enthusiasm from the driver. Of course, it is also a symptom of an inconsistent traction control system, but the worst of it could be fixed when the next set of tyres is due.
But what about long-term reliability?
That is the great unknown with newer brands from the Chinese market.
While Haval is a GWM brand – otherwise known as Great Wall Motors – that has been here longer than most other emerging brands, but the poor quality of Great Wall’s initial offerings in this market (which no doubt led to the shift from the Great Wall name to the abbreviated GWM) means something of a question mark still remains.
That said, GWM’s latest slew of vehicles have been impressive, not just in terms of equipment, but also build quality – they genuinely are well put together vehicles. Whether this translates into long-term reliability still remains to be seen, however, but the company is clearly confident, offering a strong warranty of 5 years and 150,000km, as well as 5 years roadside assist.
Any other cars I should consider
?
While there are no shortage of mid-size SUVs around, few offer direct competition to the H6 in terms of size, price and equipment.
Things like the Mitsubishi Outlander, Toyota RAV4, Ford Escape, Nissan Qashqai and X-Trail, Mazda CX-5, Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage (and many more) all either offer very basic models at around the H6 Lux’s $34,990 asking price (usually slightly more though), but don’t offer anywhere near the amount of standard equipment or, in a some cases, quality. Similarly-equipped models are all significantly more expensive.
This really leaves the H6’s only real direct competitor to be its countryman – the MG HS, which offers similar levels of equipment for the money, albeit with a more plasticky interior and a clunkier infotainment system.
To get similar levels of equipment and quality for the money, you need to look further down the size spectrum into the small SUV/slightly taller hatchback segment.
