Haval H6 Premium 2016 Review

The first thing that hits you about the Haval H6 is that its presentation borders on prestigious.

The distinguished 'Titanium' metallic paint, the alloy wheels, the Audi-like nose and the Haval brand silhouette in the puddle lights confer upon this car a presence belied by its sub-$32,000 price.

Inside there are swathes of brightwork and woodgrain, a leather-bound steering wheel, malleable textured plastic and high-resolution infotainment screens and instrumentation. Only the cloth trim for the seats gives the game away that this SUV is not quite as it seems.

The style of the H6 (including some of the interior design) may not be to everyone's liking, but this is a car that clearly shows in which direction Haval is headed when it comes to designing for a particular buyer demographic.

Overall the H6 is quite well equipped for the price, but there’s no satellite navigation – which probably won't be much of an issue in a $32,000 SUV, although at least one of the H6's cheaper rivals offers it as standard.

The Haval's Bluetooth connection and infotainment/instrument readability is pleasing and the speed with which the infotainment system reconnects a paired smartphone is actually outstanding.

A large knob in the centre console adjusts the audio system volume and provides ease of use for both the front-seat passenger and the driver, if the driver can't be bothered with the volume control switchgear on the steering wheel.

The H6 has proximity access (keyless entry) and a starter button, but lacks electric seat adjustment that comes in the higher-grade H6 LUX model.

Otherwise the base H6 Premium comes with a lot of gear that is not yet universally standard – but should be, as far as the market is concerned. Those standard features include reversing camera, parking sensors with acoustic guidance, tyre-pressure monitoring, blind-spot monitoring, dual-zone climate control, a seven-speaker audio system with CD player, plus switchable ambient lighting.

However, equipment aside, the packaging of the H6 generally could have done with more attention to the little things. I found the driving position didn't suit, and I would imagine it might not meet the needs of anyone over about 165cm tall. Even with the steering wheel adjusted as near as possible, but still at arms' length, the pedals were too close for comfort. And that was with the backrest positioned nearly upright.

For a front-wheel drive SUV the floor was quite high off the ground, adults of average height had to raise the foot high to step into the H6, but then the seat was correspondingly low to the floor – so that the adult occupant's thighs were unsupported by the seat base, despite the reasonable legroom.

The rear seats reclined, but it was hard to set either section of the rear bench for long-haul comfort to suit adults. Between the parcel shelf and the top of the rear-seat squabs was a gap, to allow the seats to recline further back than usual.

The high ground clearance of the H6 also had some bearing on the height of the boot floor, which was shallow, despite a space-saver located in the spare-tyre well and the absence of drivetrain components underneath.

Although the car is yet to be assessed by ANCAP, the H6 comes with seatbelt reminder lights in the overhead console near the rear-view mirror. They remain lit even if there's no one occupying the rear seats, which is a bit distracting when driving at night. And another distraction comes in the form of the audible alerts that chime when the doors lock automatically. It's unnecessary, because the H6 has pretty clunky central locking that can be heard from the next suburb.

Otherwise, the H6 is very quiet. There's no driveline noise at all cruising at open-road speeds (with tacho reading just over 2000rpm at 100km/h). Tyre noise was muted and there was a faint rustle of wind in calm conditions.

The engine is lively enough at low speeds and there's very little turbo lag. It's a refined engine too, but the redline is at a surprisingly low 5500rpm, and the engine speed will never exceed that point, whatever the mode or whether the transmission is just left in Drive or shifted manually. All the performance arrives in the mid-range, although it's in a fairly broad band, from 2000rpm right up to the redline.

The Getrag dual-clutch transmission is not quite what we've come to expect from the same product supplied in other brands' vehicles. It slips the clutch in an inelegant way from a standing start, so the power arrives in desultory fashion. In traffic the set-up works better when cars ahead compel very light throttle use.

So the answer to the lurch on take-off is go really easy on the accelerator or tramp it from a standing start. Power delivery is much improved either way, suggesting the problem may rest with the engine rather than the transmission.

Despite being a dual-clutch unit the transmission was very slow to change gear – even when shifting manually with the paddles – and there was not a whole lot of engine braking on hills in Drive. But once on the move it is faultlessly smooth.

Fuel consumption for the H6 was average – the trip computer posting 13.2L/100km after some commuting and 40km of freeway travel. That falls well short of the official figure of 8.8, and particularly when the H6 was babied a bit and spent more time than usual on freeways and free-flowing arterials.

While the H6's ride quality was acceptably good, particularly at lower speeds, the handling didn't measure up. Steering response was slow and the H6 was prone to push through corners. The roadholding was probably compromised by the 17-inch Cooper tyres, which chirped a couple of times when hitting the brakes with reasonable force. Driven a little harder, the Haval felt underdamped at the rear. And the H6's stability control system intervened fairly early, but at least it didn't leave the engine feeling hobbled in a corner.

Haval has equipped the H6 with emergency braking indicators that flash if you hit the brake pedal hard enough. The problem there is the system is quite sensitive to pedal pressure, and some people do apply brakes hard enough in normal driving to provoke it – without necessarily facing a hazardous situation.

At night the headlights of the H6 illuminated the road over a reasonable range ahead, but the beams were yellow on low-beam. The ability to adjust the level was a nice feature, however.

The upshot of a week with the H6 is it makes you aware how far the Japanese and Korean brands have come during the decades they've been on sale in Australia. And much of that progress has been due to customer feedback from markets like ours. Haval has got a lot right in the big picture, but it's the finicky little issues that are currently holding it back.

We're betting though that the manufacturer won't be foiled by those niggles for long.

2016 Haval H6 Premium pricing and specifications:
Price: $31,990 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 145kW/315Nm
Transmission: Six-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 8.8L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: TBA
Safety Rating: TBA

Also consider:
>> Mazda CX-5 (from $27,190 plus ORCs)
>> Nissan X-TRAIL (from $27,990 plus ORCs)
>> Toyota RAV4 (from $27,990 plus ORCs)