Haval Jolion v Hyundai Kona 2021 Comparison

The 2021 Hyundai Kona is a standout model in this fast-growing category, winning our Best Small SUV mega-test earlier this year from a formidable field of contenders.

Since then, the 2021 Haval Jolion has become available and made a strong first impression – from us, as our launch review indicates, and Australian buyers, who’ve been buying the Chinese brand’s all-new model at the rate of 500 a month.

So the time has well and truly come for a comprehensive head-to-head comparison test between the Kona and Jolion.

The Jolion is officially classified a small SUV, but you wouldn’t know that from sitting in the back of it.

Replacing the H2 in the local Haval line-up, the Jolion is fully 140mm longer in the wheelbase, which means it’s around 100mm longer than the recently updated Hyundai Kona that sits at the oppose end of the scale for external dimensions.

That, of course, is not the only way in which they differ. At flagship level – the two variants we’re testing here – there’s a major gap in pricing between the two (see below).

So this will end up a test of the relative value of the Haval versus any core engineering aces the Hyundai has up its sleeve.

There’s a question of branding as well. Hyundai had been fighting for brand recognition in the Aussie market since the mid-1980s; it’s now a trustworthy name, and one of the big players here.

You might be excused for thinking that Haval would be in the same position Hyundai was back in the early 1990s, but you’d be wrong. This year, Haval has already sold 6000 SUVs across its full range and is on track to reach 10,000 units for the first time in a calendar year.

That would be a remarkable feat, although it’s worth considering that the Kona, by itself, has sold nearly 10,000 units this year already.

Buyers can get into the range-topping 2021 Haval Jolion Ultra for a national drive-away price of just $30,990. The cost of putting a 2021 Hyundai Kona Highlander on the road will set you back another $11,000 or so, depending on where you live, with its price set at $38,000 plus on-road costs.

Standard features in the Jolion start with 18-inch alloy wheels and also include a sunroof, rake adjustment for the steering column (but no reach adjustment), six-way electrically-adjustable driver’s seat, heated front seats, leather upholstery, rear privacy glass, electro-chromatic mirror, auto-up/down power windows, auto fold-in and heated door mirrors, inductive smartphone charging, head-up display and dual-zone climate control.

That’s a formidable list for less than $31K.

In the Kona camp, the standard equipment lacks the sunroof of the Jolion and the climate control is limited to just one zone, but the top-shelf Korean can match the more affordable new jam-packed Chinese contender for other standard features.

Unlike the Haval, the Kona does have reach adjustment for the steering column, a heated steering wheel and integrated satellite navigation. Front passengers can also adjust their seat electrically in the Hyundai and there’s seat heating for the outboard seats in the rear.

For its infotainment system, the Jolion gets a 12.3-inch touch-screen, front USB data port (and one for recharging only), six speakers, Bluetooth, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

A shortcoming in the Jolion’s infotainment set-up is the lack of a separate volume control knob or slider control for the front passenger. For front passengers to adjust the audio system volume, they have to drill down through the settings menu via the touch-screen to get there. It’s not very convenient or fast.

Infotainment in the Kona is handled by a 10.25-inch touch-screen, operating a Harman Kardon audio system with eight speakers, digital radio, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The warranty coverage is seven years/unlimited kilometres for the Haval, and five years/unlimited for the Hyundai. And service intervals, apart from the first service, are the same for both vehicles: 12 months or 15,000km.

Both these cars are well equipped for safety and driver assistance technology, but it might surprise readers to learn that the 2021 Haval Jolion comes out on top for airbags, with a centre airbag located between driver and front passenger.

Otherwise, the two competitors are line-ball for airbag protection, with the 2021 Hyundai Kona joining the Jolion in also offering dual front, side-impact (front seats) and side curtain airbags.

The Haval also fares extremely well for standard driver assist features. As standard, the Jolion Ultra comes with ‘secondary collision mitigation’ (a multi-brake system), roll-over mitigation, hill descent control/hill start assist, rear parking sensors, reversing camera/360-degree monitoring, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian/cyclist detection, autonomous steering control, intersection assist, lane keep assist/lane departure warning, blind spot detection, rear cross traffic alert, rear collision warning, driver fatigue monitoring, traffic sign recognition and tyre pressure monitoring. Phew…

The Kona has many of those features too, but not all. Forget the secondary collision mitigation, for instance, or traffic sign recognition. On the other hand, the Kona Highlander does have features like auto high beam for the headlights and front parking sensors.

Both cars have powerful LED headlights, but the Hyundai’s auto high beam assist is a welcome advantage and worked effectively during our test session.

That said, the Jolion really impressed with its lane keeping system, which worked very well indeed on a country road that is my benchmark for systems like this.

The same can’t be said about the adaptive cruise control on the Jolion, which we’ve found can heavily reduce speeds in corners for no apparent reason, other than the road curving slightly.

On one other point, the Kona’s field of vision – obliquely, around the A-pillars – is undeniably superior to the Jolion’s.

ANCAP has tested the Hyundai Kona prior to its most recent facelift, and rated it five stars for crash safety, based on the 2017 test protocol. Some safety kit missing from the earlier model is now fitted.

The Haval Jolion hasn’t yet been tested by ANCAP or Euro NCAP.

In terms of power delivery, the 2021 Haval Jolion and Hyundai Kona are very different.

The Jolion’s 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine is a hard worker but plagued by turbo lag. The naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre four-cylinder powering the Hyundai Kona is more responsive than the Haval’s and livelier, despite a torque deficit of 40Nm (180Nm versus 220Nm).

Both SUVs muster the same peak power (110kW) and both are noisy under load and at higher revs. But what separates these two are their respective transmissions – a dual-clutch unit in the Haval and a continuously variable set-up for the Hyundai.

The DCT in the Jolion doesn’t deliver crisp shifting, and it’s slow to kick down – taking seconds with the right foot buried in the carpet.

Possibly the first and reverse ratios are too high, with the transmission riding the clutch a lot more than other DCTs at low speeds. Calibration is a problem, with the Jolion lurching off with all the grace of a startled heffalump if the driver prods the accelerator as one would in a conventional automatic (and other DCTs).

This is particularly noticeable when the engine is cold and idling faster.

The CVT in the Kona is a delight, believe it or not. A first-timer in the Kona could drive it for days and not twig that this is anything other than an epicyclic auto with a torque converter.

It is smooth, of course, but what really impresses us is the way the CVT complements the engine’s power delivery. The transmission responds promptly, as required, and it’s more adaptive too – automatically selecting a lower ratio descending hills.

While both cars wail away at higher revs, they’re subdued at open-road speeds. At 100km/h the Jolion ticks over at 1900rpm, and the Kona spins slower still, at around 1800rpm.

The Kona is more fuel-efficient than the Jolion, according to the ADR figures for these two models. In the real world too, the Kona seems more frugal than the Jolion.

Yet on my two test drives the Kona posted fuel consumption of 8.6L/100km versus 8.3L/100km for the Jolion.

Why the difference? It all comes back to power delivery – and driving dynamics (see below). The Kona had performance on tap and it was fun to drive. I had to work harder to exploit the performance the Jolion had available and after a while I gave up.

But the Kona received a right royal flogging…

The 2021 Hyundai Kona Highlander is a long way ahead of the Haval Jolion Ultra in driving dynamics.

It starts with the Kumho Solus 225/55R18 tyres fitted to the Jolion, versus the Continental 235/45R18 tyres of the Kona.

Then there’s the Kona’s shorter wheelbase and its local chassis tune. This adds up to better steering response, significantly better grip, more secure handling, better brake pedal feel and better body control at touring speeds.

The Kona is not only safer, point to point, it provides a more enjoyable driving experience. It’s just plain easier to pick the right line in the Hyundai.

The Jolion’s turn-in is fine, its handling is safe and the braking response is good, but the roadholding is only average for this class of vehicle.

Importantly too, the Kona’s powertrain works together with the chassis in a much closer partnership than in the case of the Jolion. When you want to throttle up in the Kona, on the exit from a corner for example, it delivers immediately. Turbo lag and the tardy DCT hold back the Jolion.

Ride comfort in the Haval feels reactive at times, but isn’t harsh. While the Kona’s ride on lower-profile tyres is firmer, the suspension offers more consistent compression and rebound across a range of speeds, and the Hyundai feels settled and composed more often than the Haval does.

The Jolion’s tyres generate more noise on coarse-chip bitumen. A knocking noise from the rear suspension could be occasionally heard on bumpier roads, and there was a plastic rattle from within the dash.

The Kona’s road noise is not as noticeable, but there was some squeaking from soft fixtures rubbing together.

It’s harder to get comfortable in the Jolion. The driver’s seat base is flat and unsupportive, there’s no reach adjustment for the steering column (as mentioned earlier) and the pedal placement doesn’t quite work for me.

A rotary dial resides in the centre console to operate the dual-clutch transmission. I found it to be a hit-or-miss affair, ergonomically. The Kona makes do with a conventional T-bar lever.

There are three instrumentation themes in the Jolion: technology, fashion and dynamic. The last is the only one to display the tachometer in the traditional analogue style. In either of the other two modes, the tacho comprises a digital (numbered) readout, which flashes before your eyes as the engine speed nears redline. It’s not very useful in that context.

And the Jolion will display a large lane-keeping graphic in the instrument cluster, blocking any trip computer data you may want to read. You can temporarily disable the graphic by holding down the ‘OK’ button on the wheel, but it bounces back within a few seconds.

If you drill down through the infotainment menu for settings you can disable the lane-keeping system – including the emergency lane evasion facility – but the car defaults to the ‘on’ setting every time you restart the engine. It’s quirky and annoying.

In contrast with the Jolion, the controls and instrumentation of the Kona are conventional and easier to use. Seat comfort is commendable in the Hyundai, with power-adjustable lumbar support complementing the cushioning. The seat base is softer but more supportive in corners and under brakes.

And the thicker steering rim of the Hyundai is nicer to use than the steering wheel in the Haval.

Up front, the Jolion offers a reasonably large storage bin under the folding centre arm rest and there are slots in the centre console for holding smartphones of varying sizes. The cup holders – also in the centre console – are smaller than their counterparts in the Kona.

In the rear seats, the Jolion delivers heaps of legroom – practically medium SUV levels of space – plus plenty of headroom for adult passengers of average height, despite the sunroof’s presence.

There’s no transmission tunnel in the rear of the Jolion; it’s a completely flat floor for the occupant of the centre seat. Unfortunately, the centre seat cushioning is rather firm, due to the fold-down centre arm rest.

Rear seat occupants in the Jolion are served by two USB ports in the rear of the centre console for the purpose of recharging, plus adjustable vents and two fixed cup holders in the centre arm rest.

While it’s comparable with the Haval for rear seat headroom, the Kona loses out badly to the Jolion for legroom. The difference in wheelbase between these two cars really shows up in the rear seats.

There are no adjustable vents in the Kona either, and only one USB port for recharging.

Like the Jolion, the Kona does have cup holders (of the flip-out kind) in the folding centre arm rest, and a bottle holder in each of the rear door bins. The centre seat position is slightly more comfortable than the Haval’s, but the transmission tunnel does intrude.

Luggage space for these two totals 430 litres for the Jolion and 374L for the Kona. The Kona has a luggage net and four tie-down points for holding in place smaller items that might otherwise roll around in the boot.

Furthermore, the Hyundai also has a lift-out polystyrene foam receptacle for wet goods under the floor, above the spare tyre.

Both cars come with compact space-saver spare tyres.

I could certainly picture families on a budget happily laying down their hard-earned cash for the 2021 Haval Jolion.

It’s great value and how could anyone look past the long warranty?

But for me, someone on the cusp of ‘empty-nest’ syndrome, it’s the 2021 Hyundai Kona any day of the week.

And I think DINKs and singles might feel the same way, even if the Hyundai does cost more than the Haval.

So the Kona is first past the finish line again.

How much does the 2021 Haval Jolion Ultra cost?
Price: $30,990 (drive-away)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 110kW/220Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 8.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 186g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested

How much does the 2021 Hyundai Kona Highlander cost?
Price: $38,000 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 110kW/180Nm
Transmission: Continuously variable automatic
Fuel: 6.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 148g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2017)