2022 Haval H6 Lux Review

Haval might still be new to many punters in Australia, but the Chinese brand is very much plotting and executing a sales onslaught to climb up the charts locally. Owned by Great Wall Motors (GWM) and specialising in making SUVs, Haval is proving to be a brand with strong aspirations, focusing on buyers seeing the peerless value for money. Take this 2022 Haval H6 Lux for example. It undercuts key rivals by thousands, has bags of style and is loaded to the brim with standard features. On paper, at least, it seems like Haval is off to a good start.

Make no mistake, the Haval H6 has plans to make waves in the ever-growing SUV market locally. It might not be worrying the likes of the Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5, Kia Sportage or Hyundai Tucson just yet, but it has steadily been climbing up the charts – it has already overtaken the formidable Volkswagen Tiguan in the sales race so far this year, for example. We know that cheap doesn’t always equal good value for money in the automotive industry, with some cars being cheap, but also nasty. So is the Haval H6 truly good value for money? Or is it simply just appealing on paper, failing in the real world? There’s only one way to find out.

Price & Equipment: 9.0/10

Haval is promising incredible value for money with the H6 range, and when it comes to standard equipment for the price it has pretty much all of its competitors well and truly beaten. While you can get into a H6 from as little as $33,990 drive away, we tested the mid-spec 2022 Haval H6 Lux that’s currently priced at $36,990 drive away. That entry price makes it sharp value for money, especially considering how much equipment you receive for that price.

Standard equipment on the 2022 Haval H6 Lux includes 18-inch alloy wheels, automatic all-LED exterior lighting with LED front fog lights, auto wipers, roof rails, synthetic ‘Comfortek’ leather upholstery, a leather steering wheel, dual-zone climate control with rear air vents, an electrically adjustable driver’s seat with lumbar adjustment, heated front seats, a 10.25-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 10.25-inch digital driver’s display, a six-speaker sound system, rear privacy glass, auto-folding mirrors and keyless entry and start.

Safety equipment includes seven airbags (including a front centre unit), auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian, intersection and cyclist detection, lane departure warning with lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist, lane trace assist, driver attention monitoring, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, a 360-degree parking camera, front and rear parking sensors with auto rear braking and an auto-dimming rear mirror.

A base Mazda CX-5 Maxx costs around the same ($36,500 drive away) as the mid-range Haval H6, yet feels as well equipped as a cave when compared to its Chinese rival. The Mazda has a much smaller touchscreen inside, no sat-nav, no front parking sensors, smaller 17-inch alloy wheels, no proximity key entry, no 360-degree camera, no dual zone climate control… A Mazda CX-5 Maxx Sport mirrors the H6 Lux perhaps most closely, but costs a massive $6,000 more ($42,700 drive away). It’s safe to say the Chinese Haval H6 has its rivals beat on the price and standard kit front.

Performance & Economy: 6.0/10

Under the bonnet of the 2022 Haval H6 Lux is a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine. It makes 150kW of power (between 6,000rpm and 6,300rpm) and 320Nm of torque (between 1,500rpm and 4,000rpm). It’s mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and in the Lux model we tested, drives the front wheels only – the upper-spec Ultra is also available with all-wheel drive.

The 2.0-litre is a solid engine, providing a noticeable – but not unpleasant – induction rasp and making the H6 surprisingly quick for a car of its size and road presence. It’s a pretty quiet and smooth operator, working away in the background nicely. Even with five occupants inside, the torque figure means overtaking is a breeze with a solid and smooth feel on the open road.

Around town, the Haval H6’s and engine gearbox marriage comes undone slightly. The way the H6’s dual clutch automatic behaves is annoying at the best of times as rolling off the brake at a stop light has the car barely creeping forwards with tonnes of clutch slippage, but very little go. Prodding the accelerator even lightly from standstill unleashes the H6 forward with gusto, making spinning the wheels all too easy. It’s clear much more tuning and engineering work is needed here, to make the Haval H6 behave like the very best dual clutch automatics.

Haval claims that the H6 Lux will use 7.4L/100km on the combined cycle, and we achieved 9.2L/100km in our testing. A freeway stint down the Mornington Peninsula from Melbourne returned an excellent 6.5L/100km with predominantly freeway driving. It can use 91RON regular unleaded and it has a 61-litre fuel tank.

Ride & Handling: 7.0/10

So what’s the 2022 Haval H6 Lux like to drive? Decently would be the word to use. The suspension manages to soak up minor imperfections, but larger, sharper bumps trouble the H6. Speed bumps often have the suspension hitting its limits, sending jarring and unpleasant vibrations through the cabin, especially in the rear. The suspension never seems to settle either, with the ride feeling akin to a dual cab ute at times, with occupants always bobbing around. It’s safe to say, class leaders such as the Mazda CX-5 and Kia Sportage that offer a well damped, controlled yet sporty feel are still a step above the H6 in the way they drive, for now.

The Haval H6 handles decently, and considering its target audience, it’s ability to go around corners won’t offend, nor excite anyone. Pointing the Haval H6 through a roundabout shows that the chassis is safe and predictable with solid grip from the quality Hankook tyres. The steering is a little vague and lifeless however and going a little faster will reveal the H6’s tendency to push wide.

We’re also not sure about the way the H6’s driving modes are changed. They’re accessed through the main touchscreen after a swipe left from the home screen. A physical dial or even a button, would have been helpful. Selecting “Sport” which sharpens the throttle and makes the steering heavier also makes the H6 flash its hazards. Very odd.

The driver assistance systems work well, with the radar cruise, lane keeping assist and blind spot monitoring all performing flawlessly. We did experience one phantom braking however when reversing, with the Haval H6 making us think that we had hit something when reversing. The camera quality is very impressive, allowing you to a detailed view of the car’s surroundings.

Interior & Practicality: 7.0/10

Inside, the 2022 Haval H6 Lux presents impeccably, with a seriously impressive and roomy interior. Credit to Haval and their team as on design alone, the H6 Lux’s cabin really stands out for all the right reasons. Everything presents well, with good use of soft-touch plastics, and a modern, albeit generic, upmarket feel inside.

Up front, and perched on the top of the dash, the two 10.25-inch widescreens sport brilliant resolution and clarity. Along with some decent graphics and glossy design, the screens really make the H6 feel upmarket. Sadly, we ran into a lot of issues when it comes with interacting with the screens and the other controls in the Haval H6 interior. The screen’s software is too complicated and requires a steep learning curve. Getting to the heated seat controls will take you through to vehicle settings of all places, before needing to tap on seats.

Other quirks like this abound, but perhaps most frustrating is the lack of any physical shortcuts or buttons to bring up the climate controls easily. If you’re using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, adjusting the climate controls involves you heading to the Apple CarPlay or Android Auto main menu, exiting out of it, before then selecting the climate control button. This is rather fiddly and difficult to do when driving. Adjusting the volume as a passenger is also impossible without having to exit Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

Speaking of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, you’ll need to plug your phone into the car to use them. Trouble is, only one of the (already rather hidden) USB ports can operate Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s on the passenger side, so it requires a bit of digging to find from the driver’s seat.

Storage throughout the cabin is good with a shelf underneath the centre console, a cubby in front of the gear selector, a big centre armrest box and some large door pockets that can hold 1L bottles with ease.

Heading into the back seats reveals a truly roomy and spacious environment for rear seat occupants with tonnes of legroom and headroom, especially in comparison to the tight back seat of the CX-5. A centre armrest, air vents and some USB ports round out a comfortable to place to spend time in.

The 2022 Haval H6 comes with a cavernous 600-litre boot that can expand to 1,485L with the 60/40-split rear seats folded. This is one of the largest boots for a mid-size SUV and the H6 easily beats the Mazda CX-5’s 432L boot. Below the H6’s boot floor, you’ll find some extra storage and a space saver spare wheel.

Service & Warranty: 8.0/10

GWM Haval gives its new cars a seven-year/unlimited km warranty in Australia, with five years of roadside assistance and five years of capped price servicing. The H6 has slightly odd service intervals: the first year service must be done within the first 10,000km, while the next service intervals are a further 15,000km onwards – 25,000km, 40,000km and so on. Five years/70,000km of servicing costs $1,560 or an average of $312 per service.

A 2022 Mazda CX-5 over the span of five years/50,000km will cost a total $1,875 ($375 per service). The Haval H6 costs about the same over five years to service as the Hyundai Tucson (with the 1.6-litre turbo engine), which will cost $1,595 over five years/50,000km. The Toyota RAV4 is remains the cheapest car in the segment to service, as it costs just $1,150 over five years/75,000km.

The 2022 Haval H6 Lux DiscoverAuto Rating: 7.4/10

It’s brilliant to see just how far Haval and parent company GWM have come in recent years, making big strides in technology to offer genuinely competitive products for much less than key competitors. Haval is really giving established rivals something to think about by offering unmatched levels of standard equipment for not a lot of money with the H6. While the Haval H6 still has a way to go with its interior niggles and poorly calibrated transmission, we can’t help but be impressed by how sound the rest of the H6 Lux was. It’s styled handsomely and doesn’t feel like a cut-price abomination. With the core negatives aside, it could easily be as good as its rivals, at a much better price.

For those looking at a spacious family sized SUV, for less money than the competition, the Haval H6 deserves to be on your shopping list. The 2022 Haval H6 Lux proves it isn’t a cheap car done poorly, but rather proves that the H6 offers buyers some serious value. Haval will continue to kick goal after goal in the coming years and we hope to see further iterations of the H6 stand toe-to-toe with rivals.