Browse over 9,000 car reviews
What's the difference?
There are good surprises and bad surprises. Like the time I was driving my ute and the steering wheel came off. Bad surprise. Or the time the chicken shop accidentally gave me a large chips when I paid for a medium. Good surprise. The Haval H6 also surprised me. And it was up there with a large chips type of surprise.
See, my expectations of Haval have been of a brand which is really big in China where its owned by Great Wall Motors, but can’t keep up with the likes of Toyota and Mazda when it comes to driving and styling. Instead, their strength seemed to be just value-for-money.
Surprise! The new generation H6 isn’t just good value-for-money any more. It’s still really well priced but it has stunning looks, too. But that wasn’t the biggest surprise.
If you are considering a mid-sized SUV such as a Toyota RAV4 or Mazda CX-5, I strongly suggest you widen the net and consider the H6, too. Let me explain.
The Jeep Wrangler is a very capable 4WD with real bush cred, but the all-out glory is usually reserved for the hard-core Wrangler variant, the Rubicon.
The Overland is often disparagingly referred to as the city Wrangler. But is that really the case? After all, it’s 'Trail Rated', as well.
We tested the four-door Overland over a seven-day period to see how it’d perform on-road, but most of our focus was on its comfort and capability in an off-road environment.
Read on.
The H6 could be the turning point for Haval in Australia. The brand’s first big success that changes the way Aussies view this Chinese carmaker. The H6’s great value and stunning looks will win over many but add an excellent warranty, advanced safety tech, plus the surprisingly good, and you have a package that appears right up there with the likes of the Toyota RAV4 and Mazda CX-5.
The sweet spot of the range would have to be the Lux - the car I tested with its leatherette seats, privacy glass and dual-zone climate control.
The Overland is (surprisingly) not atrocious on-road and (not surprisingly) very capable off-road. It costs a lot but, geez, it's a barrel of laughs.
If your heart is set on a four-door mid-size 4WD that's a whole lot of fun to drive, but rather impractical for daily life, then it’s difficult to over-look the Overland.
If you’re really gung-ho about hard-core off-roading – rock-crawling etc – then perhaps you should focus on the Rubicon, but for everything else the Overland, even on standard tyres, is more than capable.
This new generation H6 is ridiculously good looking. So much so that my Dad thought it was a Porsche when I arrived to pick him up. But in saying that Dad also has a glass coffee table supported by a golden naked lady and thinks I work in a car dealership, despite me explaining that motoring journalism is an actual job.
He’s not wrong, for once. Well, it doesn’t look like a Porsche, but I can see what he means given the way the LED strip across the tailgate lights up and connects with the tail-lights either side.
I don’t know what kind of deal with the devil the H6’s designer made but there isn’t an angle from which this SUV looks nothing short of beautiful. There’s the flashy but not over-the-top grille, the sleek headlights, and the smooth lines in profile which wrap around to the curvaceous back end.
Havals in the past have seemed low quality and unfinished, but this new H6 seems the opposite.
The same goes for the minimalist cabin. Those screens house almost every function except for the climate control and that clears the dashboard of buttons.
This cabin is a premium design with a floating centre console and metallic trim. Stepping up to the Lux from the Premium adds 'leatherette' upholstery, a leather steering wheel and then the Ultra takes the high-end feeling further with a 12.3-inch media display and a panoramic sunroof.
As for the dimensions, the H6 is larger than most mid-sized SUVs but smaller than a large SUV at 4653mm end to end, 1886mm wide and 1724 mm tall.
The six exterior colours are, 'Hamilton White', 'Ayres Grey', 'Burgundy Red', 'Energy Green', 'Sapphire Blue' and 'Golden Black.'
The Wrangler's appearance has been tweaked throughout the years without ever sacrificing any of the ol’ Wrangler spirit.
It has stuck to its traditional roots and, as such, retains its old-school chunkiness, which is good, but the Overland is less of a hardcore-looking 4WD and more of a lifestyle-suited off-roader than its Rubicon stablemate.
Though the Overland version has a certain blocky appeal, I reckon the Rubicon is better for having fully embraced the all-out off-road look and feel, tyres and all.
The H6 is cavernous for a mid-sized SUV with large and wide seats up front and excellent leg and headroom in the second row. The H6 doesn’t come with a third row which is shame because there’s room for one.
A 600-litre cargo capacity is big for the class and cabin storage is good with two cupholders in the second row, another two up front, a large space under the floating centre console, although the door pockets could be better.
Second rowers will be pleased with directional air vents back there, plus two USB ports. There are another two USB ports either side of the floating centre console, too.
The leatherette upholstery in the Lux I tested was easy to keep clean and would suit families better than the cloth material used in the Premium.
You’re going to notice the high load lip on the boot and for people as tall as me (191cm/6'3") the opened tailgate and your head may meet occasionally. Still the H6 is super practical.
What can you say about a vehicle that has a “wash-out interior with drain plugs” listed in its specs?
This is a purpose-built off-roader and the Overland’s five-seat cabin is a basic but functional space, in which it’s easy to immediately feel comfortable.
All dials, knobs and switches are easy to locate and chunky enough to operate while skipping over corrugations or climbing up steep rock steps.
There's leather everywhere – seats, steering wheel, shifter knob – but durable outdoors-tough surfaces also abound.
What always strikes me about the Wrangler interior is the fact that it’s abundantly clear Jeep designers regularly experience – or at least are familiar with – the type of life that Wranglers are aimed at: fun, dirty, rough-and-tumble adventures in the great outdoors.
There isn’t a lot of storage space inside but there are a few small, deep, and textured receptacles – ideal for keeping your bits and pieces in the same spot while you bounce around off-road – as well as grab handles, including a big sturdy one in front of the front-seat passenger.
There are also tensioned net pockets on the doors so you can throw stuff in there, but beyond those there aren't a lot of storage options.
There are air vents, two USB-C ports, and a 230V inverter in the centre console.
Rear cargo space is listed at 898 litres; with the rear seat stowed away, there is a claimed 2050 litres of room.
You’re saving a decent amount of moolah choosing a Haval H6 over, say, a Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5 or Nissan X-Trail. The H6 entry-grade is called the Premium and lists for $30,990 drive-away, while the mid-range Lux is $33,990 driveaway.
Both come in front wheel drive only. If you’re after all-wheel drive you’ll need to step up to the top-of-the-range Ultra for $36,990 drive-away, or pay $2,000 less and have it in front-wheel drive.
In comparison the RAV4 and CX-5 ranges start more than $3K higher than the entry-grade H6 and don’t get the same level of features. Let me show you what you get for your money.
Coming standard on the Premium are two 10.25-inch displays with Apple CarPlay, six-speaker audio, digital radio, air-conditioning, proximity key with push-button start, a reversing camera, paddle shifters, LED headlights and 18-inch alloy wheels.
Stepping up to the Lux adds dual-zone climate control, privacy glass, power adjustable driver’s seat, the front seats are also heated, leather steering wheel, 360-degree camera and roof rails.
The Ultra brings in a 12.3-inch media screen, power adjustable front passenger seat and both front seats are now heated and ventilated. There's also wireless charging, a head-up display, a heated steering wheel, panoramic sunroof, an electric tailgate, and auto parking.
That’s incredibly good value. Normally things that are cheap (like a Jetstar flight) offer nothing in return (like a Jetstar flight). Yep, nobody is going to accuse you of being ripped off here.
If you’re keen on one of these Jeeps you’ll have to be ready to sell one of your organs – and I don’t mean your church keyboard.
This five-seat vehicle as tested has a manufacturer suggested retail price of $86,950, excluding on-road costs.
The list of standard features is extensive, as it should be at this price, and includes an 8.4-inch multimedia touchscreen unit, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a nine-speaker Alpine premium audio system (with subwoofer), as well as premium touches like heating for the steering wheel and front seats, black leather trimmed seats (with ‘Overland’ logo), leather-wrapped gear-shifter knob and parking brake handle, 18-inch alloy wheels and more.
Exterior paint includes 'Bright White' (on our test vehicle) and black (both standard), and optional colours such as 'Silver Zynith', 'Sting Grey', 'Firecracker Red', 'Punk’n' (orange), 'Earl' (blue-ish grey), 'Hydro Blue' and 'High Velocity' (yellow).
If you opt for the 'Sky-One-Touch Premium Package' (which includes the 'Sky-One-Touch Power Top', and body colour fender flares) that’s an extra $6450.
The same four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine is in all three grades. It’s a 2.0-litre and makes 150kW/320Nm.
This engine had no problems pulling the H6 around when I tested it with my little family onboard with good acceleration and smooth shifts from the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
When pushed hard the four-cylinder responds well, but it’s on the noisy side.
As mentioned at the start of this review only the top-of-the-range Ultra grade gives you choice of all-wheel drive or front-wheel drive. The Premium and Lux are front-wheel drives only.
The car we tested was the front-wheel drive Lux, but we’ll be able to review the all-wheel drive version when it arrives in our garage soon.
On paper the all-wheel drive Haldex system in the H6 looks promising and in this generation the SUV has a rear differential lock for better off-road capability. That said, the H6 is not an off-roader in the Toyota LandCruiser sense, and you should keep your adventures in it mild rather than wild.
There’s no diesel in the H6 line-up, nor will you find a hybrid variant or and electric version of this SUV at this stage.
Braked towing capacity is 2000kg for all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive H6s.
This Jeep has a 3.6-litre 'Pentastar' V6 engine – producing 209kW at 6400rpm and 347Nm at 4100rpm – and an eight-speed automatic transmission.
It's an effective engine-and-auto pairing for driving on sealed surfaces and well suited to high- and low-range 4WDing.
Haval says that after a combination of open and urban roads the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder should use 7.4L/100km in the front-wheel drive cars and 8.3L/100km in the all-wheel drives.
In my testing of the front-wheel drive I measured 9.1L/100km at the fuel pump. That was after an even split of motorway and urban running.
Thirsty work considering most of the time it was just me and an unloaded car. Add a family of four plus holiday gear and you can expect that mileage to be worse.
It’s here that the H6 is showing a weakness in its offering by not having a hybrid powertrain in its Australian range.
Official fuel consumption is listed as 9.7L/100km on a combined cycle.
Actual fuel consumption on this test, from pump to pump, was 13.6L/100km, largely attributable to the fact I did a lot of low-range four-wheel driving on this test, as always.
The Wrangler Overland Unlimited has an 81-litre tank so, going by that fuel figure above, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 595km from a full tank.
Note: Drop 30km to 50km from your total calculated fuel-range figure for a better idea of your vehicle’s safe touring range – so that figure above would be 565km.
Also, remember that numerous other factors affect your fuel consumption and so impact your touring range, including how much extra weight you have onboard (passengers, camping gear etc), whether your vehicle is fitted with any aftermarket equipment (bullbar, spare-wheel carrier, etc), whether you are towing (a camper-trailer, caravan, or boat etc), your vehicle's tyre pressures and the conditions.
I’m still in shock. This is the biggest surprise. The H6 I tested was effortless to drive, with a comfortable and composed ride. I was not expecting it, not when most Havals I’ve piloted in the past have disappointed when it comes to the driving bit.
Sure, the engine isn't overly powerful, but it's responsive, and the dual-clutch transmission shifts smoothly whether driving in slow traffic or at 110km/h on the motorway
Sharp speed bumps taken a bit too fast in the front-wheel drive Lux I tested reveal only modest suspension travel, causing a reverberating ‘bang’ as the shocks and springs react. I’ve experienced the same thing in many cars I’ve tested – even properly prestige ones.
This though is one of very few complaints I have about the way the H6 drives, for the most part this SUV performs remarkably well with a (high) level of refinement I seriously wasn’t expecting.
I can’t tell you what the all-wheel drive version of the H6 is like to drive having only tested the front-wheel drive version, but we’ll no doubt have one in the CarsGuide garage soon.
The Wrangler Overland is a fun, go-kart style drive and yields a real driver-direct experience you get from few other contemporary vehicles on the blacktop and the dirt.
But while it’s nowhere near as atrocious as you might expect on sealed surfaces its planted, squared-off stance gives it a definite composure on bitumen. It’s certainly no sports car in terms of ride and handling.
It’s quite soft on-road, soaking up most imperfections with ease, but it also takes quite a lot of effort and concentration to keep this Jeep in line on the open road because it tends to float around on the blacktop if not constantly reined in.
Also, its steering has a lightness about it that can sometimes be a bit disconcerting.
The V6 is a gutsy unit, capable of punching the Overland along at a fair clip, all while the eight-speed auto handles clever and nicely controlled shifts.
Because it’s so blocky, straight up and down, with big wing mirrors and the like, the Overland is rather noisy on sealed surfaces.
But it remains one of the few modern vehicles that deserves to be driven with the windows down, because it offers that kind of visceral driving experience – as the LC70 Series, or Suzuki Jimny do.
So, how does the Overland perform off-road? Bloody glad you asked.
Spoiler alert: The Overland is not as good an off-roader as the Rubicon because it does not have that variant’s BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain tyres, 'Rock-Trac' active on-demand 4x4 system (with 4:1 transfer case*, and 77.2:1 crawl ratio), front and rear locking differentials, or the Rubicon’s very handy electronic front sway bar disconnect. (* The Overland has 2.72:1.)
But, having said that, the Overland is still an extremely capable off-roader.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting any strife because it retains all the traditional goodness of the Wrangler with very few compromises. It’s a genuine 4WD with a dual-range transfer case, a ladder chassis, solid axles and well-proven 4WD heritage.
In terms of size, the Overland is 4882mm long (with a 3008mm wheelbase), 1894mm wide, 1838mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 1900kg.
Steering has a nice weight to it at lower speeds, giving the driver a great sense of sustained control through even the most severe obstacles, but the Overland’s turning circle is a listed 12.44m, so this off-roader can sometimes feel like a mini-bus to steer through tight turns.
However, this is a purpose-built off-roader with a wide wheel track and low centre of gravity, so it feels planted no matter how rough and bumpy the terrain gets.
On the gravel track to our off-road testing site, there are numerous steering-wheel-jolting corrugations but overall the Overland – with a coil spring at each corner – soaked them up.
Our 4WD loop included the aforementioned gravel tracks, light to medium corrugations, undulating mud tracks and mud holes, and some very challenging low-range 4WD sections (in particular, a steep rocky hill), and a few other set-pieces to see if the Overland was able to do everything safely and comfortably.
As a true 4WD worth its weight in gold, the Wrangler is immediately more at home taking on low-speed 4WDing than it is negotiating suburban traffic.
Again, the V6 engine comes into its own, delivering smooth, even torque when needed, but not ever over-working to achieve that.
Considered driving is necessary as is slow and steady throttle, but that's easily achieved in the Wrangler as its go pedal is none too sensitive to a bouncing boot.
It’s refreshing to note that switching to 4WD High or 4WD Low range is still done via a stubby stick to the left of the auto shifter, rather than the push of a button, or the turn of a dial.
Low-range gearing is very good and the Overland has a well-calibrated off-road traction control that seamlessly launches into action when required, and wasted wheelspin is kept to an absolute minimum.
This Wrangler has 242mm ground clearance and a standard wading depth of 760mm, and was never troubled on climbing steep rock steps, traversing deep ruts or punching through mudholes.
It’s supremely sure-footed during low-range work but visibility can be an issue: over-bonnet visibility has improved slightly over previous generations but the driver’s view to the front and side is still a bit squeezed, making it at times difficult to visually pick correct wheel-placement, especially when driving steep terrain at sharp angles.
It can go hardcore, no worries, but it simply requires a bit more thought and you know what? That’s fine with me because it makes the off-roading experience an even more engaging one.
The Overland has approach, departure and breakover angles of 35.8, 31.2 and 20.4 degrees, respectively.
With live axles front and rear, the Overland has plenty of wheel travel to keep moving and under control through truly off-grid country.
The only real compromises in the Overland’s 4x4 set-up are its standard Bridgestone Dueler (255/70R18) highway tyres and, even on those, the Overland walked up and over our toughest off-road challenges.
Though the Overland is not historically regarded as a towing platform, it’s handy for you to know that it has listed towing capacities of 750kg (unbraked trailer) and 2495kg (braked).
Is the Haval H6 safe? Well the H6 hasn’t been given an ANCAP rating yet, but this new generation car looks to be equipped well with advanced safety tech across all three grades.
All H6s come with AEB which can detect pedestrians and cyclists, blind spot warning and lane change assistance, traffic sign recognition, lane departure warning, lane keeping assistance, and rear collision warning.
The Lux adds adaptive cruise control, while the Ultra brings rear cross-traffic alert with braking, and an 'Intelligent Dodge' overtaking system.
Along with all that tech there are seven airbags on board, too. And for child seats you’ll find two ISOFIX points and three top tether anchor mounts.
The Wrangler Overland Unlimited has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing in 2019.
Standard safety gear onboard includes four airbags (driver and front-seat passenger only), AEB, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, forward collision warning, rear-view camera, and front and rear parking sensors.
The H6 is covered by Haval’s seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. Servicing is recommended every 12 months or 15,000km, although the first service is required at the 10,000km point, then 25,000km and so on. Servicing is capped at $210 for the first service, $280 for the second, $380 for third, $480 for the fourth and $210 for the fifth.
The Overland Unlimited is covered by a five-year/unlimited km warranty.
Servicing is set at 12 month or 12,000km intervals at a total cost of $1995 over five years, with servicing capped at a maximum $399 per appointment.
Lifetime roadside assist is available to Overland owners when they service through Jeep.