Skoda Octavia vs Haval H6

What's the difference?

The Skoda Octavia has always been impressive in wagon guise and this mHEV variant is no different. While the mild-hybrid set-up adds little to the Octavia package there’s still plenty to like about this wagon. It’s smooth and refined to drive, packed with features and has ample appeal as a value-for-money buy.

It’s no surprise if this wagon is at or near the top of your vehicle shopping list.

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.

A wagon, by its very nature, is a vehicle with a low and long body style. And the Skoda Octavia Select mHEV wagon adheres to that design expectation.

At 4698mm long, 1829mm wide and 1468mm high, it’s low and sleek, especially compared to the taller and bulkier SUVs and utes I usually test, and this wagon’s lower entry/exit height takes a bit of getting used to. It feels like I have to do a contorted yoga pose every time I get in and out of this wagon.

The interior has a premium feel about it, despite bearing fabric seats, expansive use of durable plastic and the like, and it does feel squeezier inside than expected.

In design terms, this Octavia holds its own against mid-sized wagon rivals and even mid-size SUV competitors.

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.'

This Octavia has a neat and functional interior with a low-key premium feel about it, even though it’s a lower-spec variant in the line-up.

The front seats are manually adjustable and offer a reasonable degree of comfort and support, and there are enough hard-wearing plastic surfaces and handy storage spaces throughout the cabin to please the fussiest of drivers and passengers.

There are two USB-C outlets and 45W charging upfront and in the rear seat.

Bonus: the multimedia system is easy to pair with your phone and to use in general driving.

Second-row passengers are well catered for with charge points, storage spots and even a small portable bin in the passenger door pocket. That, and the umbrella in the driver-side door, are among the many nice, welcome touches Skoda does so well.

The second-row seats – in a 60/40 split configuration – are comfortable with adequate room for everyone. The fold-down centre armrest has cupholders.

For child seats, it has two ISOFIX points on the outboard seats in the second row and three top-tether anchor points.

At the back, there is a 640-litre boot (when all seats are up and in use) and luggage capacity expands to 1700 litres when the second row is stowed away.

The rear cargo area has a luggage compartment cover, a 12V outlet, net pockets and four tie-down points.

This Skoda has a listed unladen mass of 1388kg and a gross vehicle mass of 1910kg, so payload is approximately 522kg, which is reasonable but not overly generous.

It’s rated to tow 700kg (unbraked) and 1500kg (braked).

As a practical vehicle, this Octavia holds its own against mid-sized wagon rivals and even some mid-size SUVs.

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.  

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.

The Skoda Octavia Select mHEV has a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-petrol mild-hybrid set-up, with the engine producing 110kW at 5000-6000rpm and 250Nm at 1500-3500rpm. It’s paired to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

This combo generally offers smooth acceleration once you’re underway, but the Octavia wagon takes some urging from initial foot down to fuller vehicular movement and the dual-clutch should cop most of the blame for that.

This wagon’s mild-hybrid set-up includes a 48-volt electric motor and a lithium-ion battery, and this system is designed to assist the engine during acceleration, but this vehicle can’t drive on electric power alone.

It has regenerative braking and allows engine-off coasting, which aims to reduce fuel usage.

While the mild-hybrid set-up adds little to the Octavia package, this powertrain delivers enough in terms of drivability to keep it on level terms with its rivals.

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.

Official fuel consumption figure on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle as 5.2L/100km and on this test I recorded 6.5L/100km.

This Skoda has a 45-litre fuel tank so you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 690km from a full tank.

Worth noting it takes premium unleaded petrol (95 RON minimum).

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.

At 4698mm long, with wheel tracks of 1543mm front and 1535mm rear and 142mm ground clearance, this wagon has a low, squat stance at rest and yields controlled ride and handling on the move.

The driver’s seat is manually adjustable, so you can approximate your preferred position, but because this is a long and low wagon, visibility for the driver is a bit pinched along the sides and at the rear, compared to the view you're typically afforded in a slab-sided SUV.

The Euro-oriented steering wheel controls (indicator stalk on left, windscreen wipers on right) take some getting used to if you’re not already familiar with that arrangement and the cruise control stalk is in an awkward position at the bottom left of the steering wheel column. Annoying.

Otherwise, the Octavia offers a pleasant overall driving experience – smooth, comfortable and refined – except for that aforementioned initial lag from a standing start.

The four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine and mild-hybrid set-up yields enough all-round pep without being too lively and there’s no drastic change in performance when the 48V motor cuts out after assisting acceleration.

Steering is well-weighted and precise at all speeds and with a 10.4m turning circle this Skoda feels highly manoeuvrable around the suburbs and in the city.

The suspension (MacPherson strut with lower triangular links and torsion stabiliser at the front and semi-independent compound link crank-axle at the rear) is firm.

The Skoda’s Laufenn S Fit 2 (205/55x17) all-season tyres are reasonable for urban roads and rough back-country roads. This wagon has a space-saver spare, not ideal but not unusual, either.

The Octavia mHEV is a smooth cruiser and more than holds its own against its rivals.

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.

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.

Skoda’s seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty applies to this wagon and it’s pretty impressive.

Roadside assistance is offered and extended for up to 12 months following each completed scheduled service at an authorised dealer.

Servicing is scheduled for every 12 months or 15,000km whichever occurs soonest and the cost per service was, at time of writing, $413 (12 months/15,000km), $707 (24 months/30,000km), $396 (36 months/45,000km), $1090 (48 months/60,000km), $396 (60 months/75,000km), $801 (72 months/90,000km), and $396 (84 months/105,000km).

Service packs (which include the roadside assistance provision) are available and cost $2590 (five years) or $3490 (seven years).

There are 39 Skoda sales and serviced dealers across the country with eight service-only sites in key rural and regional areas.

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.