Facelift GWM Haval H6 improves an already hard-to-beat package

Its flagship SUV until the arrival of the H7 at the beginning of the year, Great Wall Motors (GWM) Haval officially removed the wraps from the facelift H6 in South Africa last week after confirming initial details in February.

Almost brand new

The first and most comprehensive update to the H6 since its local market arrival four years ago, the changes not only involve aesthetics, but also the interior in a such way that it could be described as a completely new vehicle.

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While indeed referred to by the company rebranded last year as GWM Haval, hence the H6 sporting GWM branding on its tailgate and no longer simply only Haval, the launch in a drizzly and cold Cape Town also came with a surprise in the first-time sampling of the sportier H6 GT, though more about this later.

A key model for GWM, as it together with the Jolion, makes up the bulk of the Haval division’s sales as a result of the H7 still being new, the H6’s exterior changes mirror those of the Chinese market variant, shown last year, without any market specific differences.

New outside

Spanning four models, excluding the pair of GT variants, all H6s receive new LED headlights, a redesigned front bumper, a new chrome grille, and Peugeot-type fog lamps that run in a claw motif from the main clusters down the flanks of the bumper.

Not stopping there, GWM has updated the lower air intake and fitted gloss black 19-inch alloy wheels across the entire range after it proved popular on higher-end versions of the pre-facelift model.

Just as prominent are the changes at the rear comprising the mentioned GWM logo in a block letter typeface between the new LED light clusters, a restyled bumper, roof rails and window surrounds finished in gloss black, and a slightly changed tailgate.

Completing the exterior, the choice of colours has been streamlined to comprise three carryover options and a new addition, the former trio being Hamilton White, Ayers Grey and Sun Black, and the latter a shade called Noble Gold.

Completely spruced-up interior

Opening the door, the sweeping changes see the H6 adopt the now customary minimalistic design similar to the H7, but without letting go entirely of physical switches for some functions.

In this regard, GWM has fitted a floating new centre console with a pair of wireless smartphone chargers, two cupholders, a storage area on the upper section, and a storage slot plus a pair of USB ports below.

The placing of the former means the rotary gear selector departs in favour of a steering column-mounted lever, while the steering wheel has been revised with a ticker outer rim

Taking prominence are the new 10.25-inch freestanding instrument cluster and the 14.6-inch infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Replacing the previous 12.3-inch setup, the new display also serves as the interface for the climate control, though GWM has seen it wise to retain a traditional “on/off” button rather than embedding it into the system.

What did, however, come as irksome is increasing or lowering the volume of the sound system, which requires the “folder” button on the top right of the steering wheel to be pressed until the green icon within the cluster disappears. Only then does the volume button become operational.

As annoying and unnecessarily complicated as this is, the rest of the interior feels plush, premium and well put together, with only the odd scratchy surface being present.

On the practicality side, space lacks for little and while the base model does without an electric tailgate, boot space is still more than impressive at 560-litres – this applying only to the petrol H6 and not the GT or the HEV.

Spec and tech

In terms of specification, the H6 range sports four trim levels, with the Luxury now becoming the base grade in place of the discontinued Premium.

Besides the items already mentioned, the Luxury comes standard with an eight-speaker sound system, rain sense wipers, electric driver’s seats, dual-zone climate control with rear vents, ambient lighting, heated and folding electric mirrors, and push-button start as well as keyless entry.

Taking care of safety is the following:

• 540-degree camera system;
• tyre pressure monitor;
• front and rear parking sensors;
• Adaptive Cruise Control;
• Rollover Mitigation;
• Hill Start Assist;
• Automatic Emergency Braking;
• Lane Keep Assist;
• Hill Descent Control;
• Traffic Jam Assist;
• Driver Attention Alert;
• Lane Departure Warning;
• Lane Centring Assist

A drive mode selector with four settings: Eco, Normal, Sport and Snow, and a steering mode adjuster with three settings: Normal, Comfort and Sport, rounds the Luxury off.

Taking the step-up to the Super Luxury bring the mentioned electric tailgate, a panoramic sunroof, heated and ventilated front seats with the passenger’s chair now being electric, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Rear Door Alert and Automatic Reverse Braking.

At the line-up’s summit, the Ultra Luxury gets Automatic Park Assist, a nine-speaker sound system and a Head-Up Display.

More powerful petrol, same hybrid

Out on the launch route, which started and ended in Stellenbosch and included Franschhoek via the renowned pass of the same name, only the conventional petrol variant could be sampled in Luxury guise.

As before, GWM has retained the 2.0 T-GDI and HEV powertrains, but with an increase in power and torque for the former from 150kW/320Nm to the same 170kW/380Nm as the H7.

Also new is the nine-speed dual-clutch gearbox, which replaces the previous seven-speed, while four-wheel-drive can be had as an option on the Luxury and as the sole choice for the Ultra Luxury.

Adding the all-paw system brings an additional two driving modes: Sand and Off-Road.

With drive going to the front wheels only, the self-charging HEV once again combines a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine with an electric motor and battery pack for unchanged outputs of 179kW/530Nm.

The only transmission is a two-speed Dedicated Hybrid Transmission (DHT), and while the petrol will consume unleaded at a rate of 7.4 L/100 km or 8.3 L/100 km in the case of the 4WD, the HEV will do so at a claimed 5.1 L/100 km.

Worth noting is that the HEV has run-flat tyres and no spare due to the battery pack underneath the boot board, and the same drive modes as the front-wheel-drive petrol.

The drive

The first leg of the journey involved the 4WD and despite the irritation of the audio system, it felt sure-footed, refined, comfortable and with a smooth ride that ironed-out the odd imperfection with ease.

Heading up the pass was somewhat different, and while no H6 buyer would, admittedly, embark on a full-throttle assault, selecting Sport mode and giving it the maximum came with flustered shifting from the transmission on downshifts.

That being said, it is an otherwise slick setup in everyday conditions, although the addition of paddle shifters would have been welcomed.

In between, a brief moment to sample the H6 GT involved only the new plug-in hybrid variant, though a more in-depth report will only be made once it arrives on test.

The second half of the route from Franschhoek back to Stellenbosch took place in the front-wheel-drive, which featured the typical Chinese vehicle throttle calibration issue not found on the 4WD.

Not as confidence inspiring as the all-paw H6, the front-wheel-drive still felt comfortable and refined, but will require finessing or at best, small driving style changes to negate wheelspin on take-off as a result of the throttle and gearbox mapping disconnect.

Conclusion

A key model for GWM Haval, the updates to the H6 come as a welcome addition to an already well-appointed, if now ageing, model.

However, with sales for the year standing at 1 426 units, and with a price tag still below R500 000, but with more specification and tech included, expect the H6 to remain a runaway success at a price tough to beat.

Price

All H6’s price tags include a seven-year/200 000 km warranty, a seven-year/75 000 km service and, in the case of the HEV, an eight-year/150 000 km battery warranty.

• H6 2.0 T-GDI Luxury DCT – R495 500
• H6 2.0 T-GDI Luxury 4WD DCT – R574 500
• H6 2.0 T-GDI Super Luxury DCT – R542 500
• H6 2.0 T-GDI Ultra Luxury 4WD DCT – R614 500
• H6 HEV Luxury DHT – R641 500
• H6 HEV Ultra Luxury DHT – R686 500

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