Haval H6 GT is fun and feature-packed, but thirsty

IT’S been a good few months for Chinese brand Haval. Their sales graph is showing a steady upward trend, their cars are being well received by the public and now they have a sporty car in the mix as well.

The H6 GT provides a twist to the standard H6 and adds to their current range of SUVs with some flashy design elements and a bit more power under the bonnet.

Its coupe-styled design (although it still has four doors) with a sloping roofline, aero side skirts and visual accents adds a bit more street credibility to the H6 GT even though in essence it’s still a family orientated vehicle. The 2.0-litre turbo petrol mill has been tweaked to now provide 155kW and 325Nm and is coupled to a seven-speed dual clutch transmission with a torque-on-demand 4WD system.

In days gone by you had to do some serious manual engine and exhaust management if you wanted your car to sound a bit like a street racer, but nowadays simple software updates on your car easily takes care of that.

It means the H6 GT is the first Haval in the country to have a “Race Mode” option which, apart from significantly tightening up throttle and transmission response, provides an exhaust note to match.

It’s an eye-catching design that sets it apart from its sibling with wheel arch cladding, gloss black accents, rear and front carbon fibre inserts, roof-mounted spoiler and lip spoiler, gloss back roof rails, an aerodynamic kit with side skirts and rear diffuser rounded off with 19-inch gloss black alloys with lime green brake callipers.

The interior isn’t too shabby either. The finishing is top-class with green trimming and stitching with Alcantara inserts and soft touch surfaces providing a comfortable and premium place to spend time.

The 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster provides a clear picture of everything you need to know and can be set according to your liking while the 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system may be a tad delayed with its response, the graphics are some of the sharpest on the market, nevermind the price point.

It’s also the place where the various menu settings can be found. Fitted with almost every active and passive safety feature known to man as standard, it’s going to take some time to sort which is which with beeps, peeps and gongs often going off during our test drive.

The lane departure is quite aggressive and after scrolling through various menus we managed to switch it off but couldn’t find the option to set it a little less in your face.

We started our drive around the Cape Peninsula starting at Chapman’s Peak in “Normal Mode” and because it’s a GT quickly found the “Race” button on the screen which apart from the exhaust note, produced a significant difference in the driving dynamics.

It’s not the quickest off the mark but it progressively accelerates through the rev-range with ease. Giving it some speed through the corners it sits nicely between the white lines without too much body roll but we did find the steering somewhat vague, which given its target market, shouldn't be a deal breaker.

In “Race Mode” the accelerator is extremely sensitive and given the amount of traffic once we hit the built up areas, becomes almost erratic in its gear changes, so we opted for “Sport” which is less enthusiastic but as an owner “Normal” would be best even if it did feel a little lethargic on pull away, which in manic Sea Point Thursday afternoon traffic isn’t really an issue.

The chassis, suspension and tyre combination provides a decent ride quality over bumps and around corners and apart from the engine drone when pressed hard, interior noise levels are impressive.

I don’t know whether it’s a fuel or a calibration issue but consumption on most Chinese imports tends to be thirsty. We averaged 11.6l/100km with not too much enthusiastic driving and I reckon you’re unlikely to get it below 9.5l/100km with every day commuting.

Still, Haval’s first foray into the sport SUV is a good one; it's an exciting and affordable option over the mirriad of vanilla options out there. It’s easy to live with and is fitted with a list of impressive features and technology which I reckon will keep those sales graphs on the up and up. It comes with a five-year/100 000km warranty and a five-year/60000km service plan.

Pricing for the H6 range starts at R479 950 and the GT sells for R629 950.