GWM Haval Jolion vs Kia Stonic

What's the difference?

It’s easy to see why the Jolion is making a big impact on the sales charts. It’s great value, has contemporary styling, and it’s come a long way in bridging the quality gap between Haval’s old catalogue and its rivals from Japan and Korea.

I even find it quite nice to drive, especially in this S spec, but it’s still hard to recommend given I’d probably spend the same money on the hybrid or one of the more value-oriented variants further down the range. It’s also a shame the driver assist tech is so heavy-handed, it only serves to tarnish the whole car.

In summary then: I liked this car, but wished I could like it more.

Once over the little thrill of driving a car we weren't supposed to get (okay, it wasn't that thrilling), a few things became clear. You can now buy a compact SUV with a good long warranty, a bit of Kia flair and a roomy cabin, at least for its size.

It drives really well even if the transmission was a bit reluctant to do what I wanted. It's easy to park and will live very happily in the city while carrying reasonable numbers of people and their things. It may not be as bang up to date as some of its competitors, and the GT-Line's value is borderline, but it delivers plenty in its small package to a rapacious SUV market.

Remember when Haval’s SUVs were hideous? It was a time worth forgetting for the brand, and finally its range has moved on to new generation products, all of which are orders of magnitude better looking than their recent ancestors.

The Jolion, for example, is quite an attractive small SUV, at least from the front, with a very contemporary, glitzy grille, smart-looking LED fittings (complete with a DRL to add a bit more character), and a wide, squared-off stance.

Haval has clearly finally found its own design voice. It comes across as all neat and tidy, ready to compete with the titans of the small SUV space, until you get around the rear.

In my view this is the car’s least appealing angle, and it’s not because of the shape of the car, I think it’s been designed quite well, it’s just the plethora of badgework adorning the boot.

While an excess of chrome nameplates might be in vogue in China, it hasn’t translated well for an Australian audience.

Haval simply doesn’t have the gravitas to pull off the gaudy big-type letter-work across the boot, and to confuse onlookers it also says ‘GWM’ in one corner, and JOLIONS in the other, as the brand seemingly ran out of room to add a space before the S.

This alone should be warning enough there’s simply too much going on here. Nothing a heat gun and some fishing line can’t fix, however.

The interior takes more of a minimalist, and dare I say, European approach. I like the look of the cascading dash layers, the surprising abundance of soft-touch surfaces, and the wheel and console design which looks as though it takes a lot of influence from the likes of Peugeot.

There are still some pretty ordinary plastics strewn throughout the cabin if you look closer, however, and the synthetic leather seat trim isn’t particularly convincing.

The gaudy over-use of Haval logos has made its way onto the seats in both the first and second row… again, why?

The digital dash is also a bit dull in direct sunlight, and the software isn’t particularly customisable or attractive, which is a bit of a shame.

The Stonic clearly looks like it is related to the Rio, but also bears a strong resemblance to the Seltos. Underneath is the very familiar small hatch Rio but Kia says every panel is different. 

The panels might be, but have a look at the rear door and the way the glass meets the C-pillar and you can tell it's a Rio. 

Which is fine, of course, because I think the Stonic looks really good in GT-Line form, with the bigger wheels, some well-judged cladding and some nice sculpting on the body. 

If you plump for the two-tone paint job (which I think looks great), you will go without the sunroof. Also the sun-safe option, but I know some are fans of a hole in the roof.

The cabin is by-the-numbers Kia, which is to say it's well laid-out and looks good, but won't be troubling a beret-sporting art critic for superlatives. 

Unlike the exterior, it's straight out of the Rio, which does have its downsides, which we'll discuss further.

The Jolion sits in the goldilocks SUV size-bracket. It’s marketed as a ‘small SUV’ but it manages to sit between the small and mid-size segments, making it trim on the outside but massive on the inside.

Think of it as more similar to cars like the Nissan Qashqai or Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross rather than the likes of the diminutive Kia Stonic or Mazda CX-3.

Space is a big highlight in the front, adjustability is pretty good aside from the lack of telescopic reach for the steering column, and I was able to find a comfortable driving position very easily.

The raised centre console is a good looking touch, complete with a nook for a wireless charger, and a massive storage area underneath.

It’s also possible to cable-manage very easily, with the USB ports located underneath, and a convenient little pass through to keep them from cluttering up the space.

The phone-oriented design continues with a little rectangular cutout perfect for placing your device on its side if you’re not using the charging bay, and a flip-away lid reveals two reasonably-sized bottle holders.

Unfortunately, there’s a major usability blunder here, with the rotary gear shifter not having a limited set of positions it clicks into. It just freely rotates.

If you rotate it too fast it won’t register your selection, and you have to really concentrate to make sure the correct gear is selected. Seems to me to be an easy way to accidentally reverse or accelerate into a bollard or worse…

The big screens are welcome, as there’s a complete lack of buttons in the minimalist design. I found the main panel left it reasonably easy to reach touch areas, and it is backed by sufficient hardware to make it sharp, snappy, and responsive.

But then, there are some significant operability issues here, as well.

There’s no volume dial or toggle, so you can only adjust the system volume via the steering wheel or the audio control sub-menu buried in the system. Very annoying.

Thankfully Haval’s most recent round of updates has dumped the touch surface atop the dash for tactile climate buttons, making at least this system easy to operate while you’re on the move.

It’s such a shame to have these usability blunders, because otherwise the design is tidy and functional, and feels decent quality, too, which we can’t say of all cars of Chinese origin.

The back seat is awesome. There’s lots of room, even for those over 182cm (six feet) tall, complete with big doors which open wide for easy access, perhaps even for the fitment of child seats in the outer two seats.

The back seat offers adjustable air vents, USB power outlets, and additional bottle holders in the drop-down armrest, so it’s hard to complain about amenity for rear passengers, and as the Jolion’s platform is set up for front-drive only, there’s a perfectly flat floor back there, making it suitable for adults in the middle position.

Boot space is a whopping 430 litres which strays into mid-size SUV territory. It’s reasonably easy to load stuff in with a big hatch opening, although the boot floor is quite high so you’ll need to lift objects up and over.

You’ll also have to watch out for the tiny rear window, as it would be easy to block an already limited view out the back. A space-saver spare wheel sits below the floor.

For a car this size, it's reasonably roomy. I can sit behind my driving position in the rear seat and while violin playing is off the agenda, it's not claustrophobic.

Front seat passengers have plenty of storage to play with, including a split storage box underneath the console for phone and wallet-chucking. 

You also get two cupholders, even with the space-robbing conventional handbrake (I like a standard handbrake, though, so I didn't mind too much).

Each front door has a pocket for a decent-sized bottle, but not so rears. And your back seat passengers won't have an armrest or cupholders, either.

Boot space is an impressive 352 litres (VDA) with the seats up and 1155 litres with the seats down, although you don't get a flat floor with the seats folded and you do have a drop to the boot floor over the loading lip. Nothing terrifying, but the more you know...

The GT-Line tops a three-spec range, starting with the base model S manual at $22,990 drive-away (add another grand for the auto).

Then it's $24,990 drive-away for the Sport (plus $1000 for the auto) and $29,990 drive-away for the GT-Line, which is auto-only and has a turbo engine. 

That's some pretty fancy footwork with the spreadsheets (which I know isn't a thing, imagine how dirty the keyboard would be).

If you've bought a GT-Line, your kebab short of thirty grand gets you 17-inch alloys, a six-speaker stereo, climate control, a reversing camera, keyless entry and start, rear parking sensors, cruise control, sat nav, auto LED headlights with auto high beam, auto wipers, fake leather bits and pieces, powered and heated folding mirrors, a sunroof and a space-saver spare.

The larger 8.0-inch media screen hosts Kia's updated and very excellent software, with its cool and subtle graphics, fast hardware and, as expected, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The speakers are a bit tinny, but as long as you don't turn them up too much, you'll be fine. Handily, CarPlay is wireless and you can have two phones connected at once to the Bluetooth system. Try that in a Ferrari.

The big sell when it comes to the Jolion S is its more powerful engine, but it’s not really much more powerful, adding an additional 20kW and 50Nm for a total of 130kW/270Nm.

This engine remains mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission driving the front wheels only.

Additional performance enhancements include swapping out the rear torsion bar for multi-link rear suspension, designed to enhance handling.

The GT-Line is the only one of the three in the range to score Kia's rorty 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbo, good for 74kW and 172Nm to haul its 1200kg weight. 

A seven-speed dual-clutch transmission drives the front wheels and you'll hit 100km/h in about 10 seconds.

Interestingly, this new engine also comes with a reduction of 0.6L/100km in overall fuel use compared to the standard car, trimming official combined consumption to 7.5L/100km.

In reality, I experienced consumption a little higher than this, at about 8.7L/100km in my week with the car, although I was travelling at mostly urban speeds.

All Jolion models are set up to drink entry-level 91 RON unleaded as an additional bonus, and rare for turbocharged dual-clutch equipped cars.

This car also has a 55-litre fuel tank, for a theoretical cruising range of over 800km.

Kia's government-mandated fuel economy testing yielded an official combined-cycle figure of 5.4L/100km. 

As I have found over the years with this engine, that's a fairly optimistic number, my week with the Stonic delivering 8.4L/100km in an almost even mix of highway and suburban running.

The Stonic has that rarest of things in a Korean car - stop-start, which helps rein in fuel usage around town. Happily, you'll be filling the 45 litre tank with standard unleaded.

Driving the Jolion is frustrating, because it should be very good. In terms of cars from China, it has many impressive traits, but I found the safety system in the car we tested to be frustratingly invasive.

I can look past the slightly jerky lane keep tech, as Haval is far from alone in this department, but the driver monitoring system is by far the most frustrating safety feature I have experienced in any car. Ever.

Take your eyes off the road for a brief moment, like, say, to adjust one of the many things which can only be adjusted via the multimedia screen, and the car chides you with a ringing alarm, which doesn’t go away for a while unless you jab at a tiny pop up acknowledgement on said media screen. Not only is this extremely annoying, it’s entirely counter-intuitive.

Sometimes it would just activate because I was wearing sunglasses or a hat, not because I wasn’t looking at the road. Other times, it would leave me alone for the entire trip.

This lead me, of course, to turn the system off, which you have to do every time you start the car.

Hopefully, this can be ironed out in a future software update, because otherwise the Jolion is very competitive to drive.

From the get-go it feels more balanced, with a better ride and handling than its key China-built rival, the MG ZS.

It has a firm, sporting ride, dull but adequate steering feel, and the turbo surge from the little engine keeps it feeling reasonably engaging, too.

The dual-clutch isn’t too glitchy, feeling reasonably snappy at the lights, and switching cogs with ease once you’re rolling.

It still needs some sandpapering, though. It’s entirely possible to catch it off guard, and it can present with a few glitchy moments on hills, but it’s far from the worse dual-clutch experience I’ve had.

In fact, with the improved power outputs, driving the Jolion feels quite reminiscent of entry-level Volkswagens or Skodas, bar the latter's supple ride.

The engine and road even sounds quite distant, imbuing the car with a higher-quality feel than expected on the freeway, largely thanks to lots of sound deadening visible in a surprisingly tidy engine bay.

On the whole I’m impressed with what the Jolion S has to offer. It feels very close to where it needs to be to take on its more established rivals, and certainly one of the better driving cars in this segment of Chinese origin.

It’s just a shame about the safety tech which tarnishes an otherwise decent drive.

I must admit to being slightly puzzled by the Stonic. I've already driven the Rio GT-Line and there is one thing that is the same between the two cars and that's the seven-speed dual clutch's awkward behaviour in traffic. 

The car I had was not at all keen to respond to the movement of my right foot on the accelerator, with my wife and I developing an in-joke about having to make a verbal suggestion about which gear to choose. 

It also rolled back more than I'd like on slopes when starting from a standstill.

The other things I didn't like were the front seats. Straight out of the Rio, they are wide but not very supportive on longer trips, such as the one we took up into the Blue Mountains (a roughly 250km round trip from our home in Sydney). 

Complaints about the seats are certainly mine, but I checked in with colleague Richard Berry, who didn't have the same hesitant transmission struggle, so it could just have been a drama with the car I drove. 

The rest of the Stonic experience is really good. The 1.0-litre turbo is definitely the one to go for if you can stretch to it. The numbers don't seem big, but it's got decent punch in the gears and cheerfully climbed the Blue Mountains quietly and without hunting up and down the gears. 

Around the city it also means it's easy to thread through the traffic, with good response from low revs when the transmission is playing well.

The steering is really nice, too, with just the right weight and speed to make city-wrangling easy. The extra ride height and softer suspension also make for a very comfortable ride around town without taking away from the body control. In fact, it's quite a bit of fun.

In a typical ANCAP quirk, the GT-Line does not (yet) have a safety rating where the S and Sport carry the Rio's five star assessment from 2017. When the rules weren't as tough as they are today.

The GT-Line, as with the rest of the range, scores six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls and a reversing camera. 

The forward AEB works with other cars between five and 180km/h while pedestrians and cyclist detection works between five and 85km/h. You also get lane keep assist and lane following assist.

The kids are looked after with three top-tether anchors and two ISOFIX points.

Following in the footsteps of Kia before it, Haval offers an impressive seven-year and unlimited kilometre warranty.

This is paired with a five year/70,000km capped price service program (maintenance is required every 12 months/15,000km), which costs between $210 and $450, for a total annual average of $310. Not bad.

Kia offers a seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is only shaded by Mitsubishi's caveat-filled, 10-year/200,000km warranty. 

The Stonic demands a return to the dealer ever 12 months or 10,000km, which is kind of irritating as the non-turbo models are 12 months/15,000km. 

As ever, Kia offers a capped-price servicing regime but the numbers aren't yet available on the website (yet).

Lucky for you, we've got them. Prices bounce around a bit and are as low as $283 and as high as $704 with the first seven years/seven services costing $3299, averaging out at $471 per visit. 

Over the five years, it's $260 more than the 1.4-litre but you're servicing more often if you drive more than 10,000km per year.