Honda HR-V vs GWM Haval Jolion

What's the difference?

You could look at the 2022 HR-V and think that Honda has taken a step back.

After all, there’s less space in the boot, there’s one less seat and the prices have – at first glance – gone up.

In reality though, the HR-V, especially in this e:HEV L form, offers up a genuine rival to Toyotas, Mazdas and Kias that dominate the small SUV space.

The 2022 HR-V is a properly handsome car, the hybrid powertrain is miserly on fuel, and the handling characteristics are honestly pretty fantastic.

Perhaps not the most engaging drive on offer in Australia, this GWM Haval Jolion HEV Ultra feels like a marked improvement over the last petrol-powered Jolion I drove, with a smooth and lag-free power delivery and more polished road manners. The value and practicality offerings are on point, too.

If you close your eyes for a second and think of the best-looking Hondas of all time, I bet the likes of the first-generation NSX, S2000 and two-door Integra come to mind.

And while this new HR-V design doesn’t quite match the heights of Honda in the 90s, it’s certainly a significant step in the right direction compared to the car it replaces.

Gone is the slightly derivative styling and pudgy proportions, replaced with a much more taut, muscular and confident body.

The new grille design is of particular note, as it melds the intakes with the bumper and, when combined with the sleek headlights, makes the HR-V look like it could be from the future.

From the side, the new HR-V retains the hidden door handles of its predecessor, which pays homage to the three-door SUV shape available in the first-generation car.

The long bonnet, short overhangs and sloping window line also give this Honda a particularly athletic appearance, while the 18-inch wheels are also just about big enough to fill the arches, and feature an interesting enough design.

The rear end is dominated by the latest automotive design trend of connected tail-lights, but the relatively flat bootlid and clean aesthetic give the HR-V a really modern look.

The bootlid spoiler is also a nice touch, while this car’s contrasting kick plate adds to the illusion of its off-road credentials.

Inside, the HR-V also adopts a cleaner aesthetic – much like its Civic sibling – centred on a large 9.0-inch central touchscreen multimedia system, which thankfully features a physical volume control knob.

There are some cool design touches here too, like air vent switches with settings for open, close and diffusion, and touch-operated roof lights.

The best part of the interior, however, is fit, finish and feel. All the touch points are soft and there’s just a solid weight to everything. It’s probably no coincidence that all new Australian HR-Vs are now sourced from Japan.

To us, the new HR-V is a stunner. The styling is more mature and confident than before, and between this and the new-gen Civic, Honda’s design department seems to have rediscovered its mojo.

The best-looking Haval to date? I reckon so. While still not what you might describe as subtle in places, I see a bit of Germany in its exterior design – even a bit of Mercedes-Benz AMG Line, perhaps?

Part of that is down to the blacked-out design treatment on our car, with the mirrors, door handles and grille surrounds all black, which pair nicely with the more swept-back body styling. But it’s also down to the fact that it doesn’t feel like it's trying too hard, which makes a refreshing change from some Chinese automotive design philosophies.

There are some quirks, though. The first being that the huge spoilers and swollen arches make it look far sportier than it is from behind the wheel, but I also think it’s weird that the body seems so much bigger than the platform itself, so the wheels kind of vanish behind the body work – and from some angles they disappear altogether.

Inside it’s a familiar GWM Haval cabin experience, but the material choices for the seats and dash are nice, especially given the price point.

The screens are all big and clear, the wireless charging and the rotary gear selector are present and accounted for, but again there are some drawbacks.

For one, the wheel somehow feels too big for the cabin. Maybe it’s just in my head, but it feels like you’re driving a bus. And I’ve never been a fan of under-centre-console storage as a location for the USB-A ports, which require some Cirque de Soleil antics to access.

From the outside, aside from the styling, the 2022 Honda HR-V doesn’t seem like its changed all that much – it’s still a practical five-door small SUV, right?

And from the front seat, the new HR-V paints a very familiar picture.

There is plenty of room for the driver and front passenger, the seats have plenty of adjustability, and there’s storage for your water bottle, wallet and phone.

There’s even an underarm storage cubby that’s deep enough for you to lose some spare change or throw a charging cable or two into.

However, from the second row, the story really starts to change – especially compared with the outgoing model.

Whereas the old HR-V was classed as a five-seater, the 2022 version has seating for only four.

This is due to the middle ‘seat’ fouling Australia’s unique design rules for what can be classified as a seat, and does not have a seat belt.

How much would you’d actually use the middle seat if there was a seat belt there? That’s for you to decide, but it’s certainly a deal-breaker for some families.

Regardless, the two outboard seats offer heaps of leg- and shoulder-room, and our head can just about squeeze in comfortably without hitting the roof.

It’s certainly comfortable enough, and there’s a bottle holder in the door and air vents here to keep you comfortable, while the lack of centre seat means second-row passengers can have a full-time armrest with extra cupholders.

There’s also USB ports and backseat map pockets with a handy phone sling, so you don’t have to go reaching all the way down to get your mobile.

One saving grace for the rear seats, however, is the inclusion of Honda’s versatile ‘Magic Seats’, which allows you to fold the base of the rear seats up to accommodate taller objects like house plants.

The rear seats can also fold flat, creating a 1274 litre boot space, which measures just 304L with the rear seats upright.

This makes the 2022 HR-V’s boot smaller than the outgoing model, which could accommodate about 100-130 litres more, and even smaller than rivals like the Toyota C-HR and Mazda CX-30.

In fact, so small is the new HR-V’s boot, it’s even smaller than the Jazz light hatchback that was discontinued in 2020 – so don’t expect to see this small HR-V hauling timber from Bunnings or flat-packed furniture from Ikea.

This GWM Haval Jolion HEV is a spacious place to spend the hours on a long road trip, even in the backseat, where, sitting behind my own 175cm driving position, I had more than enough head and legroom to be comfortable.

And because there’s no bulky transmission tunnel, there’s even room for three adults to sit semi-comfortably. Backseat riders also get USB-A ports and air vents, but no temperature controls.

There's a pull-down seat divider that deploys from the middle seat, and which is home to two cupholders, and there are bottle holders in all four doors.

So comfortable, yes, but somehow not as lavish-feeling as the two front seats, with the back pew of the Jolion feeling a little sparse, but plenty spacious.

The GWM Haval Jolion Hybrid’s boot is deep, but shallow. Mostly because the three-depth layout has a tyre repair kit directly below the boot floor, and then below that, there's a whole bunch of hybrid tech that eats into the usable cargo room.

Haval says you’ll get 255 litres with the rear seats in place, and 916 litres with them folded flat, while towing capacity is a braked 1300kg.

The GWM Haval Jolion HEV, or Hybrid Electric Vehicle, can be had in three grades – the Premium, the Lux and our flagship Ultra – with drive-away pricing stepping from $32,990 to $35,990, and topping out at $38,990.

They’re all pretty well equipped, to be fair, but the Ultra gets the best stuff, building on the Lux grade’s 18-inch alloys, digital dash, 12.3-inch central screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and LED lighting by adding a big panoramic sunroof, wireless charging and ambient interior lighting.

Be warned though, some of the functionality is less than intuitive. I rang the company to figure out how to activate the heated seats, for example, which required a right-side swipe of the multimedia screen. And the driver's seat is allegedly ventilated, too, but I couldn't figure out where that functionality was hiding.

Still, once you know how to do it it's all easy enough.

Under the bonnet of the HR-V e:HEV L you’ll find a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, but Honda has also thrown in two electric motors to make this car a hybrid.

In total, there is 96kW of power and 253Nm of torque available, making it competitive against its rivals for potency, but the bigger benefit of this hybrid set-up is in its lower fuel consumption figure.

Meanwhile, the Vi X forgoes the electric motors and is powered exclusively by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.

The entry-level HR-V manages to muster up 89kW of power and 145Nm of torque – and if that sounds a little underpowered, it’s because it is.

Compared to rivals like the Toyota C-HR and Mazda CX-30, the cheapest HR-V is well down on power and torque as all its competitors make use of larger engines or a turbocharger for a bit more grunt.

Whichever HR-V engine you end up with, both are paired to a continuously variable transmission that sends drive to the front wheels.

The GWM Haval Jolion HEV pairs a 1.5-litre petrol engine with a 70kW electric motor for a total 140kW and 375Nm.

It pairs with what Haval calls a hybrid transmission, a CVT, and sends its power to the front wheels.

Officially this HR-V e:HEV L will return a fuel consumption figure of just 4.3 litres per 100km, helped by its petrol-electric hybrid powertrain.

This figure not only beats out the petrol-only Mazda CX-30 line-up, but also matches the Toyota C-HR Hybrid for frugality.

In our time with the HR-V e:HEV L, we actually managed to match the 4.3L/100km claim with a healthy mix of inner-city and freeway driving.

Very rarely do fuel consumption claims translate to a real-world setting, so it's heartening to see that the Honda HR-V living up to what’s promised on the box.

The petrol-only Vi X meanwhile, wears an official fuel consumption figure of 5.8L/100km, but having not yet driven that car, we cannot comment on the accuracy of that claim.

It’s efficient, too, GWM reckons its 55-litre tank will deliver a total 1000kms in driving range, with the brand claiming 5.1L/100km on the combined cycle. That said, we've been getting more like 7.0L on average in the city.

Still, sticking with the claimed fuel use figure, and combining it with the big 55L fuel tank, means an impressive theoretical driving range of over 1000km on a single tank of fuel.

That's Sydney to Brisbane or Melbourne to Sydney without having to stop to fill up.

How do you think a small SUV should drive on the road? To us, I want something that is easy to use with great visibility and a minimal number of rattles and squeaks.

And this Honda HR-V absolutely delivers.

Let’s start with the powertrain. On paper this HR-V e:HEV L’s outputs are nothing to write home about, but out in the real world, there is plenty of gusto to come off the line briskly.

Don’t get us wrong, it’s not going to blow away hot hatches or even most turbocharged cars, but accelerating up to 60km/h isn’t an exercise in testing your patience.

The powertrain is also a smart one, able to switch EV, hybrid and engine mode depending on what is required in any given situation.

The switchover from EV to petrol power is also smooth and seamless, there’s no jerkiness or clunkiness here, it all just works exactly how, and when, you want it to.

In fact, if you had your music pumping at head-bobbing levels, we’d wager you wouldn’t even know whether the petrol engine or electric motors were at work, save for the ‘EV’ indicator light on the instrumentation.

The CVT in this HR-V also does a fairly decent job, and for the most part fades into background of the driving experience – which is a good thing.

When flat-footing it, the HR-V does get a bit revvy and harsh, but for the most part, and especially during inner-city journeys, this car is a delight.

The steering is also very nicely weighted, and there’s a connection between the wheel and what’s happening underneath that’s rare to see in this class of car.

It means the HR-V is genuinely fun to pilot, whether ducking into an on-street park or navigating a series of S bends on a country road. What a pleasant surprise!

The addition of an electric motor seems to have only improved the Jolion drive experience. I spent three months behind the wheel of a petrol-powered Jolion, back in 2022, and there were plenty of hard-to-live with kinks that are effectively ironed out in the hybrid.

The laggy, surging acceleration is gone, replaced by a constant flow of power, presumably because any power holes on take-off are being filled by electric grunt. Gone, too, is the fidgety gearbox, replaced by an (occasionally pretty droning) CVT that smooths out your progress.

The result of all that is a car that feels far more resolved and confident than the petrol-powered Jolion I lived with, and it means a much happier drive experience in the Jolion HEV.

It's also plenty powerful enough for everyday life, too. I know the numbers don't sound life-altering on paper, but getting to city speeds is no issue, and even travelling well beyond them – overtaking at 80km/h to 90km/h for example – is easy, with the Jolion HEV never feeling underpowered no matter where I took it.

There are still some downsides. The steering wheel feels too big in your hands, and a little doughy and vague, and the front tyres are still only too happy to break traction should you get too aggressive with the accelerator with any turning lock on.

And this might sound weird, but I really struggled at times to judge the where the edges of the vehicle are, I think because the driver's seating position meets the high vehicle edges to block the view, but I also think it might be because the body work expands out over the wheels, screwing with your judgement. Or maybe I was just having a bad day.

Still, you get used to the oddities quickly enough, and while not the most engaging drive experience, this Jolion is comfortable, easy to live with, and – though sometimes noisy in the cabin through that gearbox and tyre noise on the wrong road surface – a big step in the right direction.

All Jolion Hybrids get mostly the same safety kit, including adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning with active lane keep assist, rear cross-traffic alert, traffic sign recognition and rear parking sensors. The Lux then adds a 360-degree camera, while our Ultra adds front parking sensors.

And I'm happy to note I didn't find any of the above overly intrusive. But the same can't be said of the driver-monitoring system, which not only bongs incessantly when you take your eyes off the road, but even asks you to accept a little message that pops up on the centre screen, like you have to acknowledge your mistake and promise it won't happen again. And then, even after you do accept, it still bongs for several long seconds.

It's time we got rid of driver-monitoring systems like this one.

Like all new Hondas sold in Australia in 2022, the HR-V comes with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

Scheduled service intervals are every 12 months or 10,000km, whichever occurs first, which is a bit less mileage than the industry standard of 12 months/15,000km.

However, all of Honda’s vehicles now fall under its ‘5 Low Price Services’ scheme, which means each service for the first five years will only cost $125.

This means that the first five years of ownership should only set buyers back $625 – and this price applies to the hybrid and non-hybrid engine of the HR-V.

What’s even better, however, is that this makes the 2022 HR-V cheaper to maintain than the CX-30, C-HR and Niro.

The GWM Haval Jolion hybrid is covered by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, with five years of roadside assist and an eight-year battery warranty.

There is capped-price servicing on board, too, which limits the first five years of ownership to $1650.