Toyota RAV4 vs GWM Haval Jolion

What's the difference?

The Toyota RAV4, particularly in Cruiser Hybrid spec, is a sensible, comfortable family 2WD wagon with plenty of standard features onboard.

It's nice enough to drive on-road without ever being over-the-top dynamic and offers a sensible amount of practicality and functionality for the price.

It feels a tad underdone, especially as rivals in this section of the market are improving all the time, but if you're patient enough to wait for Toyota's supply to catch up with customer demand, the RAV4 Cruiser 2WD Hybrid might just be spot-on for you.

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.

Beyond its distinctive RAV4 grille, 18-inch black gloss alloys and that rather striking Saturn Blue paint, this medium-sized SUV remains inoffensive enough.

For those of you who love measurements, the Toyota RAV4 Cruiser 2WD Hybrid is 4615mm long (with a 2690mm wheelbase), 1865mm wide, and 1690mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 1700kg.

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.

It's a clean and comfortable cabin with a solid attempt at a premium look and feel, but it all feels a bit dated and under-done, even with leather accented interior trim and plenty of soft-touch surfaces.

There's the usual amount of RAV4 storage, which is more than adequate and, for charging your devices, there are three USB ports up front and two for the rear seat passengers.

The 10.5-inch touchscreen multimedia system and driver display are bright, clear and generally easy to use, although the media unit's operating system can at times be a bit of a labyrinth to work through.

Buttons, dials and grippy textured controls are easy to locate and operate.

All seats are okay without being great, but up front they are power-adjustable every which way, so there's that.

The rear seat is roomy enough in all directions for even those whose nickname is 'Stretch', 'Big Unit' or simply 'Tall Bastard'. The fold-down armrest has cupholders.

For kids, that seat row has three top-tether points and ISOFIX anchors in the outboard positions.

In terms of packability, the rear cargo area has a listed 580 litres of space, but with that rear seat stowed away there's a listed 1690 litres.

That area has a cargo blind, four tie-down points, a 12V socket and a removeable floor liner.

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.

The Jolion has made a name for itself undercutting mainstream small SUV rivals, with drive-away pricing starting from $28,490.

This is cheaper than entry-level versions of important rivals like the Kia Seltos, Mitsubishi ASX, Toyota Corolla Cross, the list goes on, but the version we’ve grabbed for this review is the latest addition to the range.

It’s the Jolion S - S for Sport, because the main drawcard for this version of the car is a bump to its power and torque, as well as a bespoke suspension tune.

In the Jolion line-up, the S sits above the Ultra grade, sharing its $36,990 drive-away price-tag with the Hybrid Lux.

For Haval, this is a dangerously expensive proposition, as at this money, it’s a level playing field against some very good rivals like the Corolla Cross GXL Hybrid, Kia Seltos Sport+, or the top-spec MG ZST Essence.

Standard equipment still ranks well, though, with the S grade scoring all the key stuff, including a big 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support, a big sunroof, wireless charging, digital dash, a head-up display, synthetic leather interior trim, 18-inch alloy wheels, a black exterior highlight pack, dual-zone climate, heated front seats, six-way power adjust for the driver, and LED headlights.

The Jolion also scores a pretty comprehensive safety suite, although there are some issues with it which we’ll explore later.

Is it worth your money, though, to stretch to the S compared to the lower Ultra grade with the standard engine, or spend the same money on the fuel-sipping hybrid version?

There’s more devil in the detail when it comes to the drive experience, but on paper I’d say an additional few thousand dollars probably isn't worth the very slight bump in power you receive in return.

The Toyota RAV4 Cruiser 2WD hybrid has a 2.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine and electric motor set-up with a 1.6kWh (6.5Ah) nickel-metal hydride battery system.

Combined system output for power is 160kW and the torque output (combustion engine figure only) is 221Nm at 3600rpm.

This RAV4 has a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and it's pretty cluey when it comes to always being in the revs and ratios sweet spot.

It also has an EV mode for driving only on battery power to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, and several driving modes including 'Eco', 'Normal' and 'Sport'.

The drive settings are designed to produce optimal ride and handling via maximised engine performance and tuning, steering and throttle response, best suited to the terrain and conditions.

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 Toyota RAV4 Cruiser 2WD Hybrid has listed fuel consumption of 4.7L/100km (on a combined cycle).

I recorded 5.9L/100km on our test, but, as a mate so kindly pointed out, I drive like an old gentleman.

The RAV4 has a 55-litre fuel tank, so going by that on-test fuel-consumption figure, you could reasonably expect to get a driving range of about 930km out of a full tank.

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.

The RAV4 is very quiet* and generally rather nice to drive. So, as a daily driver, it's on the right side of impressive.

* Except when it's not, keep reading.

It has smooth acceleration and quickly settles into an easy groove at higher speeds.

Steering retains a welcome precision, visibility is good all around, and the RAV4 always feels settled on any surface.

It does ride and handle well on the blacktop and it's not too shabby on gravel and dirt surfaces, though it skips around on rougher, more irregular sections, due to its firm suspension and road-biased tyres.

The CVT is smooth and efficient in terms of being the optimal auto. It's not dynamic but it's certainly reliably consistent.

This hybrid switches between the engine and electric motor seamlessly and battery charge is easily regenerated through the vehicle's forward motion when little to no throttle is being used to maintain momentum (as in downhills or while otherwise coasting), or the vehicle is slowing to a stop.

NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) levels are mostly subdued except when you give the RAV4 some heavy right boot to spur it into immediate action. There's also some mild wind-rush noise around the big wing mirrors when you hit the open road.

As I've said before, the owners of city-focussed SUVs would be surprised by just how capable their vehicles are when driven sensibly, even the 2WDs.

You can undertake your own scaleable adventure in a 2WD vehicle but, of course, any trip off of a sealed surface in a 2WD will have to be very light-duty off-roading. So, nothing more difficult than a well-maintained dirt or gravel track surface in dry weather.

Towing capacity is 480kg – unbraked and braked – so you won't see a RAV4 skull-dragging a horse float any time soon.

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.

It’s all well and good to tick every safety feature box, but car companies have to think about how these features might impede operation of the vehicle.

Upsettingly, the Jolion seems to have lots of great safety tech to go with the annoying driver monitoring system, including high-speed auto emergency braking, lane departure warning with lane keep assist, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, rear auto braking, traffic sign recognition, as well as all the expected stability and traction gear.

There are also seven airbags including a centre front airbag, an impressive 360-degree camera suite, and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

The entire combustion Jolion range is covered by a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating to the 2022 standard.

The Toyota RAV4 Cruiser 2WD Hybrid has a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Get all your work done at a certified Toyota mechanic and you're in line of powertrain coverage under warranty for seven years.

Servicing is set at 12 month/15,000km intervals and capped price servicing keeps costs to $260 a pop for the first five years or 75,000km.

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.