Frame SUV Haval H5 is not a newcomer to our market, earlier in Russia it was presented as Great Wall Hover H5, later as DW Hower H5. In 2020, after a two-year hiatus, Great Wall, which owns the Haval brand, decided to reincarnate the model under a new brand and launch a local SUV assembly in Tula. This is not to say that the model is some kind of legendary, as some publications write about it, but it has its own audience, and in its best years it even entered the top 10 best-selling models of Chinese brands in the domestic market.
Externally, if the Haval H5 differs from its predecessors, then at a minimum. I saw the Great Wall Hover H5 on the roads and it looks a lot like our today’s guest Haval H5. The design of the model is already clearly outdated, although even at the time of the release of the original model in 2011, it was not at the peak of trends. A tall body with a chopped off stern, a sloping hood, large blocks of halogen headlights and very outdated door handles with a lower grip. I don’t know, in 2020, for almost 1.5 million rubles, I already want to see something more modern in terms of design, although if you look at the frame SUV market, then almost all manufacturers use their old designs to the last.
The interior design looks the same as in the grandfather’s car, but here everything is a little fresher and more relevant than outside. Visually, the interior is quite pleasant, the Chinese tried to make the buyer like it externally, but in fact, it is some kind of cardboard, all the plastic is thin and hard, although there are no special questions about the assembly. At the time of testing the Haval H5, I took a new Hyundai Solaris for two days, and the Korean was much nicer than the Chinese, even taking into account that the Solaris is one of the most affordable cars on the market and the manufacturer tried to save a lot in it.
The off-road landing in the car is high, but it’s nice that it is not vertical, but you can sit, leaning back slightly in the chair. From the unpleasant, I note the short wipers, which leave a large uncleaned area on top, and it is at eye level of the tall driver. But there are no other complaints about visibility, the struts are thin, the side mirrors are large, and even the salon rear-view mirror gives a good view.
The driver’s seat in our configuration was electrically adjustable, but I don’t even know how relevant it is in this kind of car. The upholstery in our case was made of artificial leather, in my opinion, too delicate, but easy to clean. For tall drivers, seat adjustments are enough, there is even a margin, but there are not enough steering wheel adjustments, you have to go with outstretched arms or move closer. The front seats have some kind of lateral support, but it was surprising that the pillow filler seems to be lacking and the fifth point you feel the frame, and there is a lot of stuffing in the back sofa and it is even too soft. With a height of 187 cm, I can easily crawl behind me, but the floor is high and the seat is set low, so I sit with my knees above my ears, which also rest against the back of the driver’s seat. It is worth saying that the doors do not close the sills, so when leaving the car, you should be careful not to stain your trousers.
For child seats on the back sofa, Isofix mounts are provided, which are hidden deep between the pillows, but here’s the bad luck, you can’t fix the chair in them. The manufacturer incorrectly measured the distance between the Isofix earhooks, and even to the mount, which is closer to the door, the seat back loop fits closely, which also interferes with installation. As a result, despite the seemingly presence of Isofix, it is impossible to use it, although, of course, if you try really hard, strain a little, tap here, squeeze it, then it will be possible to install the chair with a creak, but this is not the case.
The volume of the luggage compartment is very decent, 810 liters to the ceiling, it can be increased by folding the backs of the rear sofa separately from the passenger compartment, but the minus is that they fold a little more than half, and form a decent slide. There is no electric tailgate, and to open the trunk, you have to press a small button above the handle, which will always be dirty in bad weather. The full-size spare wheel is hidden under the underbody.
There is nothing special to say about the Haval H5 multimedia system, it is rather primitive, with not the best 8-inch touchscreen display and 4 speakers. Connecting smartphones via Bluetooth is fast, but for some reason the iPhone 11 periodically fell off by itself for no apparent reason, although this did not happen with OnePlus Nord. In addition, the system did not pull up the phone book and call list from either Android or iOS, despite the fact that all permissions were given. You can control calls only from the screen of the media system, the microphone, by the way, is also located only on it, so that the interlocutor can always hear you well, you have to speak a little louder than usual. But all these are trifles, most of all in the system the color design of the menu, which cannot be changed, is annoying, and even the reversed cancellation and off-hook buttons on the steering wheel, so from time to time I dropped calls instead of taking them. Yes, the rocker on the right side of the steering wheel is a props and was made there only for beauty, which is rather strange.
The armrest has a single USB connector, charging modern devices from it is very slow, so it’s easier to use special adapters in the cigarette lighter, for example, from Xiaomi:
But for the rear passengers, a standard 220V socket is available under the cover.
At the bottom of the front console there is a small shelf under the phone, but even the iPhone 11 could hardly fit in it, and there were fears that it could fly out of it at any time.
Climate control in the car is single-zone, with a good and convenient control unit and its own monochrome display. The system is very noisy when it is cold, and in wet weather the automatic mode makes the windows fog up, so you have to switch to manual. I also note that in production, a shipping film is glued onto a glossy climate control panel so that it is then impossible to remove it completely and its scraps remain inaccurately sticking out of the gaps. There is also a single-level heating for the front seats in the car, the buttons for its activation are located under the center armrest, so you have to twist your hand to access them. Heating takes a very long time to heat up, and heats mainly the lower pillow.
As you understand, there are practically no driver assistants in the car. The test car was equipped with a rear-view camera with markings and not the best picture, as well as rear parking sensors with only sound alerts. There are rain and light sensors, they work surprisingly well, there is the usual cruise control with steering wheel control buttons, which is also no question. As helpers, you can also specify tire pressure sensors with a graphical display on the on-board computer screen and a navigator display with an altimeter, barometer and compass on the top of the front panel.
In terms of comfort, the car, of course, is not the best, here is the vibration at idle, which passes through the cabin and is felt by all passengers, and the noise, albeit not critical, while driving. The suspension copes well with large irregularities, for example, allowing speed bumps to pass very gently at a low speed, but at the same time collects all minor defects of the canvas and transfers them to the salon. And on the road strewn with patches, at a speed of 60 km / h, I immediately remembered this well-known video, it chatters very much.
In Russia, the Haval H5 comes with an old but reliable two-liter Mitsubishi petrol engine with 150 and 177 hp. and only in conjunction with a manual six-speed gearbox. Only four-wheel drive is available, previously DW Hower H5 was also offered in a version with front-wheel drive. The car has an assistant when starting up the hill, which prevents rollback, and in general the car forgives mistakes, so even if you have not driven a mechanic for a long time, you will have to try to stall. The car prompts you to increase the gear, the information is displayed on a small monochrome display on the dashboard, well readable both day and night.
The manual transmission lever travel is large enough, I would like it to be shorter, plus the first two gears “stick” with some effort. The pickup starts at 2000 rpm, so in the city you constantly have to wield the gear lever. Off-road there is a 4L mode, four-wheel drive with a low gear, and there is also a descent assist. It was not possible to fully mix the mud on the Haval H5, but the car performed well on light off-road conditions. On a normal road, of course, everything is not so rosy, here the steering wheel is too heavy for a modern car, and the turning radius is huge, and the rolls are large when entering a turn.
The Chinese manufacturer would need to slightly update the appearance of the car for a restart and add a complete set with an automatic transmission, then it would be a good competitor to the UAZ Patriot. And so this is a niche frame SUV with an outdated design for those who like to get out on the off-road. The car will probably be bought by the owners of the Great Wall Hover H5 / DW Hower H5, who like it and who already know all its features.
Prices for Haval H5 start at 1 299 000 rubles, our equipment cost 100 000 more. For example, the UAZ Patriot on the mechanics starts from 800 rubles, and the version with an automatic transmission costs from 000 rubles.
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