FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2021 Haval H6

How big is the boot of the 2021 Haval H6 Lux?

The Haval H6 has a really practical size boot for a family. I could fit 13 shopping bags in there when empty, which is one more than the MG HS which will hold twelve. The Hyundai Tucson will hold fourteen, the Toyota RAV4 will hold fifteen and the Kia Sportage sixteen shopping bags.

The twin stroller fits in the boot but with four shopping bags.

The tandem stroller stacks in the boot of the Haval H6 with six shopping bags.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Bub’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

The single stroller fits with five shopping bags beside it.

The compact stroller fitted with nine shopping bags beside it.

Or you could fit a medium-size family dog in there!

The boot floor of the Haval H6 is nice and flat and carpeted, so it is excellent for an emergency nappy change!

There are good plastic storage areas behind the wheel arches…

…and a space-saver spare tyre underneath the boot floor.

How good is storage inside the 2021 Haval H6?

Storage in the front of the 2021 Haval H6 is excellent. There are two cup holders in the central console they will hold a reusable and a disposable coffee cup nicely. A small storage well in front of them is good for popping the key into.

There is a phone charging tray in front of that and below it is the USB socket and a great storage shelf for your bag, hat or shoes.

The central console box is nice and large in the H6 so it's really practical for families.

In the ceiling, there is a lined glasses case and both front visors have lit vanity mirrors too.

The glove box will hold an iPad and wallet with the manual.

The door bins in the front are a practical size and will hold my refillable water bottle and iPad and all the handles can act as little storage wells too.

In the back, the door bins are too small to hold a refillable water bottle but a 600ml mineral water and an iPad will fit and the back doors have the handle wells too.

There are map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold and conceal an iPad.

In a fold-down armrest in the central seatback are two cup holders. They will hold a disposable and reusable coffee cup.

How noisy is the 2021 Haval H6?

The 2021 Haval H6 is not a noisy BabyDrive. The gear change is a bit clumsy, which makes for a ride that is not very smooth for passengers.

The media system in the Haval H6 has a slight delay which I found a little frustrating over the week we had the car and especially when changing the climate control settings.

The Haval H6 has Android CarPlay and Android Auto which is great for using your phone's features and its navigation and audio apps while driving.

When reversing and manoeuvring, the Haval H6 has an excellent quality rearview camera image. There is also a 360-degree 3D camera which, with the car's good turning circle, makes parking nice and simple.

You can turn the camera on and off at any time with a button down in the central console.

There is a great seatbelt removal visual in the driver display screen, so you know straight away if anyone removes their seatbelt in the back!

The indicators are fairly quiet in the 2021 Haval H26 which is good.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

The distance to empty is clearly displayed on the driver's display screen.

The windows and doors in the H6 open and close quietly and both can be locked individually from the driver's door control panel.

Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!

So this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)

The 2021 Haval H6 is a great, practical car that can cater well for families of up to five people.

How many child seats fit in the 2021 Haval H6 Lux?

There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three of the rear seats, each of which is within a plastic guide and I found them nice and easy to connect to.

There are ISOFix points in the two outer second-row seats. They are within plastic guides and easy to connect to.

I tried a couple of child seat combinations using Infasecure child seats. I could fit three Infasecure Attain More child seats forward- or rear-facing. I also tried the combination pictured below with the Infasecure Versatile folding Booster, the Roamer II and the Infasecure Optima rear-facing.

Legroom is really good in the Haval H6, making it practical for taller families. I found a 184cm driver could sit in front of a rear-facing child seat and an even taller front passenger could too.

Posting Bub into their child seat from outside the car is fine in the Haval H6. From inside the ceiling is nice and high too which makes posting Bub into their seats from inside good too. There are handles above the second-row doors so I could hang a child's toy.

Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

There is plenty of room to feed Bub in the back if you only have one child seat installed.

How comfortable is the 2021 Haval H6 Lux? And how good is the Haval H6 to drive?

In the front of the 2021 Haval H6, the seats are nice and comfortable and you can adjust the headrests using the button on the side so I could have a ponytail while driving! YAY!

For a mum travelling in the back with Bub, the seats are comfortable too, but as with many cars in the central seat, I could feel the drop-down armrest in the seatback.

There is a small hump in the footwell, you have to rest your feet on or straddle when sitting in the central seat.

For the first year of my baby’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Bub so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!

The steering wheel was fully adjustable in/out and up/down.

There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; two horizontal central ones underneath the media screen and another one at either end of the dash.

There are air vents in the back of the central console box, which is great for keeping rear passengers comfortable too.

There are climate/air-conditioning controls in the media screen which I found frustrating to use while driving because it had a delay which meant you had to keep your eyes on the screen too long rather than the road.

Visibility in the 2021 Haval H6 is very good, even when you have three child seats in the back and the excellent quality reversing camera makes it easy to manoeuvre too.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Bub has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the H6 was really easy to park.

Aesthetically the 2021 Haval H6 is really pleasing on the eye externally and the interior has some great modern features like the central console shelf. You can feel the difference between it and more mainstream competitors in the plasticky touch and sound that gives it the feel of being built to a tight price point, as well as being a bit difficult to drive smoothly mainly due to the way the automatic changes gear. Apart from that and the slow touch screen, the H6 is still a great SUV for the price, especially as it fits three child seats and has great boot space and legroom.

How safe is the 2021 Haval H6 Lux?

The Haval H6 has yet to be given an ANCAP crash test safety rating.

Seven airbags come as standard; there are dual frontal airbags and front side chest airbags and side head curtain airbags for the front and rear side passengers.

As standard, all models of the Haval H6 come with autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, road sign recognition and driver fatigue monitoring. From the Lux model and up there is also a great 360-degree parking camera, as well as parking sensors at the front (as well as the back, which all models have).

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Bub’s asleep!