2026 GWM Haval H6 Ultra PHEV AWD: A Fair Dinkum Cracker

GWM has finally stopped guessing what Australian drivers want and started listening. For the 2026 H6 facelift, they handed the keys to a team of local engineers (including ex-Holden chassis guru Rob Trubiani) to fix the one thing that always held the H6 back: the suspension.

You see, GWM started as Great Wall Motors and went over like a lead balloon that failed the ANCAP test miserably. It was shoddy from start to finish, so relaunching under the same name was a non-starter. Instead, GWM was born—another Chinese brand now utterly decimating the legacy mastheads. Toyota is safe for now, but VW, Honda, and Subaru have been bumped off the top-10 Australian best-seller list, likely forever.

Download Specification sheet HERE:h6_brochure_au

But I digress. Back to the Ultra PHEV AWD, a flagship that packs a ridiculous 268kW and 760Nm of torque. On paper, it’s a Porsche-baiting family hauler; on the road, it’s a massive step forward for the brand, even if it still has a few “Chinese car” eccentricities. A big call? Sure. Nobody considering a Porker is ever going to take a Haval instead, even if it is a quarter of the price.

The “Aussie Tune” Reality If you’ve driven a pre-2025 Haval, you’ll remember the “float.” It felt like a blancmange disconnected from the bitumen, bouncing over mid-corner bumps like a jelly on springs. The local retune has binned that. The new dampers have much better rebound control, meaning the car settles quickly after a hit. Not that budget SUV buyers expect to visit the Nürburgring, but it’s a welcome surprise.

The steering has also been recalibrated. It’s lost that off-putting “dead spot” in the centre, replaced with a linear, weighted feel that actually gives you confidence when pushing through a set of bends on a coarse-chip B-road. It’s still a two-tonne SUV, so there’s body roll, but it no longer feels like it’s going to lose its inertia dampers at Warp 9.9.

Above: This Week’s VIDEO Review –2026 Haval H6 Ultra PHEV: Inertia Dampers at Warp 9.9!

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ABOVE: 2026 GWM Haval H6 Ultra PHEV AWD: A Fair Dinkum Cracker

Living with Hi4 and the Plug The “Hi4” (Hybrid Intelligent 4WD) system uses a 1.5L turbo engine and two beefy electric motors. It’s genuinely quick—0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds—but the traction control can be a fun-police on a mission. If you nail it from a standstill, the front tyres often chirp before the electronics aggressively cut power to manage all that torque. There is more than a little torque-steer too, but if you’re ready for it, it’s a real trip. It’s much more impressive during a 60-100km/h rolling overtake, which can now be done without complex exit-planning.

For the daily grind, the 19.09kWh LFP battery is a peach. While GWM claims 100km of EV range, expect closer to 80km in real-world Australian conditions with the A/C running. Unlike many PHEVs, this one supports 34kW DC fast charging, so you can actually top it up in 28 minutes while grabbing the groceries. It is said that 48kW maximum is possible, but either way, even at a 350kW station, you’re unlikely to ever get what’s promised.

The Interior: Big Screen, Small Grips Inside, it’s a mixed bag. The new 14.6-inch touchscreen is fast and crisp, but GWM has doubled down on the “minimalist” trend. Almost everything—from air-con temp to seat ventilation—is buried in menus. If the screen breaks, and it will, you are in a world of first-world pain. We asked for fewer buttons and we got it; now we don’t like it. BMW started this madness with its first i-Drive in that appalling Bangle 7-Series, and now all brands have it, spreading its tentacles like a malignant dictator.

The move to a Mercedes/Tesla-style steering column gear stalk has freed up the centre console for a spacious vented 50W wireless charger, which is great, but the lack of physical buttons for basic tasks remains a major distraction at 110km/h. If using a phone on the road is a ball-buster, why are drivers allowed to spelunk through cavernous layers of dross to find radio or climate controls? Yes, voice control can be used for some functions, but usually results in an unsatisfactory rumble with an AI slightly less cooperative than a two-year-old.

Verdict At around $50,990 drive-away, the H6 Ultra PHEV AWD makes the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV look eye-wateringly expensive. We recently tested the Kia Sorento PHEV at $92K; its stratospheric RRP is like a dagger to the throat. In short, the legacy brands simply cannot compete with the heavily supported Chinese brands. GWM’s H6 PHEV is not only good, it is great. It’s faster, charges quicker on DC, and finally handles like it was built for our roads.

However, you still have to live with the over-sensitive “nanny” tech (the driver monitoring camera will beep if you check your mirrors too long) and the fact that there’s no spare tyre under the boot floor. I like the minimalist feel, but like Tesla et al, screens broken after warranty will only lead to heartache. However, if you can live with the screen-heavy cabin and the lack of a spare, it’s currently the best value performance SUV in the country—and it can run on batteries. Unlike pure EVs, it is not limited by range; there is always a petrol station.

#GWM, #HavalH6, #PHEV, #HavalH6PHEV, #SUV, #CarReview, #AnyAuto, #HybridSUV, #AussieCars, #InertiaDampers, #WarpSpeed

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