GWM Haval H6 VS Renault Koleos

The cabin has loads of passenger space and it feels roomy up front. It’s also an easy car to get in and out of, which I like. I don't love the comfort of the front seats, though, as the seat backs cave too far inwards, even with the lumbar extended. Not conducive to great posture.  

The back seat is like a lounge, though, and in this instance I'd prefer to be a passenger princess than the driver in this car.

In the back row, the head- and legroom is excellent and middle seaters will be comfortable thanks to the flat floor. 

Individual storage is very good up front, the centre console playing the hero with its large shelf underneath. There are also two cupholders, a utility tray and a cute little nook for any small items like keys.

The middle console is medium-sized, as is the glove box and both doors have storage bins and a drink bottle holder.

In the back seat, there are map pockets, two cupholders in a fold down armrest and shallow storage bins in each door.

The other amenities in the back row are okay and you get directional air vents and reading lights.

You get a good storage capacity with the 600L boot and the level loading space makes it easy to slide gear in and out. The back seat has a 60/40 split if you need to boost your storage capacity. There’s no spare tyre in this model, just a tyre repair kit but you do get a powered tailgate. 

The practicality of the cabin is hurt by the usefulness of some of its tech, which is a shame since the cabin on a whole is fairly good.

The 12.3-inch touchscreen multimedia system looks great and is fairly easy to use but the screen can occasionally lag. There are a lot of functions buried in the system and I miss having physical buttons for this reason. I sometimes don't bother with the heat and ventilation functions for the front seats because it isn't simple to access them.

You don’t get built-in sat nav or digital radio in this model but you do have wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. I have beef with the CarPlay as the USB-A port for it is on the passenger side, not the driver's side. The CarPlay and Bluetooth connectivity also dropped out a lot, which I found frustrating, especially when I was using it to navigate.

Charging options are okay with each row getting two USB-A ports. The front also features a wireless charging pad and a 12-volt outlet but you miss out on faster USB-C sockets.

It might lack the up-to-date styling of those rivals, but the Koleos is practical and spacious inside and great for family duties.

As with the outgoing fourth-generation Nissan X-Trail, the Koleos is one of the larger offerings in the medium SUV segment, and it’s evident when sitting in the front or rear seating row.

Rearward visibility could be better, with a small rear screen and thick C- and D-pillars impeding vision and creating a blind spot.

The front seats are well supported and comfortable and while the driver’s side is power adjustable, the front passenger seat is manually adjustable.

It has a deep central storage bin with a hidden shelf for coins and more. The Koleos features a sizeable glovebox and good bottle storage in the doors, with room for other items.

There’s a weird fixed cup holder in the centre console. It’s not adjustable and there’s room for two very narrow cups and two larger, but not wide, cups. It’s strange. Interior designers could have used that space better.

The CVT's position indicators are located to the left of the shifter and are thus obscured, so you have to rely on the instrument cluster display to confirm what gear you want. 

The steering wheel looks and feels good, but the controls aren’t super logical. There are old school switches in the console to activate the cruise control and speed limiter, but then to adjust and reset the speed you have to hit buttons on the wheel that are not clearly marked. 

The audio controls are housed on a panel-like stalk to the right side of the steering column, which isn’t ideal. These make more sense if they’re housed on the wheel itself. 

Along with a number of cars we have sampled recently, the Koleos has split analogue and digital controls for the air conditioning. Just integrate it in the screen or have traditional controls - not both!

It has a part-digital instrument cluster which is fine, but there’s no head-up display.

Renault’s 'R-Link' multimedia set-up in the Koleos is old, with dated graphics and a small screen, but the menu layout is clear and logical. 

The Koleos lacks wireless phone charging and it makes do with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The quality of the Bluetooth and CarPlay phone audio is poor and sounds tinny. 

The proximity key that locks and unlocks the vehicle remotely when you walk towards or away from it works every single time. Many of these systems from other brands are patchy at best but the Renault system is faultless. 

The rear seats recline and fold manually 60/40. They’re also surprisingly comfortable. There’s enough bucketing to sink in a bit, and the seats are set high up so kids can easily see out windows.

Space is ample in the second row, with loads of head, leg, toe and knee room, even behind my six-foot (183cm) driving position.

The rear pew has ISOFIX points on the outboard seats, lower air vents, a 12-volt outlet, map pockets, a centre folding armrest with two cupholders, but no USB ports. You have to make do with the two ports at the front.

Open the power tailgate and you’ll find a decent 458-litre boot with all seats in place (maximum 1690L), which is off the pace of its cousin, the Nissan X-Trail (565L), as well as the Toyota RAV4 (580L) and Hyundai Tucson (539L).

A 17-inch steel spare wheel is housed under the boot floor which might explain the lower boot capacity, and there are handy tie-down hooks, a couple of smaller storage nooks and a solid cargo blind.