GWM Jolion Pro review

It’s a lesson in what not to do when setting up a car. Honestly, it’s impressive just how many elements aren’t up to scratch or the Jolion Pro simply gets wrong. If it was an actor, it’d be winning Razzies left, right and centre.

There’s no sophistication to how the suspension works at all: the front and rear often feel like they’re doing different things and the set-up is too firm. You notice it most at low speeds, when potholes thunk through the cabin with such force that you’ll momentarily dislodge several organs.

The Jolion Pro doesn’t suffer from much body roll, but the chassis is so disinterested that that was never a danger anyway. Cornering just sort of happens – the steering feeds about as much information through your fingers as frostbite. The brake pedal’s fairly solid, but reasonably progressive once you’ve got used to it.

It’s not a driver’s car then. Is it economical, at least?

Not really. 47mpg is the WLTP claim; 34.5mpg is what we saw when we tested it on a mix of country roads with no motorway or dual carriageway. That’s not great when you think hybrid versions of the MG ZS and Dacia Duster both returned half as much fuel economy again in real-world conditions. Hmm.

You can blame the engine for that. Somehow Haval can only summon 94bhp from that 1.5-litre 4cyl, relying on the electric motor to stump up the rest of the car’s output. That’s barely more than Caterham gets from a 660cc 3cyl turbo!

Throttle response is decent, but under maximum load the noise is raucous. So much so that you’ll back off, just to protect your ears. And that means you’ll make even slower progress than the 0-62mph claim of nine seconds flat suggests. Better to be late than deafened.

Anything else I should know?

The driving position’s adequate and the seats supportive enough for the kind of driving you’ll likely be doing. Mercifully short trips, we hope. Visibility is a bit limited in the rearview mirror, but better via the wing mirrors.

There are four driving modes (Normal, Eco, Sport and Snow), and three levels of weight to the steering: Sports, Comfort, and Light. All much of a muchness.