The Great Wall Haval H3 is a 5-door wagon from Great Wall Motor, built from 2005 to 2012, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Under the bonnet: 2.0 L 4G63 I4.
How it came about
The Great Wall Haval H3 (Chinese: 长城哈弗; pinyin: Chángchéng Hāfú), also known as the Great Wall Hover, is a compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) produced by the Chinese manufacturer Great Wall Motors from April 2005 to 2012. It was the first Chinese car to be exported in large quantities to Western Europe in 2006, with 30,000 units shipped to Italy.
Its main advantage over established European, North American and Asian rivals is its low comparative cost. A six-speed automatic concept version called the Great Wall Hover H7 was made and can reach speeds of up to 225 km/h or 140 mph. In Australia, it was badged as the Great Wall X240 until 2011, when the X240 nameplate was used on the Haval H5.
The hardware
Power comes from 2.0 L 4G63 I4; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 1720 kg. It shifts through a 5-speed manual / 4-speed M88 automatic. The wheelbase is 2700 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Great Wall Safe; its successor was the Haval H5 (SUV) / Haval H6 Coupe (Crossover SUV). Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Kia Sportage, the Audi Q7, the Aston Martin Vantage — show what else the money bought that year. Its Great Wall Motor stablemates include the Great Wall Coolbear and the Great Wall Cowry.