GWM Haval Raptor previewed at GIIAS – 5-seater SUV with petrol, Hi4 PHEV options; coming to Malaysia?

At the ongoing Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS), GWM is previewing its next possible global Haval model, the Raptor (or Menglong in Chinese, not to be confused by Ford’s high-performance Ranger and F-150 models). Appearing like a shortened H9 – although it really isn’t, as you’ll find out later – the five-seater SUV is being previewed for the first time outside China.

The angular design is very similar to the aforementioned H9’s, with a large upright grille (with three bars instead of its sibling’s four), round LED headlights sitting within square buckets, prominent horizontal shoulders, squared-off wheel arches, distinctive quad square taillights and a sideways-opening tailgate with a full-sized external spare tyre.

In China, the petrol model (the car you see here is the Hi4 plug-in hybrid) has been redesigned to provide some distance to its larger sibling, now sporting rectangular head- and taillights, a “waterfall” grille with vertical slats, and Allen bolt heads in the wheel arches.

In terms of size, the Raptor is slightly narrower and quite a bit lower than the H9, but the main difference is in the wheelbase, which is 112 mm shorter at 2,850 mm, with a corresponding 270 mm decrease in length to 5,070 mm. Despite this, the boot still measures a fairly commodious 586 litres, expandable to 1,404 litres with the rear seats folded.

As the car you see here is trapped in a glass box, we have no access to the interior, but we’ve seen the car before at Auto Shanghai earlier this year and can tell you that the cabin is very similar to the H9’s. That includes the bluff dashboard with chunky rectangular air vents, a digital instrument display (actually larger here at 12.3 inches across) and a 14.6-inch infotainment touchscreen running on the latest Coffee OS.

Down below is a wide centre console with a 50-watt Qi wireless charger, two rows of physical buttons and a rotary drive mode selectors for the up to nine settings. Unlike the H9, which has a conventional pistol-grip shifter, the Raptor’s gear selector is on the steering column like so many Chinese cars nowadays.

Buyers can opt for power-adjustable front seats with driver’s side memory and heating and ventilation functions, along with a panoramic sunroof, up to ten speakers and a boot light that even has a mosquito-repelling mode. Safety-wise, the car comes with six airbags and a suite of driver assists, including autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control with stop and go and lane centring assist.

The biggest departure from the body-on-frame H9 is under the skin – the Raptor instead uses a unibody construction with independent MacPherson strut front and multilink rear suspension. Despite this, the car is still pitched as a light off-roader with a maximum water-wading depth of 580 mm.

Power comes from a 2.0 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine that produces 238 PS and 385 Nm of torque, mated to a nine-speed wet dual-clutch transmission – unlike the ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox found in the longitudinal-engined H9. You also get a choice of either front- or all-wheel drive, the latter with an electronic locking rear differential.

Again, this particular unit uses GWM’s Hi4 system, powered by a 167 PS/243 Nm 1.5 litre turbocharged Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine, a 95 PS/160 Nm electric motor and a two-speed dedicated hybrid transmission (DHT) managing the two power sources at the front. Meanwhile, the rear motor churns out 204 PS and 350 Nm of torque, resulting in a total electric output of 299 PS and 510 Nm, or a whopping 378 PS and 750 Nm with the engine included.

That’s with the standard 19.1 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) that delivers a range of 102 km on China’s admittedly lenient CLTC cycle. Opt for the 27.5 kWh pack – which also boosts range to 145 km – and the system power swells to 383 PS. Despite this, the doubtlessly heavier pack means the more powerful version is actually slower, hitting 100 km/h in 6.2 seconds (versus 6.0 seconds for the 19.1 kWh variant).

Fuel consumption is rated at just 1.68 litres per 100 km for the 19.1 kWh model and an even more impressive 1.15 litres per 100 km with the 27.5 kWh battery. Even with a low charge, those figures only rise to 6.0 and 6.1 litres per 100 km respectively. Both will also support 33 kW of DC fast charging and can be specced with the locking rear diff.

Is the Haval Raptor coming to Malaysia as a more rugged alternative to the H6? It remains to be seen – GWM Malaysia had previously revealed plans to bring in the H9 instead; given that the company has its hands full preparing for the launch of the Wey 80 MPV, expect either car to arrive next year at the earliest.

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