2024 MG HS SUV review
Stylish and full of features, the latest MG SUV makes a strong impression. But does it stand up to scrutiny?
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MG’s played a bit of a blinder these past few years, reflected in this new generation HS medium SUV.
While rivals like Toyota, Ford and Mazda have vacated the cheaper end of the market, the Chinese/British brand (depending who you ask) has happily and successfully filled the void.
Coinciding with a cost-of-living crisis, MG’s cheapies are filling Aussie driveways, trumping the likes of Nissan and Subaru to be our seventh best-selling brand.
This despite many MGs being, well, not very good cars.
But that’s being addressed. The just-launched MG3 hybrid’s a solid offering; the MG4’s an impressive EV, while this new-for-2024 HS is really rather good.
Toyota RAV4-sized, it presents well with sleek lines, LED lights and full-width rear light bar, then move inside and it’s properly family friendly with vast rear seat space and decent boot.
Safety equipment’s lengthy across all its three grades, while wow factor’s there with a duo of 12.3-inch screens covering infotainment and driver display.
Seats are comfy, the dashboard and cabin materials are of neat quality and MG’s just backed its new cars with a 10-year/250,000km warranty.
If rivals’ eyebrows aren’t raised after that little lot, MG’s flogging the entry-level HS Vibe from only $33,990 drive-away.
That’s small SUV money.
A better-equipped HS Excite is $36,990 in the traffic, then flagship Essence $40,990 on the road. Consider the cheapest (hybrid only) Toyota RAV4 is about $46,000 drive-away and there’s a mighty discrepancy in dollars.
So the new and slightly larger HS is inexpensive and there’s no glaring kit omissions.
It could be a home run, but something’s gotta give.
We were granted only a short Sydney city test drive, but even within the space of 40km, it’s apparent the new HS is for those favouring value over drive experience.
It’s by no means a clunker. It’s light and easy to drive, does slow speed urban work peacefully, and successfully absorbs chopped road imperfections.
But the 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine gets all gruff when you demand a burst of speed, and that’s after the seven-speed dual clutch auto has a long hard think about picking a gear.
There’s enough turbocharged shove with 125kW and 275Nm, but ask for it quickly and the front tyres squeal in protest.
It drinks 95 fuel at a thirsty rate too. Overall economy on test was 7.8L/100km, but the urban snarl had it nudging 10L/100km.
Hybrid SUVs make a big difference to city economy, with under 5L/100km the norm.
We’re promised a self-charging hybrid and plug-in hybrid MG HS in 2025 – they’ll be pricier, but economy improvements make them worth waiting for. The HS’s steering and brakes lack meaningful feel, and the mild cornering we managed revealed a rather wobbly body.
Nothing terrible, but rivals like the Mazda CX-5 and Kia Sportage feel more planted and assured.
If you care not for these things, the rest of the drive’s praiseworthy. The driver’s seat is electrically adjustable and you perch high for decent visibility, while driver aids generally work well, but bong annoyingly if you stray.
The truly useful stuff’s there like adaptive cruise control, traffic jam assist, blind spot assist and rear traffic alert … although I could live without the driver monitor camera ever-lurking in the windscreen surround.
Cabin practicality and presentation will snare buyers before they even test drive an HS, especially if moving out of the fabric seat Vibe and into the faux leather-clad Excite.
That alone is worth the extra $3k, but there’s also a 360-degree camera, navigation, 19-inch alloys and MG’s iSmart connectivity.
The latter lets you preheat or cool the cabin, lock and unlock doors, and check fuel level from your smartphone.
The Essence gets seriously fancy with panoramic roof, power tailgate, heated seats, wireless phone charging and memory seats.
No matter how you look it, with vast interior space and lengthy features, it’s a lot of SUV for the money.
Get one in Arctic blue paint and it’s a good-looking one too.
Originally published as 2024 MG HS SUV review
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