ENOUGH Z? (some text hidden) --NONE--
By Jonathan Crouch
In seeking a small B-segment SUV, you probably won't have considered the MG brand as an option. Ought you to? Jonathan Couch looks at the improved version of MG's ZS and decides.
Ten Second Reviewword count: 64
MG Founder Cecil Kimber wanted to make cars that would be, in his words, 'affordable and fun to drive'. Well, this ZS model is a small SUV that claims to tick both those boxes while offering class-leading interior space and exceptional value for money. It all sounds promising and sure enough in this revised form, this ZS delivers the company's most credible contender yet.
Backgroundword count: 255
You still might not associate the MG brand with SUVs, but that's what this Chinese-owned maker concentrates on these days. Here's their most important one, the supermini-sized ZS, originally launched back in 2017 and now significantly revised. This is one of the most affordable small crossovers of its kind, but despite that you probably won't have considered it. We're here to decide whether you should. The ZS badge has been historically on an MG - in 2001 when it designated a sportier version of the Rover 45 saloon that sold until the wind-up of the MG Rover business in 2005. Fortunately, this new-era MG ZS is nothing like that and it's made by a manufacturer that has very little in common with the way the company was back then. SAIC, the 'Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation', bought the remains of Rover and the MG brand in 2007 in a deal that included use of the once-great Longbridge factory in Birmingham. To begin with, SAIC used this plant to screw together models together from parts shipped over from China, thus imbuing them with a token level of 'Britishness'. The brand doesn't bother with that any more. Like its only slightly larger SUV stablemate, the HS, this ZS model is made and assembled in Shanghai - but that still doesn't make it a completely Chinese product. MG claims that the version of the car we get here has been re-engineered specifically for a UK audience and developed for optimal ride and handling on our appalling roads. We'll see.
Driving Experienceword count: 205
For its conventional ZS offering, MG has concentrated on a 106PS 1.5-litre VTI-tech four cylinder petrol unit mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. Previously, there was a three cylinder 1.0-litre petrol unit too. Today's 1.5-litre variant can get to 62mph from rest in 10.9 seconds en route to 109mph. As before, there's also an alternative full-electric ZS EV battery-powered model. This is powered by a 44.5kWh, water-cooled lithium-ion battery which has a WLTP-rated driving range certified at 163 miles. There's 105kW of power, equivalent to 143PS, and the 62mph benchmark is dispatched in just 8.5s, though there's a rather limited top speed of just 87mph. The Chinese brand says that this ZS has been extensively tested on UK roads and developed for UK drivers. If you avoid entry-level trim, you'll find that the steering comes with a choice of three selectable modes - 'Urban', 'Normal' and 'Dynamic'. The 'Urban' setting offers a lighter and quicker response at low speeds and when parking. Alternatively, the 'Dynamic' mode is designed to increase the steering effort, deliver a higher damping effect and increase the centre definition at medium and high vehicle speeds. The 'Normal' steering option aims to deliver the best all-round fit to MG's tailored suspension set-up.
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Pictures (high res disabled)
Statistics (subset of data only)
Min |
Max |
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Price: |
£15,495.00 |
£17,795.00 |
Insurance group: |
10 |
|
CO2 (g/km): |
155 (1.5 VTI-tech) |
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Max Speed (mph): |
148 (1.5 VTI-tech) |
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0-62 mph (s): |
6.1 (1.5 VTI-tech) |
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Combined Mpg: |
45 |
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Length (mm): |
4314 |
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Width (mm): |
1809 |
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Height (mm): |
1611 |
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Boot Capacity (l): |
448 |
1375 |
Scoring (subset of scores)
Category: Crossover or SUV 4x4s
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Handling | |
Comfort | |
Space | |
Styling, Build, Value, Equipment, Depreciation, Handling, Insurance and Total scores are available with our full data feed. |