MOTORING
MG GS
The badge MG on a vehicle has been synonymous with
British manufacturing for more years than I care to remember, and now under Chinese ownership the brand is back and although a hard slog in this current age of competitiveness MG are really trying hard to explore and create the marketplace in the UK, writes Bob Hickman.
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The Chinese have owned MG since 2011, the firm has plodded along with M6, M3 and now they have entered in to one of the most highly competitive market places in the whole of the motor industry, the SUV.
It is not until you start to have a look around that you realise what an excellent plethora of vehicles that are in this category, think Qashqai, Ford Kuga, Kia Sportage, Skoda Yeti, the list is long of manufacturers who are in this particular market place and it is a hard one for MG to enter. Having said that there will be a lot of people who will buy based on the MG badge, there will also be a lot of people who will be attracted to this new kid on the block by its entry level figure of a starting price of about £ 15,000.
I have to admit to feeling that the MG GS is an imposing vehicle, certainly when parked next to the opposition it looked positive and not the poor relation.
Initially there are just 3 trim levels, the entry level Explore, the middle range Excite, and my top of the range Exclusive.
MG has taken the decision to provide one engine derivative and this surely must help keeping the costs down. The 1.5-litre turbo-charged petrol, there will be no diesel op-tion and possibly the Chinese have been very astute in view of the adverse publicity currently surrounding diesel engine vehicles.
All the GS range are front-wheel drive only and there is no 4-wheel drive option.
Choices are further limited with the GS in that 2 gearboxes are available, a 6-speed manual or in the case of my test vehicle, a 7-speed dual clutch automatic. My 1.5-litre engine was sufficiently powerful at 166 P. S. had a top speed where possible of 118mph and a 0-60 gallop in 9.5 seconds and it should according to M. G. achieve in the region of 45mpg, but during my week and 300 miles I only managed a very disappoint-ing 34 mpg. The CO emissions at 139g / km are not going to put this in to the super ex-cise value at the moment, but of course that all changes post April.
Inside the GS there is ample amount of space, especially impressive was the rear of the vehicle with ample legroom for 6ft passengers and also head and shoulder room.