MG S9 review

Two years ago, MG’s range was only six cars strong but, since then, it has doubled. Despite that rapid growth, and coverage of almost every niche, the all-new MG S9 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) is a debut in the seven-seat class from the brand. 

First things first, the S9 is positively massive. In fact, at almost five metres long, it’s actually longer than the Hyundai Santa Fe and with a height over 1.7m, it’s almost as tall. That bodes well when it comes to interior practicality. 

The S9 isn’t just a seven-seater, though, it’s also a PHEV that uses the same engine and hybrid setup as the MG HS PHEV – a car we’ve named Plug-in Hybrid of the Year two years in a row at our What Car? Awards. 

But does the S9 have what it takes to come out on top against the affordable Chery Tiggo 8 or more premium rivals including the Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento and Peugeot 5008? That’s what we’ll be finding out in this review. 

What's new

- March 2026: MG launches its first-ever seven-seater, the S9 PHEV

How fast is it and which engine is best?

Choosing which MG S9 to go for is easy because there’s only one engine on offer. It’s actually the same 295bhp 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine and hybrid setup that you’ll find in the MG HS PHEV. 

Of course, the S9 is quite a bit larger and heavier than the HS PHEV, so it isn’t quite as fast on paper, managing an official 0-62mph sprint time of 9.6sec. That’s around three seconds slower than its sibling and slower than the Chery Tiggo 8, Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV and Peugeot 5008 PHEV. 

Even so, put your foot down in the S9 and you won’t feel like you struggle for power, with the MG getting off the line quickly and then easily up to motorway speeds. Helpfully, the battery always keeps a small reserve, rather than running out entirely, giving you an extra and instant boost whenever you pull away. 

Is it agile and is the ride comfortable?

With fairly soft suspension, the S9 is good at soaking up potholes, regardless of speed, but there’s still a constant underlying fidget as you drive along. It isn’t so bad that it’s uncomfortable, but it lacks the refinement of more expensive rivals. 

Luckily, the S9 isn’t so soft that it wobbles around over undulating roads but, again, firmer rivals including the Peugeot 5008 are more composed as you drive along country roads. 

As you might expect in a massive seven-seater like the S9, handling isn’t a strong point. It feels decidedly heavy as you hustle along a winding road and leans a fair amount through fast corners. 

The steering doesn’t give you much in the way of confidence, either, feeling quick and light around the centre point before building weight inconsistently. Ultimately, that makes it hard to judge what the front wheels are up to. You can switch the steering into a heavier Sport mode, but it adds so much artificial weight that you don’t actually get any extra feedback. 

Is it quiet and how easy is it to drive smoothly?

There’s a bit of suspension noise as you drive along, but wind and road noise are well contained, even at motorway speeds. 

There isn’t very much engine noise when you’re driving along normally and the switch between the electric motor and the petrol engine is pretty much unnoticeable.  

The news isn’t so good when we talk about braking, though. You get three different modes of regenerative braking – low, medium and high – but all of them feel inconsistent in how they slow the car, sometimes letting it coast and other times braking strongly. 

Using the actual brake pedal isn’t any better because it doesn’t give you much feedback as you press it. That’s especially true at higher speeds, where it can be hard to judge just how hard you need to press the pedal to slow down sufficiently. It’s better in slow speed traffic but it’s never particularly easy to come to a smooth stop. 

What’s the range and efficiency like and how quickly can it charge?

Like the HS, the S9 gets a 23.2kWh (usable) battery but its extra weight reduces the official electric range to 62 miles. That’s still impressive, though, and further than the Santa Fe and Tiggo 8. 

Better still, while those rivals likely won’t achieve their official ranges, the HS PHEV is one of the few cars that has matched its on paper range during our 100-0% testing – something that bodes well for the S9. 

The S9 doesn’t support DC fast-charging, so you’re stuck with a maximum charging rate of just 7kW. Official charging times are yet to be confirmed but, based on the HS PHEV, we expect the S9 to charge from 0-100% in around four hours.

“While the S9 can only charge at 7kW, that’s perfect for charging at home overnight because it’s pretty much the duration of most cheap overnight tariffs.” - Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

What does the interior look like and is it well made?

So far, we’ve only sat in the top-spec Premium version of the MG S9, but it’s pretty impressive given the price. Going for that trim adds some leather- and wood-like upholstery, raising the perceived quality above that of the Chery Tiggo 8. Going for that trim level also gives you the choice of either a black or beige interior.

As you start to tap around, you’ll notice that a lot of the surfaces are quite hard (even the wood isn’t real wood), but the saving grace is that the overall build quality is good. Indeed, everything feels screwed together well and all the physical buttons have a satisfying click to them.

It’s fair to say that more expensive premium rivals, including the Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento, are even more impressive inside. However, given the S9’s price tag, it’s still an impressive effort.  

Is the driving position comfortable and is it easy to see out?

You sit high up in the S9 and the driver’s seat lines you up perfectly with the steering wheel and pedals. Better still, every S9 comes with electrically-adjustable front seats, making it easy to find your perfect driving position - you will have to go for top-spec Premium trim if you want adjustable lumbar support, though. 

Forward visibility is great, with the S9 giving you a good view out over the bonnet and an unrestricted view at junctions, courtesy of slim front windscreen pillars. The view over your shoulder is very good too, thanks to massive rear windows and large cut-outs in the rear pillars. 

Due to the size of the S9, you might think that parking would be a daunting task. That isn’t the case though, because every version comes with front and rear parking sensors and a 360-degree parking camera as standard. 

Are the dashboard and infotainment system easy to use?

No matter which trim level you go for, you get a pair of 12.9in screens, consisting of the touchscreen infotainment system and digital driver’s display. The latter uses the same layout as other MGs but isn’t particularly customisable, so it can’t show you things like a full screen map. 

Compared with the systems in its rivals, the S9’s infotainment system isn’t particularly impressive. Sure, the graphics look good but the screen becomes washed out on sunny days, even in the light mode, making it hard to read. 

Then there’s the software itself. It reacts slowly to all of your taps and prods, which is quite frustrating, and the menus aren’t particularly intuitive either. You can, at least, bypass the system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring, though. 

It’s great that you get some physical shortcut buttons below the infotainment touchscreen, making it easy to return to the homescreen, access the climate control menu and adjust fan speed. Unlike some MGs, you also don’t need to return to the homescreen before you can use the climate control shortcut, which is a vast improvement.

Less impressive are the smart vents that sit above the physical controls. These are similar to what you’ll find in a Tesla Model Y and can only be moved by delving into the touchscreen and moving sliders around. As you can imagine, that’s far more distracting as you drive along than traditional air vents. 

“I was very impressed by the perceived quality of the S9 Premium’s interior, especially given the price.” - Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

How much space does it have for people?

The MG S9 is a very big car, so it probably won’t surprise you that there’s loads of space inside. Indeed, even if you’re six-feet tall and broad, you won’t struggle for head, leg or shoulder room when sitting in the front. 

Front storage won’t be an issue in the S9, either. The door bins are well-sized and there’s a large cubby beneath the central armrest, a pair of cupholders with a sliding cover, two spots for storing your phone (which includes a wireless charging pad if you go for Premium trim) and a large cubby below the centre console. 

In the second row, the S9 offers even those over six feet tall lots of head room, despite the standard-fit panoramic roof. With the sliding bench slid all the way back, leg room is generous and you’ll have to be especially tall before you struggle for knee room. What’s more, there’s lots of foot space underneath the front seats. 

The S9’s width means that three adults will have enough shoulder room to sit side-by-side across the second row. There’s a completely flat floor, so the middle seat passenger will have lots of foot space, but the middle seat is slightly raised, so six-footers will find their hair brushing against the rooflining. 

While some seven-seaters make entering the third row a bit of a pain, all you need to do in the S9 is press one button and the driver side seat will fold and slide forward in one motion. Once you’ve climbed in, you’ll find that there’s enough head room for even a six-footer to get comfortable. 

Leg room isn’t quite as generous for taller adults but our 5’11 roadtester had just enough knee room to be comfortable for short journeys. If you need more third row leg room you can, of course, slide the second row forward, but even then it’s quite tight for taller adults. The Hyundai Santa Fe offers more third row space, but the S9 is more spacious than the Peugeot 5008. 

Unfortunately, you don’t get Isofix points in the S9’s third row – in fact, you only get them on the outer second row seats. That’s a match for the Chery Tiggo 8, but the 5008 also gets one of the front passenger seat, while the Kia Sorento and Santa Fe also have them in the third row. 

How much room does it have for luggage?

On paper, the S9 has a 1026 litre boot with the third row seats folded down. That’s pretty massive, but MG measures its boot space from floor to ceiling rather than to the parcel shelf, like most manufacturers. 

For a better comparison, the S9’s low parcel shelf meant that it managed to take eight carry-on sized suitcases, with the second row slid all the way back, which is less than most of its rivals. Slide the second row forwards, though, and it can swallow 10 suitcases, making it a match for the Peugeot 5008.  

When you need more space, the S9 has 60/40 split-folding second row seats, allowing you to feed long items through from the boot. That’s a match for the Hyundai Santa Fe but not as versatile as the 5008, which has 40/20/40 splitting seats, allowing you to feed items through without sacrificing an outer rear seat. 

With the third row seats in place, you still have a decent amount of boot space, and we managed to fit four suitcases in. Regardless of which configuration you have the S9 in, the lack of a boot lip makes it easy to load items in and you get a bit of space underneath the boot floor. 

“It’s slightly annoying that the storage beneath the boot floor has a 12V battery right in the middle, because it means you can’t fit the charging cables in there.” - Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

How much does it cost and what equipment do you get?

As a cash purchase, the MG S9 looks like great value for money, costing a bit more than the Chery Tiggo 8 but lots less than the Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento and Peugeot 5008. 

Thanks to its long electric-only range, the S9 sits in a lower benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax bracket than most of its rivals, making it a good choice for company car drivers that want a seven-seater. 

MG has kept things simple by only offering the S9 in either Comfort or Premium trim. Even the entry-level version is well-equipped, getting 20in alloy wheels, heated front seats, a power tailgate, vehicle-to-load technology and all of the bits that we’ve already mentioned. 

Upgrading to Premium, meanwhile, adds a few more niceties including a 12-speaker BOSE stereo system, front seats with ventilation and massage, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, front fog lights and the interior upgrades. 

Is it reliable, and how long is the warranty?

While the S9 is too new to have featured in the 2025 What Car? Reliability Survey, MG as a brand didn’t perform well, claiming the bottom spot out of the 30 included manufacturers. 

Should anything go wrong, at least the S9 comes with a seven-year/80,000-mile standard warranty. That’s pretty generous when compared with Peugeot’s three-year offering and longer than Hyundai’s five-year warranty, although the latter offers unlimited mileage. 

Kia’s standard warranty also has a duration of seven-years but it offers a slightly longer mileage limit of 100,000 miles. 

How safe is it, and is it easy to steal?

When the safety experts at EuroNCAP tested the S9 they gave it the full five star rating. That’s one more star than the Peugeot 5008 managed in the same year, largely because the S9 was better at protecting adults sitting in the front. 

It also helps that every S9 comes with lots of standard safety equipment, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-keeping assistance, lane departure warning, rear-cross traffic alert and blindspot monitoring. 

“Considering even the top-spec Premium trim cost less than most entry-level rivals, I find the amount of kit that you get with the S9 really impressive. I can see why MG reckons that’ll be the best selling version.” - Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

 Buy it if...

- You want a seven-seater that’s good value for money

- You’re after lots of interior space

- You want a seven-seater PHEV with a long electric range

Don't buy if...

- Reliability is important to you

- You want the most comfortable seven-seater

- You need more than two Isofix points

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