MG ZS review

Introduction

The trouble with SUVs is that they tend to be more expensive than their regular hatchback counterparts, but not the MG ZS – it's actually cheaper to buy than a Vauxhall Astra.

And before you go thinking: "Yes, but I bet it's a box on wheels with an engine from a lawnmower", well the latest MG ZS is actually a fuel-sipping hybrid car and even the cheapest version comes loaded with creature comforts.

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1.5 Hybrid+ SE SUV 5dr Petrol Hybrid Auto Euro 6 (s/s) (196 ps)

Expected annual mileage	6000
Term months	36
Deposit months	12
Monthly payment	£234.27
Initial payment	£2,811.24

Step-by-step

Leasing works a bit like a long-term rental. You drive it, but you don’t own it.

• Choose your car, pick your terms and apply for lease credit online
• Pay monthly rental payments for your chosen term length
• Drive it, enjoy it, then give it back at the end

What you get

When you lease with Autotrader you get all of this:

• Full manufacturer’s warranty
• Road tax and roadside assistance included
• No admin fees
• Free returns within 30 days*

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£2,811 initial payment, 36 month contract, 6000 miles p/a. Subject to status and conditions.

• Lower total monthly cost than PCP/HP
• No balloon payments
• Road tax included

The ZS is surprisingly big, too. Even though it undercuts small SUVs like the Ford Puma and Peugeot 2008 on price, it's actually slightly longer than a Nissan Qashqai. So, this is a family SUV with plenty of room in the back and a suitably big boot.

MG ZS video review

But is the MG ZS a credible, bargain alternative to the well-established competition – or is it a case of "you get what you pay for"?

Overview

The MG ZS has plenty going for it, not least its low price and the fact that you get lots of equipment as standard. It also impresses for performance and fuel economy, plus has roomy rear seats and a big boot. It's just a pity it isn't better to drive and that the driving position won't work for everyone. We think entry-level SE trim represents the best value for money.

Pros

• Tempting price tag
• Roomy rear seats
• Standard seven-year warranty

Cons

• Unsettled ride
• Road noise
• MG's reliability record

Trims available

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SE

Entry-level SE trim gets you 17in alloys, automatic LED headlights, adaptive cruise control, climate control, keyless entry, rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera. We don't think it's worth forking out extra for Trophy trim. 

Trophy

On top of everything you get with SE trim, Trophy adds artificial leather seats, heated in the front and with electric adjustment for the driver, a heated steering wheel, bigger 18in alloys and tinted rear windows.

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Performance & drive

What it's like to drive, and how quiet it is

As it stands, the MG ZS is offered exclusively as a hybrid. That means a 134bhp electric motor does the bulk of the legwork, with the petrol engine under the bonnet acting as a generator, cutting in and out as required to keep a small (1.8kWh) battery topped up.

Put your foot down hard, though, and the petrol engine and electric motor can work together to feed a combined 194bhp to the front wheels. At this point the MG ZS becomes surprisingly nippy, and can officially do 0-62mph in 8.7 seconds.

That means it's much faster than any Dacia Duster or Renault Captur, and as quick as a Ford Puma Ecoboost 155. Meanwhile, the three-speed automatic gearbox is generally smooth, although it's sometimes rather languid in the way it shifts up through the gears.

A pure petrol version of the MG ZS will soon be added to the line-up, and while it won't be anywhere near as fast as the hybrid (badged Hybrid+), it will be even cheaper to buy.

Other aspects of the driving experience are less impressive. The ride is always unsettled and occasionally jarring around town, and although things improve at faster speeds, the ZS still fidgets around more than most rivals, including the Duster and Captur.

There's also a noticeable amount of road noise. You can hear a constant drone as the tyres slap away at the surface of the road, which becomes more pronounced the faster you go. There's some wind noise too.

More positively, the ZS is easy to manoeuvre in urban environments and resists body lean quite well along winding country roads, staying more upright than a Duster. Sadly, there's not a great deal of grip when you start to push harder, and the steering is curiously vague around the straight-ahead position.

That means the first few degrees of turn have little effect on the car's trajectory, so you find yourself making relatively big steering inputs to make minor changes to your direction. Wind on some more lock and the steering suddenly becomes very heavy – it feels decidedly unnatural and robs you of some confidence at faster speeds.

“Most family SUV buyers aren't bothered about agile handling, but I suspect they will expect a smoother and more composed ride.” – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

Interior

The interior layout, fit and finish

Given the bargain price of the MG ZS, you might expect its interior to be as welcoming as the inside of a garden shed. However, that couldn't be further from the reality, because the top of the dashboard is actually made from dense, squidgy plastic, while the face of the dash is wrapped in either fabric of faux-leather, depending on trim level to choose.

Even the harder plastics, such as those on the insides of the doors, are textured in a way that prevents them from feeling too cheap. So, the ZS is much classier inside than its closest rival, the Dacia Duster, and even has the edge over the Ford Puma and Renault Captur. Put simply, if you want a plusher interior in your SUV, you'll be spending a lot more money.

All versions of the ZS have a 12.3in infotainment touchscreen. The screen is angled upwards slightly with the aim of making it easier for the driver (or front passenger) to seem – but unfortunately that has the unwanted side-effect of reflecting the sky and making it difficult to see on bright days.

More positively, the screen is quick to respond when you're swiping between menus, and there's only a small delay when hopping between one function and another. MG's operating system isn't the most intuitive out there, but Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring come as standard so, most of the time, you don't need to use it.

The exception is when you need to adjust the air-conditioning. This can only be done using the touchscreen (we'd prefer proper physical controls) and not when you're mirroring your smartphone. So, even if you just want to tweak the interior temperature, you need fire up MG's native operating system temporarily, and then switch back to Android Auto or Apple CarPlay afterwards.

Even less impressive is the driving position. Yes, you do sit noticeably higher up than in a conventional small hatchback but the seat lacks adequate lower back support (there's no adjustable lumbar support on any version of the ZS), and the steering wheel moves only up and down, not in and out. If you're reasonably tall, you'll probably need to sit closer to the pedals than you'd ideally like to reach the wheel.

Thanks to the raised driving position and fairly slender front window pillars, it’s easy to see out of the ZS. Your over-the-shoulder view is hampered a bit by the chunky rear pillars, but even SE trim gets you rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera. Range-topping Trophy trim adds a 360-degree parking camera.

“I found the configurable shortcut keys on the steering wheel really handy. They can be programmed to take you straight to certain functions, such as the air-conditioning menu.” – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

Passenger & boot space

How it copes with people and clutter

One of the best things about the MG ZS is its roomy interior. Thanks to clever packaging, space in the front is more generous than in similar-priced alternatives, so there's lots of head and leg room. Likewise, the width of the interior ensures there’s no rubbing of shoulders.

You get plenty of front storage for all of your gubbins, too. Indeed, the ZS’s two cupholders (with an adjustable partition in between) and large door bins trounce the limited stowage space you’ll find in the Dacia Duster. On top of that, you’ll also find a large glovebox, a handy cubby under the central armrest and two shallow trays next to the gear selector.

The trend for roominess continues in the rear, where the ZS once again offers more space than a Duster, Renault Captur or Peugeot 2008. In short, even those measuring north of six feet will have plenty of space in front of their knees, and several centimetres of air above their heads.

In fact, the ZS is roughly as roomy in the back as a Nissan Qashqai – a much more expensive family SUV. And thanks to tall side windows and a light-grey ceiling, the ZS's rear seats don't feel at all claustrophobic.

True, the rear seats don’t do anything clever, but then they don't in a Qashqai or Duster, either. If you think sliding rear seats would be super useful, check out the Captur or the VW T-Cross – although be aware that both those SUVs are a fair bit smaller than the ZS.

You can fold down the rear seatbacks (in a 60/40 split) when you need to carry more than can be squeezed in the boot.

Talking of boot space, the ZS’s 443-litre load bay is significantly bigger than a Peugeot 2008's and only fractionally smaller than a Qashqai's. Mind you, the Duster has an even bigger boot, and there's a curious oblong box directly behind the ZS's rear seats, which gets in the way a bit.

“I think it's really useful you get a height-adjustable boot floor as standard whichever trim level you go for.” – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

Buying & owning

Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is

The MG ZS’s low pricing helps it stand out among other family SUVs. Indeed, even the range-topping model undercuts the cheapest versions of smaller SUVs, such as the Ford Puma and Peugeot 2008.

Yes, the Dacia Duster can be bought for even less money, but we suspect that when the forthcoming pure petrol ZS arrives it will be very competitive with the Duster's entry price.

Being a full hybrid means the ZS is pretty thrifty on fuel: it can officially average 55.4mpg. You’ll be lucky to get that in real-world driving, and some smaller hybrid SUVs, such as the Renault Captur and Toyota Yaris Cross, are more frugal – but expect at least 45mpg as long as you take it easy.

CO2 emissions of 115g/km are also lower than similarly priced alternatives (including the Duster), which is good news if you’re a company car driver paying BIK tax.

Regardless of which trim you go for you’ll be getting plenty of equipment. In fact, along with the 12.3in infotainment touchscreen and the visibility aids we mentioned earlier, entry-level SE trim gets you 17in alloys, automatic LED headlights, adaptive cruise control, climate control and keyless entry.

Trophy trim adds artificial leather seats, heated in the front and with electric adjustment for the driver, a heated steering wheel, bigger 18in alloys and tinted rear windows. MG expects around 80% of buyers to go for this top trim.

Either way, you’ll get a full suite or modern safety aids, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

Euro NCAP experts awarded the MG ZS Hybrid four stars out of five for safety after testing. That's not too bad, but some family SUVs – including the Nissan Qashqai – have a full five-star rating.

The ZS comes with a seven-year, 80,000-mile warranty as standard, which is longer cover than you get on most rivals, including the Dacia Duster and Renault Captur.

But what’s the likelihood of you needing to call on that warranty? Well, quite high based on MG’s performance in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. The brand finished bottom (out of the 31 manufacturers included) below the likes of Alfa Romeo and Land Rover.

That said, the latest ZS was too new to feature in that survey, so hopefully MG has upped its game considerably in recent months.

“Entry-level SE trim is really well equipped, so I wouldn’t bother spending the extra on the Trophy version – even though MG reckons most buyers will.” – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

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