MG HS 2021 review

With prices starting as low as $29,990 drive-away it's easy to see why MGs have been flying off the shelves of late.

When it arrived in late 2020, the HS was MG's most important model, breaking the brand into the most mainstream of segments with a mid-size SUV. Prior to its arrival, MG had played in the cheap and cheerful space with its budget MG3 hatch and ZS small SUV, but the HS came packed from the get-go with a digitised cabin, a suite of active-safety features, and a European-style small-capacity turbocharged engine.

The range has expanded since then to cover even more affordable ground, now kicking off with the base model Core.

It comes with a 10.1-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. (HS Core variant pictured) (image: Tom White)

The Core wears the aforementioned $29,990 drive away price and comes with a relatively impressive suite of equipment. Standard stuff includes 17-inch alloy wheels, a 10.1-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, a semi-digital dash cluster, halogen headlights with LED DRLs, cloth and plastic interior trim, push-start ignition, and perhaps most impressively, the full active-safety suite, which we'll take a look at later. The Core can only be chosen as a front-wheel drive automatic, with a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine.

Next up is the lower mid-grade Vibe, which wears a drive-away price tag of $30,990. Available with the same engine choice and largely the same specs, the Vibe adds keyless entry, a leather steering wheel, leather-look seat trim, electrically auto-folding and heated wing mirrors, an air conditioned centre console box, and a set of roof rails.

The upper mid-grade Excite can be chosen in either front drive with the 1.5-litre engine at $34,990, or as a 2.0-litre all-wheel drive at $37,990. The Excite gains 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights with animated LED indicators, interior ambient lighting, built-in sat-nav, alloy pedals, an electric tailgate, and a Sport mode for the engine and transmission.

Finally, the top-spec HS is the Essence. The Essence can be chosen either as a 1.5-litre turbo front-wheel drive at $38,990, a 2.0-litre turbo all-wheel drive at $42,990 or as an interesting front-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid at $46,990.

Standard equipment includes 17-inch alloy wheels. (HS Core variant pictured) (image: Tom White)

The Essence gains power adjustable and heated front seats, a puddle light for the driver's door, sportier seat designs, a panoramic sunroof, and a 360-degree parking camera.

The plug-in adds a 12.3-inch digital dash cluster, as well as a completely different transmission to go with its hybrid system, which we'll also take a look at later.

The range is undeniably good value and coupled with the flashy look even on the base Core, it's not hard to see why MG has soared into the top 10 automakers in Australia. Even the top-spec PHEV manages to undercut the long-standing Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV by a decent margin.

When it comes to the raw numbers then, it seems as though MG's HS is off to a good start, especially when you consider a full array of safety equipment and a seven-year warranty.

If the price wasn't enough to get people into dealerships, the design certainly will be. It's tough to call the HS original, with some clear influence from popular rivals like Mazda in its flashy chrome-embossed grille and bright colour options.

If nothing else , the HS provides a swoopy and curvy solution where many of its Japanese and Korean rivals have turned to sharp angles and squared-off shapes in recent years. Most importantly for MG, as a fledging volume manufacturer, is that its designs are bright and youthful. It's a powerful cocktail made for sales when trendy looks are combined with accessible finance and appealing price-tags.

Inside the HS initially looks great. Things like its sporty three-spoke steering wheel have a European flair and the HS is certainly set to wow people with its array of big and bright LED screens and soft-touch surfaces, which extend from the dash into the doors. It looks and feels nice, refreshing even, compared to some of its tired rivals.

Look too closely, however, and the façade starts to fade. The seating position is the biggest give-away for me. It feels unnaturally high, and has you not only peering down on the steering wheel and instruments, it also alerts you to how narrow the windscreen actually is. Even the A-Pillar and rear-vision mirror eat into my line of sight with the driver's seat set in the lowest possible position.

The seat material itself also looks plush and chunky, and while it is soft it lacks the support you need when driving for long periods of time.

The screens, too, look nice from a distance, but when you start to interact with them, you'll hit some issues. The stock software is downright ordinary in both its layout and look, and the lacklustre processing power behind it makes it a bit of a laggy mess to use. It can take almost 30 seconds for the digital dash cluster in the PHEV to start up once you press the ignition switch, by which point you could be well out of your driveway and down the road.

So, is it all a bit too good to be true at the price? The look, materials and software all leave a lot to be desired, but if you're coming out of a car which is more than a few years old, there's nothing really sale-breaking here, and it ticks a lot of key boxes, just know the HS is not at the top of the game when it comes to design or ergonomics.

Inside the HS initially looks great. (HS Core variant pictured) (image: Tom White)

The HS has a large cabin, but again, it's not without its issues, which reveal an automaker new to a mainstream-market position.

As already mentioned, that front seat is spacious enough for me at 182cm tall, although it was tough to find a driving position with the absurdly high seat base and surprisingly narrow windscreen. The seat material and position leave me with the impression of sitting on the car rather than in it, and this remained true from the base Core to the faux-leather-clad Essence PHEV.

Storage in the cabin is good, though, with large bottle holders and bins in the doors, which easily held our largest CarsGuide 500ml demo bottle, similarly sized dual-cupholders in the centre console with a removable divider, a slot that should suit all but the largest smartphones running parallel, and a decently sized centre-console armrest box. On higher grades, this is air conditioned, good for keeping foodstuffs or drinks cooler for longer.

There is also an odd flip-open tray under the function-shortcut buttons. There's no storage space in here, but it houses the 12V and USB ports.

I consider the rear seat to be a major selling point for the HS. (HS Core variant pictured) (image: Tom White)

There are no tactile controls for the climate functions, only a button, which takes you to the relevant screen in the multimedia suite. Controlling such functions through a touchscreen is never easy, especially when you're driving, and it's made worse through the slow and laggy software interface.

I consider the rear seat to be a major selling point for the HS. The amount of room on offer is excellent. I have leagues of space for my feet and knees behind my own seating position, and I'm 182cm tall. There is also ample headroom regardless of variant, even when the panoramic sunroof is in place.

Storage options for rear passengers include a large bottle holder in the door, and a drop-down armrest with two large but shallow bottle holders. Higher grades also score a flip-open tray here where objects can be stowed.

The more entry-level cars don't get power outlets or adjustable rear air vents on the back of the centre console, but by the time you get to the top-spec Essence there are two USB outlets and dual adjustable air vents.

Even the plush door trims continue, and the seat backs are able to recline slightly, making the rear outboards the best seats in the house.

Luggage capacity comes in at 451-litres (VDA) regardless of variant, even the top-spec plug-in hybrid. This lands around the middle of the segment. For reference it was able to consume our whole CarsGuide luggage set, but only without the retractable cover and it left no extra room to spare.

Under the floor in petrol variants there is a space-saver spare, but due to the presence of its large lithium battery pack, the PHEV makes do with a repair kit. It's also one of the few cars to feature an underfloor cutaway specifically for the included wall-socket charging cable, a clever inclusion.

The MG HS is available with three drivetrain options across its four-variant range. The base two cars, the Core and the Vibe, can only be chosen with a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, producing 119kW/250Nm,  which drives the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The Excite and top-spec Essence can also be chosen in this layout, or as an all-wheel drive with a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine producing 168kW/360Nm. This combination still has a dual-clutch automatic, but with only six speeds.

The Core is powered by a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine producing 119kW/250Nm, mated to a seven-speed dual clutch automatic. (HS Core variant pictured) (image: Tom White)

Meanwhile the halo variant of the HS range is the Essence plug-in hybrid. This car pairs the 1.5-litre turbo from the more affordable variants with a relatively powerful 90kW/230Nm electric motor, also on the front axle. These combine to drive the front wheels via a 10-speed traditional torque-converter automatic.

The electric motor is backed by a 16.6kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which can be charged at a maximum rate of 7.2kW via a European-standard Type 2 AC charging port located in a flap opposite the fuel filler.

The power figures on offer here are pretty good across the board, and the technology is contemporary and geared for low emissions. The dual-clutch automatic transmissions raise an eyebrow, but more on that in the driving section of this review.

For a mid-size SUV, the HS has impressive official/combined consumption figures.

The 1.5-litre turbocharged front-wheel-drive variants have a combined official figure of  7.3L/100km, against which the base Core I drove for a week returned a figure of 9.5L/100km. A little off the official number, but it's impressive to get below 10.0L/100km in the real world in an SUV this size.

For a mid-size SUV, the HS has impressive official/combined consumption figures. (HS Core variant pictured) (image: Tom White)

The 2.0L all-wheel drive cars miss the mark by a little more, scoring a real-world figure of 13.6L/100km in Richard Berry's week-long test, against an official 9.5L/100km.

Finally, the plug-in hybrid has an absurdly low fuel-consumption figure, thanks to its large battery and capable electric motor, but assumes the owner will drive it in ideal circumstances only. I was still impressed to find my test week in the PHEV returning a figure of 3.7L/100km, especially given I managed to run the battery completely dead for at least a day and a half of driving.

All HS engines require the use of mid-grade 95RON unleaded petrol.

It is impressive that MG has managed to pack the entire active-safety suite into every HS, especially the base Core.

Branded 'MG Pilot' the suite's active features include freeway speed auto emergency braking (detects pedestrians and cyclists at up to 64km/h, vehicles at up to 150km/h), lane-keep assist with lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert, auto high beams, traffic-sign recognition, and adaptive cruise control with traffic-jam assist.

Sure, some automakers might pack some extra features in like driver attention alert and rear AEB, but to have the whole suite on even the entry-level variant is impressive, nonetheless. Since this car's launch, software updates have even significantly improved the lane keep and forward collision warning sensitivity significantly (they are less extreme now).

Six airbags come standard on every HS alongside the expected brake, stability, and traction controls. The HS scored a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating to the 2019 standards, scoring decently across all categories, although the PHEV variant is different enough to miss out this time around.

MG takes a leaf out of Kia's book by offering an impressive seven-year and unlimited-kilometre warranty on every HS variant aside from the PHEV.

Instead, the PHEV comes with an industry-standard five-year and unlimited-kilometre warranty, and separate eight-year and 160,000km lithium battery warranty. The brand justifies this by saying the hybrid game is “a different business” to its petrol range.

Capped-price servicing had not yet been locked in at the time of writing, but the brand promises us a schedule is on the way. We'd be surprised if it was expensive, but keep in mind brands like Kia have used higher service pricing in the past to cover a longer than average warranty.

The HS is a bit of a mixed experience from behind the wheel. It's brave for a manufacturer as recently rebooted as MG to have a complex emissions-beating small-capacity turbocharged engine mated to a dual-clutch automatic. There's a lot in this combination that can go awry.

I said at the launch of this car that the transmission was pretty ordinary. It was reluctant, got caught in the wrong gear frequently, and was just an all-round unpleasant experience to drive. The brand informed us that there has been a significant software update to the transmission to coincide with the arrival of the other HS variants, and credit where credit is due, there has genuinely been a change.

The seven-speed dual clutch is now much more compliant, shifting more predictably through its gears, and when decision-making is asked of it in the corners it's now a smoother experience, where previously it would shudder and skip gears.

However, lingering issues still remain. It can be reluctant to take off from a full stop (a common dual-clutch trait) and it seems to particularly dislike steep inclines. Even my driveway would have it choking between first and second gear, with a distinct loss of power if it made the wrong decision.

The HS is a bit of a mixed experience from behind the wheel. (HS Core variant pictured) (image: Tom White)

The ride of the HS is comfort tuned, which is a breath of fresh air from many sportier mid-size SUVs. It deals with bumps, potholes, and undulations around town remarkably well, and the abundance of noise filtering from the engine bay keeps the cabin nice and quiet. It's easy to take the handling prowess of its Japanese and Korean rivals for granted, however.

The HS feels frumpy in the corners, with a tall centre of gravity and a ride that is particularly prone to body-roll. It's a topsy-turvy experience if your suburb is full of roundabouts for example, and hardly inspires confidence when cornering. Even little calibration things like the slow steering rack and pedals, which lack feel, show areas where this car could be improved.

I only had a brief time behind the wheel of a 2.0-litre turbo all-wheel-drive variant. Make sure to read Richard Berry's variant review for his thoughts, but that car had more of the same issues, but with a slightly better ride and handling thanks to improved traction and more weight.

The most interesting HS variant is the PHEV. This car is by far the best to drive thanks to its smooth, powerful, and instantaneous electric torque. Even when the engine is on in this car it's far smoother, as it trades away the messy dual-clutch automatic for a 10-speed torque converter, which slushes through the gears with ease.

The best way to drive it, though, is as a pure EV, where the HS PHEV shines. Not only can it drive entirely on electric power alone (as in, the engine won't turn on, even at speeds up to 80km/h), but the ride and handling are improved by the weight of its batteries, too.

While there's still significant room for improvement in the HS range, it's impressive how far the brand has come in the short time since this mid-size SUV arrived in Australia.

The fact that the PHEV by far the best to drive bodes well for the future of the brand.