Audi Q3 vs MG ZS

What's the difference?

I hate how this car has challenged my long-held belief that coupe SUVs are silly. Even more so than other notable examples I’ve driven, like Mercedes’ GLC 53.

It’s so sleek and stylish, drives beautifully, and is so packed with immersive technology that I had to triple check the price. The Sportback takes everything good about the Q3 and makes it even better looking with barely a penalty to practicality. Bravo.

Let me put it this way: Like-for-like, the ZS is better as an EV than it is as a petrol car, but it seems to be a story of getting what you pay for.

I don’t mean that the ZS EV is cheap and therefore nasty. In fact, I think it’s priced just right at the moment for a city EV entry-point. It offers all the key features a city-based EV buyer should be looking for, compares favourably to rivals on the value front, and is better than the standard ZS to drive and use.

It certainly has its flaws, and you can pay more to get rid of them by buying a Nissan Leaf, which, in my opinion drives better and has superior software, but then you’re forking out significantly more money for a similar driving range. On that basis, I think MG has found its entry-level EV niche and should be applauded for bringing the overall cost of entry down in Australia. Only time will tell if buyers warm to the idea, but the brand’s initial sales figures of nearly 700 units at least suggests it will be a success.

This is the best-looking coupe SUV I’ve seen. Do you agree?

You could argue the Porsche Macan is up there alongside it, and I’d agree, but it’s also at least $20K more expensive.

Volvo’s XC40 maybe comes close in terms of exterior appeal, but it isn’t a coupe.

You can see elements of Lamborghini Urus (an Audi subsidiary) in the air dams and roofline, and there’s a complexity to it which hints at the tech within.

In fact, I’d say this Audi is so swish I kind of understand now. This is what coupe SUVs are meant to be about. Redefining the ‘SUV look’, inside and out.

Why pretend SUVs are about off-roading anymore? They’re really about comfort and convenience in the confines of a city.

Of course, the ‘inside’ bit comes naturally to the Q3, which has a swish, simplistic, but wonderfully advanced cockpit.

The design is upright, but not imposing, spacious, but not barren. The slight driver focus of the vents, touchscreen, and controls is noted and appreciated.

Both screens are ultra-high resolution, sharp and crisp to look at, and it adds so much to the lustre of everything you use, fitting seamlessly with the sharp and detailed lines in the dash. The fully adjustable LED interior ambient lighting is wholly unnecessary but does make it a nice place to be at night, and changing the colours entertained my family members no end.

Virtual Cockpit is still unrivalled for its aesthetics and ease of use, too. The wheel is even notable for its neat proportions and comfortable shape.

What don’t I like? The tall plasticky shift-knob still looks like it belongs in a base-model VW Polo, and some padding around the centre tunnel for the knees would be appreciated.

MG’s formula for success is pretty simple. Make affordable cars that are good looking. Not so hard really, is it?

The ZS EV wears the chrome-embossed styling of the range, while offering its own take on the grille, complete with a unique colour choice, ‘Clipper Blue’, which looks quite fetching.

Original? Maybe not. There’s a clear influence of Mazda in the chrome bits and headlight clusters, while the rear is a little bit Mitsubishi ASX in its finish. If the ZS T is anything to go by, though, MG’s design is set to evolve into very much its own look in the near future.

The brilliance of the overall exterior looks is that they combine before-seen elements into something fresh, which looks good in bright colours and leaves an impression of youthfulness. Accessible cars, ready for the social-media age, then.

The interior of the ZS EV is improved over the regular ZS, too. There are more soft materials in the doors and dash, while the brand has taken the electrification opportunity to tidy up the centre console and media screen into something a bit neater and more contemporary.

There’s even some cool attention to detail in things like the shift dial, which is finished with a rotary texture, and pressing it down to go into Park makes it glow red. The little toggle switches for the driving functions are a nice touch too.

The seats and touchpoints look good at a distance but aren’t as great to touch. The steering wheel is okay, but the faux leather trim in the seats is pretty ordinary, as is the detailing in the doors and dash. I wasn’t so much a fan of the way the centre console arches up, finished in a thin layer of vinyl trim, but it’s worth remembering that the ZS EV is based on an outgoing small SUV. In fact, if you want to take a look at just how much the interior of the ZS has improved for this EV version in lots of little ways, check out Matt Campbell’s 2019 review of the petrol car.

We like the practicality in the regular Q3, but is the Sportback too compromised? Let’s take a look

The front two passengers are treated to a spacious and airy cabin, with loads of glass and space for your elbows. You can adjust the height of the centre box to suit your driving position, and there are no complaints when it comes to leg- or headroom.

Tech spills out of the dash and into your hands. USB-A, USB-C and wireless connectivity are available to you. In fact, wireless Apple CarPlay is as revolutionary as keyless entry.

You set it up once and that’s it. Just turn the car on, leave the phone in your pocket and the media system does the rest. The cost is a slight input lag, but the payoff of just being able to throw your phone in the charging bay or simply leave it in your pocket and forget about it is well worth it.

Storage areas are abundant for front passengers with big cupholders with a large centre slot for a phone or wallet perhaps, the large wireless charging bay and a small but useful centre console box.

There are also small bottle holders in the doors and a decently-sized glove box.

A small annoyance comes from the high-resolution screen. Some items become too fine to accurately jab at without taking your eyes off the road, particularly in Apple CarPlay mode. Thankfully all essentials, like the climate and volume controls have physical dials.

Visibility out the front and sides for the driver is fantastic, although there’s no denying the smaller rear aperture in the Sportback’s design makes seeing out the rear a bit more difficult.

Rear passengers are treated to a customizable area. The rear seats are on rails, and I found my legroom to be more than adequate in the standard, furthest-back position. I could have moved the seat about 20 per cent further forward without running into issues.

Height is a different story. I’m 182cm (6.0ft) tall and fit okay with maybe a couple of centimetres space above my head. My slightly taller brother (around 185cm) had his head pretty much up against the roof. The standard Q3 had no such issues, but it’s worth considering if you plan to regularly transport taller family or friends.

The back of the rear seats are clad in plastic which looks nasty but will be good for those with kids, and rear passengers can make use of two USB-C ports, a 12V outlet and dual adjustable air vents on the back of the centre stack.

Boot space comes in at 530 litres (VDA) with all seats in their default positions which proved more than enough for our largest CarsGuide suitcase, some duffel bags, and camera equipment.

It can be adjusted up to 1400L with all the seats stowed. Apparently, this is no less than the regular Q3, which would make sense as the space is meant to be measured to the parcel shelf, before the more aggressive roofline starts to cut its shape.

This is a small SUV, so it’s not huge on the inside. There are some areas where it shines, and others where it isn’t as good.

Not so great? The seating position. Like the HS mid-sizer, the ZS has a really high and slightly awkward seating position, which has you peering down on the instruments and the road. SUV like? Yes. Some people will probably like the commanding view of the road, but it wasn’t for me. The seats are soft and initially quite comfy, but offer limited support for longer journeys. Adjustability is reasonable, and I eventually found a position that suited me, with good visibility out the front and rear.

Cabin storage isn’t bad. Because there’s no need for a transmission or anything under the floor, there’s a new cutaway with a large bay under the centre console, which also hosts two USB ports, a small tray area under the climate controls, a weird bottle holder cutaway deep-set in the raised console area, and a tiny console box armrest (at least it has one, some small SUVs don’t). There is a large bottle holder and a small bin in the door cards, too.

The rear seat isn’t bad. My 182cm tall frame fits behind its own driving position with a tiny amount of knee space, and there are soft trims on the backs of the front seats if you’re any taller and have your knees pressing up. The backs of the front seats feature pockets, and there’s a small tray and single USB outlet on the back of the centre console, although there are no adjustable rear air vents. I have enough headroom and the soft seats, clad in the so-so faux leather stuff, continue. There’s no armrest with bottle holders, but the rear doors have a single large one each. Outboard seats feature ISOFIX child-seat-mounting points, while the rear row has top-tether all the way across.

Again, if you want to see how much the ZS has improved over the years, check out our earlier reviews. It’s hard to recognise the dash and storage areas from the petrol version.

The boot comes in at 359-litres, which is impressive, not only because it compares well to the small SUV segment, but because it’s entirely unchanged from the petrol version. It just fit our entire CarsGuide demo luggage set with a little Tetris work, as the available space seems to be taller than it is wide. There are useful nettings behind the wheelarch on each side for securing small objects, but where the EV has had extra thought applied is in the under-floor area. There you will find a styrofoam bracket with little cutouts for storing charging cables. Few EVs have this sort of thing, strangely.

Sadly, the under-floor batteries mean you lose the spare wheel. Instead, you’ll have to make do with a repair kit.

The new MG is full of surprises. Actually, now that Kia is done with its previous tagline: “The Power to Surprise” perhaps MG should take it, because it fits the now-China-based brand almost better than it ever fit the Korean giant.

Originally, MG talked about pitching its ZS EV at a price that would have placed it alongside the Nissan Leaf, but at the EV’s launch, it dropped a surprise price-slash from $46,990 to just $43,990 drive-away, securing its place as the cheapest option on the market for anyone wanting a full EV.

The ZS EV comes in only one spec, the Essence, which is equivalent to the highest-spec version of the petrol car. Even so, the electric version has some extra goodies.

It gets its own set of 17-inch wheels (which somehow look tiny, more on that later), it’s own 8.0-inch multimedia screen, a significant upgrade on the one in the basic ZS, with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, built-in nav, faux-leather interior trim, a panoramic glass sunroof, keyless entry with push-start ignition, LED DRLs with halogen headlights, and a six-way, power-adjustable driver’s seat.

It's a decent amount of fruit for a mid-size SUV, although there are areas where it is obvious this car is built to a specific price-point. The synthetic, leather-look trim is pretty ordinary, as is this car’s software (a common MG theme), particularly its laggy sat-nav suite. Halogen headlights are also pretty lame on an EV, and work against this car’s otherwise snazzy design. The same goes for the lack of a digitised instrument cluster, but it’s almost a quaint touch to have analog dials for an electric car.

Still, it’s nice that the interior trims and multimedia screen have been upgraded significantly from the combustion ZS, making the EV feel a bit special, but not quite as special as the ZS T (a facelift which is sold alongside the old car).

On the topic of the ZS T, we have it on good authority that the EV variant you see here will be upgraded to the ZS T look and feel imminently. This is good for interior quality and the exterior looks, but it might also take a price hike, so keep that in mind before choosing to hold out for the update.

Powering 35 TFSI variants is a 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, producing 110kW/250Nm. It’s mated to a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and powers the front wheels only.

An all-wheel drive version with a 2.0-litre engine is available further up the range.

The ZS EV has an electric motor capable of producing 105kW and a whopping 353Nm (not as break-neck as it sounds, more on that later) of torque. Again, this is a healthy upgrade from combustion versions of this car. It drives the front wheels via a single-speed reduction-gear transmission.

The 35 TFSI has a claimed/combined fuel consumption figure of 7.3L/100km, against which I scored 8.4L/100km on my weekly test.

That number's very good for something this size, probably helped along by the 35 TFSI's relatively light 1545kg kerb weight.

Oddly, and unlike most VW Group vehicles with similar drivetrains, the Q3 35 TFSI does not have a stop/start system.

The 35 TFSI requires 95 RON premium unleaded petrol and has a 60-litre fuel tank.

Now the important stuff. The ZS EV is the cheapest EV in Australia, but it offers a range comparative to the Nissan Leaf at a claimed/combined 263km from its 44.5kWh battery pack.

The ZS has a European-standard Type 2 CCS port mounted centre front under the MG badge, and can charge at a maximum of 7.2kW on AC power, or 80kW on DC power.

This means estimated charging times from 10 to 80 per cent of 45 minutes on DC, seven hours on 7kW AC, or 25 hours on a 2.3kW wall socket.

The ZS EV comes with a wall socket to Type 2 cable, although MG offers a Type 2 to Type 2 public charging cable (which we strongly recommend for convenience) as a $295 dealer option.

I charged the ZS twice in my week with it, both times at a public 11kW AC charger local to me, which is charged by solar and is therefore free. It added around 50km of range in an hour.

The ZS EV also offers three levels of regenerative braking, and I spent the majority of my time in the highest regen setting. The ZS EV’s official combined consumption figure is 16.2kWh/100km, and on my test week my car returned a figure of 14.6kWh/100km. Not bad, and similar or even slightly better than its Nissan Leaf competitor, in which I recorded 15.3kWh/100km. It was not as good as the Hyundai Ioniq, however, which has the honour of the best on-test consumption I’ve ever scored at 12.3kWh/100km.

My car looked set to get around 304km of range on a full charge at its as-tested consumption rate - well over the WLTPcombined claim.

The Q3 offers a slick, modern, and comfortable drive, but not one without its flaws.

The ride is superb. A great balance of sportiness and damping, the Q3 keeps it stable in the corners, but comfortable over bumps. This was helped along by comfort-spec Hankook tyres on our car, and the 19-inch wheels proved to be a sensible size.

The only thing which seemed to transmit unpleasantness into the cabin was the dampers going out of frequency on rutted roads. I couldn’t help but note the similarity of the Q3’s ride characteristics to those of the new VW T-Roc, a size under.

Inside is quiet and refined, and all of the Q3’s features are ergonomic and easy to use to the point where you take it for granted. But with the Sportback’s cropped rear window, seeing out the rear isn’t as easy as it is in the regular Q3.

The engine has sufficient power when the boost, and subsequently peak torque, sets in, the trouble is this can all happen very suddenly.

There’s a delay when stomping on the go-pedal, which is replaced a full second thereafter with a surge of torque. It takes a bit of getting used to working in a moment of restraint while you wait for power to arrive.

Get impatient, and the Q3 will simply spin its wheels off the line. It’s not a problem isolated to this car, but one I also found in other VW Group vehicles with similar drivetrains. The Tiguan comes to mind.

A neat trick is setting the Q3 into the sportier ‘Dynamic’ mode and then switching the transmission from ‘S’ to the regular Drive. This gives you the best of a more responsive powertrain without having the transmission hang around in gears for too long.

The six-speed can still be caught out fairly easily as it tries to be ‘smart’ about its changes to a fault. I wonder how well its computer would go about learning your driving patterns long-term.

All up, the Q3 offers a nice balance of SUV comfort and hatch-like sportiness thanks to its light frame. The turbo engine has its small issues, but there are no red flags here for urban commuters.

The ZS EV is a different car to drive altogether, compared to the rest of the range. This is a very good thing, with the electric motor, drive modes and feedback being reasonably good, and you can forget the usual transmission and power woes we find with many small SUVs.

The ZS gets along nicely with its 105kW/353Nm, it’s much faster in a straight line than any other ZS, but it’s not as breakneck as it sounds. The torque seems to be distributed with some restraint, so that accelerating hard doesn’t overwhelm the little front tyres. Expect similar performance to a Nissan Leaf or Hyundai Ioniq; it’s smooth and strong, but not as extreme as, say, a Tesla.

Needless to say, the well of instantly available torque is fantastic for both urban driving and the freeway, making the ZS EV easily one of the best MGs to drive.

However, some woes are still present. While the ZS handles better than its combustion counterparts, thanks to the lower centre of gravity, it’s easy to tell the suspension has a hard time dealing with its nearly 1600kg weight, and the drivability in the corners suffers as a result.

It’s soft over the front axle, but harder over the rear, leading to really abrupt moments over bumps, or when the driving surface is a little uneven, despite a generally spongey and bouncy ride. This can lead to some disconcerting moments on the rebound, as the car tilts to and fro a little before settling.

Understeer is also an ever-present threat, as this car will lean well into the front tyres during cornering and requires some discipline on the accelerator not to break traction. It all adds up to a bit of a frumpy, uneven drive experience, which needs improvement. Thankfully, the steering is pretty well tuned, offering a relatively organic feel and giving you a good handle on what’s going on at the front tyres.

It is at its best at lower speeds, as the soft ride will filter out small bumps and corrugations relatively well, while hitting speed bumps and driveways is met with a pleasant bounce.

It’s not as though MG can’t do better, either, with the ZS T improving its ride and handling in many critical areas, but it’s clear that, for this older version, this aspect wasn’t a priority during development.

Still, if you stick to what this car’s envisioned purpose is – driving around town – the seats and cabin are pretty comfortable, the visibility is good, and parking is easy. Even on the freeway, this car’s adaptive cruise and lane-keep systems aren’t bad, and benefit from the rolling software updates MG undertakes as feedback comes in from the global markets in which it plays.

The electrification features are decent, too. While it might not be as smooth or refined as Hyundai electric cars are, the three levels of regen braking will offer something for everyone, and the feedback through the analog dial should give a good amount of data on how to make the most of the regeneration.

It is missing a sleek operating system, though. Hyundai’s Android-based software is simple but effective, integrating the nav with the range calculation and driving style, while Tesla’s sublime software with its app and pre-prep features really showcase what an electric car can do.

Regardless, you get what you pay for, and that’s the case here with the ZS. It’s not the best to drive, and it doesn’t have as slick a software offering, but it does offer all the key parts of electric motoring at a strictly defined price.

The ZS EV is officially the safest ZS as the ZS T has not yet been rated, scoring a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating to the 2019 standards. Again, this is a huge improvement on the petrol version, which scored a four-star rating in 2017.

Standard active items include auto emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane-departure warning with lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert, traffic-sign recognition, auto high beams, and adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist.

Improved out of sight from the petrol car on which it is based, the ZS also features the standard complement of six airbags and the expected traction, stability, and brake controls.

Audi’s standard warranty offer of three years and unlimited kilometres is annoyingly short, but not unexpected from a premium brand.

The pressure is on though, with Mercedes-Benz and newcomer, Genesis, now offering five years of warranty coverage, as well as Japanese stalwart Lexus offering four years.

Audi was even considering making a promotional five-year unlimited kilometre warranty permanent at the time of writing, so hopefully that has come to pass by the time you’re reading this review. Time will tell.

Where Audi makes ground back though is its very competitive service pricing. We’d strongly recommend bundling in an Audi ‘Genuine Care’ service plan at the time of purchase which will make your servicing much cheaper.

Three years of servicing for the Q3 under this scheme is $1610, while five years is $2630 it’s worth it. All Q3s require servicing once every 12 months or 15,000km.

Electrified MGs have an annoying caveat in that they miss out on the excellent seven-year warranty of the rest of the brand’s combustion range. Instead, you’re left with a still industry-standard five-year warranty. The battery pack is covered for eight years or 160,000km, to add a little extra confidence.

MG also tells us the battery system in the ZS is entirely modular, and individual units can be removed and replaced if they go wrong.

Capped-price servicing is not yet locked in for MG in Australia, although the brand tells us that it is in the works and will be available imminently. Electric cars are generally much cheaper to run than combustion cars, due to the lack of moving parts, so we’d expect the ZS EV to have the lowest running costs of the lot.