MG HS 2021 review: Excite snapshot

The Excite is the upper mid-grade of the MG HS mid-size SUV range and is the first grade that can be chosen either as a front-wheel drive or as an all-wheel drive.

The front-drive Excite wears a drive-away price of $34,990 and is equipped with a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which produces 119kW/250Nm and drives the front wheels via a seven-speed dual clutch automatic. Meanwhile, the all-wheel drive ‘Excite X’ wears a drive-away price of $37,990 and ups the engine to a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged unit, capable of producing 168kW/360Nm, and driving all its wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch automatic.

Front-wheel-drive variants have an official/combined fuel consumption of 7.3L/100km, while all-wheel-drive variants have an official/combined consumption of 9.5L/100km. Either engine requires mid-grade 95RON unleaded fuel.

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Explore the 2021 MG HS Range

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Standard equipment on the Excite includes 18-inch alloy wheels, a 10.1-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android auto connectivity, built-in sat-nav, a semi-digital dash cluster, LED headlights with animated indicators and LED DRLs, interior ambient lighting, alloy pedals, an electric tailgate, and a Sport mode for the engine and transmission.

Like all HS grades, the Excite comes equipped with the full ‘MG Pilot’ active safety suite, with freeway-speed auto emergency braking, which works up to 150km/h and detects pedestrians at up to 64km/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.

The Excite comes equipped with synthetic leather interior trim for its seats and steering wheel, and despite a high seating position has ample room for adults in both the front and rear seats. The boot comes in at 451-litres (VDA), which is around the middle to lower end of the mid-size SUV segment, and sports a space saver spare under the boot floor.

The Excite is covered by a seven-year and unlimited-kilometre warranty promise, although capped-price servicing had not been locked in at the time of writing.