Fiat 500X vs MG ZST

What's the difference?

Fiat's indomitable 500 is one of the great survivors - not even VW's recently deceased New Beetle could keep riding the nostalgia wave, partly because it made itself just that little bit out-of-touch by not being a car anyone can buy. The 500 avoided that, particularly in its home market, and is still going strong.

Fiat added the 500X compact SUV a few years ago and at first I thought it was a daft idea. It's a polarising car, partly because some people complain it's capitalising on the 500's history. Well, duh. It's worked out well for Mini, so why not?

I've driven one every year for the last couple so I was keen to see what's up and whether it's still one of the weirdest cars on the road.

The ZST is essentially an upgraded version of MG's popular small SUV, the ZS.

The ZST sees some tweaks to the overall design and some added standard safety features. So, if you like the original, there's a good chance you'll like the ZST and I've been driving the top-grade Essence variant with my family of three.

The ZST Essence has some stiff competition from similarly specified rivals like the GWM Haval Jolion Lux and Chery Omoda 5 EX offering affordable packages and similar driving experiences. So, what makes the ZST stand out?