Jeep Wrangler vs MG ZS

What's the difference?

The changes to this updated Jeep Wrangler are small but meaningful. The inclusion of airbags, the updated media screen, and a feisty engine which suits the plucky nature of this off-roader make it a better Wrangler than ever.  

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The MG ZS Essence Turbo has a lot going for it. It’s keenly priced, well equipped, spacious and comfortable with good performance, refinement and safety. On the downside, it’s thirstier than it should be, despite a stonking 10-year warranty servicing is relatively pricey and there are some low-level quality concerns. But should it be on your $30-35K small SUV shopping list. One hundred per cent, yes.

The Jeep Wrangler looks like a cartoon of a four-wheel drive, that’s how familiar and well-known the design is. It’s almost generic, like the word Jeep.

You could say the design is iconic, given that the roots of this SUV stretch back to the little Willys off-roader built for the US army in World War II. And to this day the slotted grille, pronounced wheel guards, short and upright windscreen, even the removable doors are still with us in this latest incarnation.

That’s why each generation of the Wrangler only sees very subtle tweaks to famous shape and look, in much the same way a Porsche 911’s design changes at the rate of dripping water reshaping a rock.

Changing the styling completely would destroy the look which connects the Wrangler to its past and the nostalgic appeal would be over. 

So, this update sees more than subtle styling changes in the form of a tweak to the grille with the addition of a metallic-look trim around each of the slots while the mesh insert now has larger openings.   

Along with this there’s a new front bumper. The Wranglers we tested had the optional heavy duty steel front bumpers.

There’s also some interior changes in the form of a new dashboard trim, horizontal air vents and then there’s the 12.3-inch media display which goes a long way to making the cabin look more modern.

Still, the interior is busy with buttons and switches in a design that seems to mix the look of heavy machinery controls with a prestige car. The Nappa leather of the Rubicon grade lifts the quality feel higher.

All Wrangler interiors also have an internal roll-over cage which covers the entire cabin, for the fixed metal roof and removable roof body style which are standard on the Overland and Rubicon.

Only the Rubicon is offered in a two-door and a four-door, while the Overland and Sport S are four-door only.

The Rubicon two-door looks cute and fun to my eyes, while the four-door versions look a bit more serious and beefy, but both definitely still give off tough and adventurous vibes.

The wheelbase difference between the two is as giant as it looks. The Rubicon two-door’s wheelbase is 2459mm while the four-door Rubicon’s, along with the Sport S and Overland, is 3008mm.

The Wrangler ranges in length from 4334mm for the Rubicon two-door to 4882mm for the four-door Wranglers. Width is the same for all Wranglers at 1894mm and the height ranges from 1879mm in the Rubicon two-door to 1901mm in the four-door versions.

From its narrow, acutely angled headlights to the deep gill-like inlets sitting either side of its large grille, the MG ZS conforms to the currently popular 'make it look a bit like a shark’ school of front-end car design.

From the nose back, this five-seater’s overall proportions follow a familiar small SUV template, without any significant pulse-quickening deviations.

And by the time you get to the back, the rear door and tail-light treatment is borderline generic. Replace the MG octagon with any number of other mass market automotive logos and you wouldn’t look twice.

That said, the shape is well balanced, the standard 18-inch rims fill the wheel arches nicely and our test car’s rich and lustrous ‘Diamond Red Metallic’ paint finish drew multiple compliments during our time behind the wheel.

The interior is simple with some cool touches thrown in, like the aero-style geometric vents with a bright, brushed finish around their leading edge, a neatly integrated 12.3-inch media touchscreen in the centre of the dash and another of the same size in front of the driver for instrumentation.

There’s a sensible mix of physical and digital controls for major functions and the steering wheel is flat on the bottom and the top. It adjusts for height, but disappointingly, not reach.

Materials around the dash and doors are soft-touch, which is nice, and the synthetic leather seat trim, with lighter contrast stitching and perforated centre panels looks and feels good.

When we review most SUVs practicality is scored on things like legroom, storage space and boot size. But in the case of a vehicle with removable doors and roof, and a cabin that has one-way drainage valves so you can hose the interior out, practicality takes on a different meaning.

The Wrangler’s practicality seems focussed on serving adventurous folks in search of a muddy off-road expedition and, so, while there is storage it’s mainly nets for door pockets, moulded wells on top of the dash, and smaller hidey holes to makes sure loose items don’t get flung around the cabin.

Given the roof can be removed there’s also a lockable glove box and centre console storage box.

When it comes to cabin space the Wrangler’s interior feels a bit cramped. The footwells up front don’t offer much space and headroom throughout is restricted by the roll cage which stretches from the front to the boot.

The four-door Wrangler has five seats and good legroom in the second row, even for me at 189cm tall. As mentioned above, headroom is limited in places because of the safety structure. Boot space behind those rear seats is 898 litres.

The two-door Rubicon has four seats. The back ones aren’t the most spacious and the boot behind them is almost too small to mention at 365L, Two pieces of carry-on luggage wouldn’t fit back there and we had to put our bags on the rear seats.

The rear tailgate for all Wranglers is side-hinged (opening left to right) and splits to allow just the window section or lower part to open separately.

For charging and powering devices all Wranglers have two USB ports up front (one -A and one -C) and four USB ports in the second row (two -A and two -C). There are also two 12V outlets on board (front and rear).  

There are two cupholders, seatback map nets and directional air vents for the second row.

The Wrangler sits high and climbing into the rear seats might be a challenge for smaller kids or even fully-grown humans, but there are chunky handholds at the pillars for extra help.

So, the Wrangler has excellent practicality, but this is geared more to its intended purpose of adventuring off-road rather than the city commute and school pick-up.

At just over 4.4m long, a fraction more than 1.8m wide and a little over 1.6m tall the MG ZS is a little larger than the small SUV norm, but conversely its 2610mm wheelbase is shorter than average.

That doesn’t appear to impact interior packaging, however, with plenty of room up front and more than adequate breathing space between driver and co-pilot.

For storage, there’s a medium-size lidded box (which doubles as an armrest) between the front seats as well as a pair of cupholders in the broad centre console, with a bay for wireless device charging near the gear-shift.

The glove box is generous, there are bins in the doors with room for decent size bottles and a drop-down sunglasses holder sits overhead.

In the back there’s heaps of head and legroom for me (at 183cm) sitting behind the driver’s seat set to my position.

Three full-size adults will be getting a little too up close and personal for anything other than short-ish trips, although a trio of up to mid-teenage kids will be right at home.

Big tick for adjustable air vents at the back of the front centre console and storage options include map pockets on the front seatbacks and bins in the doors with room for up to medium-size bottles.

No fold-down centre armrest in the back is a miss given one would typically feature a pair of cupholders.

Power and connectivity options in the front console include a USB-A plug (for power and media connectivity), a USB-C socket (power only) and a 12-volt outlet. Points, too, for a USB-A near the rear view mirror for a dashcam and another for back seaters. But no 12V in the boot (which can be handy when camping or picnicking).

What the boot does have, however, is a class-competitive volume of 443 litres with the 60/40 split-folding rear seat upright. Enough to swallow the large (124L) and medium (95L) suitcases from our three-piece set.

Remove the cargo tray and the smallest (36L) case will find a home, too. Boot space expands to 1457L with the rear backrest lowered.

The space is well lit, there are tie-down anchors to help secure loose loads and handy wells behind the rear wheel tubs on both sides. A space-saver spare sits under the floor.

And if you’re keen on towing, you might want to think twice about the ZS as it’s limited to a 500kg trailer (braked or not).

Cost of entry for the MG ZS Essence Turbo is $31,990, drive-away, which is a pretty sharp price in one of the most hotly contested segments in the Australian market. Worth noting the sizeable gap to its Essence Hybrid+ stablemate at $40,217, drive-away.   

That low-$30K positioning puts the Essence Turbo up against a swag of well-credentialled rivals including the GWM Haval Jolion Premium Hybrid 2WD ($32,990, drive-away), Hyundai Kona 2WD ($32,500), Kia Seltos Sport FWD ($33,050), Mazda CX-30 G20 Pure FWD ($33,940), Mitsubishi ASX LS ($30,490), Nissan Qashqai ST FWD ($34,665), Subaru Crosstrek 2.0L ($34,990) and Toyota Corolla Cross GX 2WD ($33,980). All prices before on-road costs unless otherwise noted.

To grab a value-for-money edge against this challenging field the MG needs more than just an attractive price tag. And the ZS Essence Turbo boasts an impressive standard features list.

Over and above the safety and performance tech we’ll get to shortly, included are 18-inch alloy wheels, climate control air, multiple drive modes, a 12.3-inch multimedia screen and 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, keyless entry and start, a panoramic sunroof, synthetic leather trim, six-way power adjustment for the driver’s seat, six-speaker audio, rain-sensing wipers, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and Bluetooth connectivity as well as digital radio.

There’s also auto LED headlights (as well as LED DRLs and tail-lights), a leather-trimmed steering wheel, built-in sat nav, adaptive cruise control, a hi-def 360-degree camera view, a reversing camera and auto-fold exterior mirrors. 

At the MG’s price point - drive-away, remember - that’s a strong basket of standard fruit.

One of the biggest changes Jeep could make to the Wrangler without causing complete mayhem for fans is to the engine and even then there will be folks who don’t like what they’re about to read.

Deep breaths, okay? Right, so, in this update the V6 petrol engine has been replaced by a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder. 

At 200kW the new four-cylinder makes a smidge less power than the V6 but more torque at 400Nm. An eight-speed automatic transmission shifts gears and sends the drive to all four wheels.

If you’re a Wrangler fan you’ll most likely know about this engine swap, but you’re wondering how this four-cylinder feels.

The answer is, really good. Jeep has got it right. It’s a torquey, responsive engine that feels energetic and suits the Wrangler's personality well.

In the short time I’ve spent on and off the road I’m convinced this turbo-four will be a good companion wherever you decide to go.

And go pretty much anywhere you can, with all Wranglers being ridiculously capable off-road thanks to their ladder frame chassis, high- and low-range gears, outstanding ground clearance (233mm-257mm, depending on variant ), excellent approach angle (41.4 to 44 degrees, depending on variant) and a departure angle to match (37 degrees for the both Rubicons; 36.1 for the Sport S and Overland).  

The Rubicon comes standard with Jeep’s 'Rock-Trac' on-demand four-wheel drive system and this update adds a full float rear axle. Sport S and Overland grades have Jeep’s 'Selec-Trac Active' on-demand 4WD set-up.

As its name implies, the ZS Essence Turbo is powered by a 1.5-litre, turbo-petrol, four-cylinder engine sending 125kW (at 6000rpm) and 275Nm (at 4500rpm) to the front wheels via a continuously variable auto transmission (CVT). 

It’s an all-alloy unit, featuring direct fuel-injection as well as variable valve timing on the intake and exhaust side which helps optimise engine response.

The new turbo-petrol, four-cylinder means better fuel economy than the V6 it replaces. We have yet to test Jeep’s claims that after a combination of open and urban roads the four cylinder uses 9.2L/100km in the sport S and Overland grades and 9.9L/100km in the Rubicon.

In comparison, Jeep says the previous V6 uses 10.1L/100km in the Rubicon and 9.9L/100km in the Overland. Our own testing saw consumption closer to 13L/100km.

We’ll have the new Wrangler in our garage soon and we’ll be able to put the fuel consumption claims to a real world test.

In terms of range, the two-door Rubicon has a 61-litre fuel tank and in theory a range of up to 680km. The Sport S and Overland have an 81-litre tank and can get up to 880km, while the four-door Rubicon’s 81-litre tank should manage 830km.

Of course if you’re off-roading you’ll use more fuel and the range will drop accordingly.

The ZS Essence Turbo’s official fuel consumption figure on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 6.9L/100km, the 1.5-litre turbo four-cylinder engine emitting 161g/km of C02 in the process.

Over a combination of city, suburban and some freeway running we saw an average of 9.6L/100km, which is getting up there for a small SUV. And bear in mind you’re looking at a minimum fuel requirement of 95 RON premium unleaded.

Worth noting its roughly 25 per cent more expensive ($40,217, drive-away) ZS Essence Hybrid+ sibling is not only far more powerful, but significantly more frugal, with an official combined cycle figure of 4.7L/100km. Mind you, it would take a while for that economy to make up for the more than $8K purchase price difference.

Based on the car’s 55-litre fuel tank, theoretical range between refills is close to 800km, which drops to just over 570km using our real-world test consumption number.

Every one of the Jeep launches I’ve attended over the past 15 years has involved a pretty decent off-road component and it’s clear the company has a lot of faith in its product.

This Wrangler launch’s off-road test had been scaled back due to days of flooding rain beforehand, but the section that was passable was enough to remind us of what we already know and that is the Wrangler is formidable.

A Queensland bush off-road course full of steep, muddy hills, ruts, rocks, dirt and slippery descents was still all there for us to test the Wrangler Rubicon four-door.

Fun and comfortable are the first words that pop into my head when recalling how the Rubicon fares. This is a super-capable beastie that feels planted, secure and adept at all times.

We tested low- and high-range four-wheel drive, locked the rear differential and let the hill descent mode do its thing and get us down the sides of hills that felt so close to vertical all we could see through the windscreen was the ground.

What's also clear is the new turbo-petrol, four-cylinder feels well suited to the job, with plenty of torque along with a feisty and responsive nature that fits the Wrangler better than the old V6.

There was also plenty of time spent on the road in the four-door Rubicon and its smaller two-door sibling. And was here it was also super clear the Wrangler felt like we’d taken it out of its natural habitat.

At 110km/h on the motorway the two door Rubicon feels light and floaty in its suspension, with steering adjustments having to be made constantly, like actors pretending to drive cars in movies, as the Wrangler wanders around in its lane. The Wrangler wander is a known trait and isn’t specific to this updated car. 

And even though our launch drive took us on some great winding country roads which would have been perfect for a Mazda MX-5, the Wranglers found the fast tight turns difficult to handle.

I’m sure I heard a sigh of relief from our Rubicon as we pulled off the road and selected low-range four-wheel drive before bouncing up what looked to be a sheer cliff, with ease.  

Of course, our Adventure Expert Marcus 'Crafty' Craft will put the Wrangler though its paces once we have one in the CarsGuide garage.

Stand-out qualities once behind the wheel of the ZS Essence Turbo are its comfy ride, responsive throttle and low noise levels.

Although MG doesn’t quote a 0-100km/h acceleration time, you can expect triple figures to come up in around eight seconds, which is rapid enough for the cut and thrust of city traffic.

And power delivery is satisfyingly linear. There are no laggy clues that a turbo engine resides under the bonnet, although maximum pulling power doesn’t arrive until 4500rpm, which is unusually high for a forced induction engine.

But there’s still plenty of oomph low down and the CVT auto is one of the better examples, keeping the engine on the boil nicely without any engine droning drama. Freeway cruising is a breeze.

That said, a pair of steering wheel paddles for stepped manual ‘gear’ changes would be a nice addition to take maximum advantage of the engine’s willing nature.

But you have to be realistic in terms of standard mechanical spec at a low-$30K price point. If you're in the mood, the switch to ‘Sport’ mode revs things up, though.

Suspension is by struts at the front and torsion beam at the rear, the car remaining well balanced during quick lane changes or through sharp corners.

Tyres are 225/50 Giti ‘GitiComfort’ on 18-inch alloy rims and despite that sizeable wheel diameter (for the class), a relatively cushy tyre sidewall height also helps with overall refinement.

The front seats are comfortable and supportive enough, although the small gap between the headrest and my noggin meant I was constantly bumping against it. Kind of annoying but it may have more to do with my XXXL melon than the restraint design.

The electrically assisted steering is accurate and road feel is fair, although the squared-off wheel design takes a bit of getting used to and its adjustment is stuck in 1994, shifting for height but not reach.

Braking is by discs all around (ventilated front) and they wash off speed effectively with a progressive pedal action.

An 11.2m turning circle isn’t exactly tiny, although all around vision is clear, and parking, assisted by the 360-degree camera view, reversing camera and rear parking sensors, is straight forward.

Niggles? The handbrake has to be applied manually, which may sound like a classic first-world problem, but the majority of new cars now apply it automatically when parked.

A ‘bing-bong’ overspeed warning, related to the traffic sign recognition function, is infuriating, as is the need to shuffle through multiple menus every time you drive the car to turn it off. Hyundai and Kia have recently minimised this issue with a short-cut button, which we suggest MG takes a close look at.

And one misty morning I noticed the bottom four rows of the rear screen demister had gone out on strike, which doesn’t feel great from a quality point-of-view.

In a similar vein, I recently spent time in the ZS Hybrid+ and thought one of the suspending cords on the rear parcel shelf hadn’t been properly fixed. Turns out the small plastic fitting holding the string had pulled out of the tailgate door and wouldn’t stay put when pushed back in. Awkward.

ANCAP has assessed the MG ZS but only hybrid variants. So, even though that resulted in a maximum five-star score, this turbo model is technically untested.

No surprise then that the car is equipped with a full suite of active (crash-avoidance) tech including auto emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane change and lane keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring, driver attention alert, forward and rear collision alert, rear cross-traffic alert, tyre pressure monitoring, a 360-degree camera view and more.

And it’s important to note these systems are well calibrated in that any micro corrections they make are only sporadic and relatively subtle, even in adaptive cruise mode where less refined systems are often found out.

Then, if despite all that, a crash is unavoidable there are six airbags onboard - dual front, front side and full-length curtain. Would be nice to see the increasingly common front centre bag but it’s MIA for the time being.

There are three top tether points for child seats across the second row with ISOFIX anchors on the two outer positions.

The Wrangler is covered by Jeep's five-year/100,000km warranty, which is off the mainstream market standard of five years/unlimited km.

Service intervals are recommended every 12 months and 12,000km and service prices are capped at $399. Jeep also offers lifetime roadside assistance if you service your Wrangler though Jeep. 

MG covers the ZS with a 10-year/250,000 km warranty which is way ahead of the mainstream market norm of five years/unlimited km. 

Roadside assistance is complimentary for the first 12 months and automatically extended for an additional year after each annual service at an authorised MG dealer, for the duration of the warranty. Nice.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/10,000km, the latter measure a little short of the more common 15,000km distance.

MG’s ‘Precise Price’ program sets out maintenance pricing for the duration of the warranty, the lowest cost over that 10-year period being $302 and the highest $1463, for an annual average of $686.60. 

Pricey when you consider a similarly specified Toyota Corolla Cross averages $398.68 per service over the same period.