MOTORING
MG GS
The badge MG on a vehicle has been synonymous with
British manufacturing for more years than I care to remember , and now under Chinese ownership the brand is back and although a hard slog in this current age of competitiveness MG are really trying hard to explore and create the marketplace in the UK , writes Bob Hickman .
40
The Chinese have owned MG since 2011 , the firm has plodded along with M6 , M3 and now they have entered in to one of the most highly competitive market places in the whole of the motor industry , the SUV .
It is not until you start to have a look around that you realise what an excellent plethora of vehicles that are in this category , think Qashqai , Ford Kuga , Kia Sportage , Skoda Yeti , the list is long of manufacturers who are in this particular market place and it is a hard one for MG to enter . Having said that there will be a lot of people who will buy based on the MG badge , there will also be a lot of people who will be attracted to this new kid on the block by its entry level figure of a starting price of about £ 15,000 .
I have to admit to feeling that the MG GS is an imposing vehicle , certainly when parked next to the opposition it looked positive and not the poor relation .
Initially there are just 3 trim levels , the entry level Explore , the middle range Excite , and my top of the range Exclusive .
MG has taken the decision to provide one engine derivative and this surely must help keeping the costs down . The 1.5-litre turbo-charged petrol , there will be no diesel op-tion and possibly the Chinese have been very astute in view of the adverse publicity currently surrounding diesel engine vehicles .
All the GS range are front-wheel drive only and there is no 4-wheel drive option .
Choices are further limited with the GS in that 2 gearboxes are available , a 6-speed manual or in the case of my test vehicle , a 7-speed dual clutch automatic . My 1.5-litre engine was sufficiently powerful at 166 P . S . had a top speed where possible of 118mph and a 0-60 gallop in 9.5 seconds and it should according to M . G . achieve in the region of 45mpg , but during my week and 300 miles I only managed a very disappoint-ing 34 mpg . The CO emissions at 139g / km are not going to put this in to the super ex-cise value at the moment , but of course that all changes post April .
Inside the GS there is ample amount of space , especially impressive was the rear of the vehicle with ample legroom for 6ft passengers and also head and shoulder room .