MG ZS First things first, it’s a 2wd small SUV.Yes that’s right, 2 wheel drive. I know we’re called The Mud Life and some of you may think that the MG ZS has no right to be within these pages, but hold on, it has a lot of good qualities about it for those who want an SUV styled vehicle, but not the AWD.
Plant your foot firmly down and the 1ltr 3-cylinder lump revs all the way up to 6,000rpm and changes up, and does it again until you ease up. Although it’s more expensive than the 1.5ltr engine, I actually prefer it. It’s an eager and sprightly little thing and suits the ZS well.
On the road Throughout the week we used the ZS for pretty much every journey you can think of, from short commutes to the long and boring, and it didn’t disappoint. MG say that it’s been tuned for UK roads and I have to doff my hat to the engineers for doing a good job.
Off road Like its bigger brother, the GS that I reviewed last year, the ZS is only 2wd, but of course, this didn’t stop me from having a little play, and just like its bigger sibling, the ZS managed what I asked of it.
Yeah, the ride can be a bit lumpy at times, but overall it does a great job of brushing off potholes and broken patches of road, whether that’s through town or zooming along winding country lanes. The ZS offers three steering modes - Urban, Normal and Dynamic - which offer varying levels of power steering assistance. To be honest, after trying each one for a few miles I 32
was quite happy to leave it on Normal mode as it does a good all-round job.
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On mud the traction control did a fine job of finding grip where it really shouldn’t have, which does beg the question, does it need 4wd? Of course that all depends on how you’re going to use it, but it is surprising how capable it is without it. Approach, departure and ground clearance angles aren’t bad either, but like any small SUV you just need to keep an eye out, but I doubt any owners will take the ZS down the lanes I did!
