MG ZS

What is it?

The ZS is MG’s smallest SUV, and I haven’t driven it since it first appeared in our magazine over 50 issues ago, and, as I remember it being quite enjoyable, I was curious to find out if it was still as fun.

With a starting price of £17,820 (£22,115 for this ZS), and MG’s 7-year/80,000 mile warranty, whichever milestone you hit first, it’s fair to say that it’s value certainly hasn’t changed.

Available in two flavours; Excite and Exclusive, the latter is available with a petrol 1.5ltr VTI and 5-speed manual ‘box, or 1.0ltr T-GDI with a 6-speed auto ‘box. The only difference with the Exclusive that it’s also available with a 6-speed manual 1.0ltr T-GDI, which I’m driving here. Oh, and I’d better mention that only comes in 2WD.

On the road

With a turbo bolted on, the 1.0ltr T-GDI makes it easier to drive and gives the ZS a stronger acceleration pretty much when you need it. It isn’t blisteringly fast, and you need to keep the revs up, but it’s there. The 6-speed manual ‘box was sometimes a little difficult to engage 1st, but had just covered 1,000 miles so hadn’t yet bedded in - other than that gear change was lovely and smooth.

Driving around town and the ride feels just right, the suspension is soft, and so are the front seats, but on bumpy and undulating country roads it can be a bit bouncy, though not enough to be tiresome. However, I couldn’t fault the precise steering, and along with a decent amount of grip around corners there was a lot less body roll than you’d think.

Around town and on the usual commute I was seeing fuel figures around 38mpg, and on a long motorway run that included some of Cumbria’s finest B roads and a longish green lane the computer told me I’d achieved 42mpg - which I didn’t consider to be too bad.

Off road

Being 2WD I didn’t want to take it anywhere challenging, so I tootled along The Old Coach Road in Cumbria. On the straights and gentle inclines and descents, leave it in first (manual box), and it happily trundled along at 4-5mph - a prefect speed to take in all the surroundings. For steeper descents there’s a Hill Descent button that, judging by the noise it was making, was doing its job nicely.

Having decent approach, ground clearance and departure angles means that it’ll manage some ruts and bumps, but I was always concerned that the road biased tyres aren’t necessarily strong enough on the sidewall front, so wheel placement was particularly important on some of the rocks and stones.

Overall the ZS did a splendid job of driving up some of the steep inclines, proving that you don’t always need 4WD to go exploring. That said, throw in some heavy rain, mud, snow or soft sand, and you’ll need to make sure you have some traction boards, just in case!

Interior

With soft touch materials where it matters and comfortable seats, along with solid-feeling buttons and an impressive fit and finish, the ZS remains a nice place to be, whether that’s the school run or longer distance gallivants. In fact, considering its budget price tag the MG ZS's interior quality is remarkably good.

As standard you get a 10” touchscreen infotainment system that has crisp graphics but it feels a bit basic, which is actually fine if like me you’re not into overly complicated menus. Another plus is that the heater controls are buttons under the touchscreen.

The infotainment includes both Android and Apple CarPlay, DAB radio and Bluetooth connectivity on all trim levels. Upgrading to Exclusive that I’m in here adds builtin sat-nav, a 360-degree parking camera and an improved sixspeaker stereo system.

When it comes to equipment you get a lot in a ZS, opt for the base Excite trim and along with the infotainment touchscreen, you have LED headlights, air-con and cruise control with a speed limiter. Exclusive trim adds rain-sensing wipers, a fully digital driver display and leather-look upholstery.

There’s plenty of space for people and their gubbins with decent sized cupholders and storage bins. Chuck some tall passengers in the back and you will barely hear a peep from them as head and legroom are also decent. That said, they may moan about the lack of cupholders, or centre rear armrest.

In the boot there’s 448-litres of space and with the rear seats folded flat that grows to 1,375l capacity. Impressively the ZS swallowed my Peli 1650 Protector case, pair of ActionTrax, and a cool bag with ease, with lots more space available.

Conclusion

If safety is your thing and you’ve got used to being distracted whilst driving, then you might bemoan the lack of automatic emergency braking with the ZS, and as a result, it has only managed a three-start rating from Euro NCAP. But this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker as the ZS starting price is only £17,820, so its niggles can easily be forgiven - not that it has many.

Ultimately, if you’re looking for a small family SUV that’s practical, affordable and reasonably wellequipped, the MG ZS is well worth considering.

more at » www.mg.co.uk