MGS9

MG have probably travelled the furthest in the shortest time from making very average cars to very good ones. Ever since they launched the MG4 things have been great for the brand with highlights across the model range. Now they’ve launched a seven-seater the MGS9 which comes as a company car friendly PHEV. Could MG continue their run ? Let’s find out.

Tell me more

The S9 is in effect an extended MGHS PHEV, so adds two rear seats in the boot space. These though aren’t massive & with the highish boot floor are only really large enough for children.

Powertrain & driving range

The S9 comes with a 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine & an electric motor that powers the front wheels producing 224bhp.The MGS9’s 24.7kWh battery is a big selling point with up to 63 miles of electric range.

Combined economy

After our week on board the combined consumption was 41.6mpg so about what we’d expect.

Model choice & prices

These are hard to argue with. The MGS9 starts from £34,205 in Comfort trim, while the Premium version we tested is priced from £36,945.

Specs

Comfort comes with electrically adjustable heated front seats, 20″ wheels, V2L, tri-zone climate control, a panoramic sunroof, a powered tailgate, wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, 360-degree parking cameras & MG Pilot. Premium adds, leather style upholstery, electric & ventilated massage front seats, wireless phone charging, a kick activated power tailgate & a 12 speaker Bose audio system.

Charging

The 24.7 kWh battery only charges at 7kW AC so can’t be charged on DC chargers. The S9 has been designed to charge at home where it will take under 4 hours to fully charge.

Cabin

The quality at such an affordable price is impressive. A 12.3” digital instrument panel & a 12.3” touchscreen infotainment display set things off nicely. Tri-zone climate means all three rows can control their temperature, with two front, two middle & one rear USB. Good news as well are physical climate controls, two steering wheel short cut buttons that can be pre programmed & a simple centre mounted gear lever with a cylindrical driving mode button behind, make an awful lot of sense.

Cabin practicality

Whilst the rear two seats are small, the middle row is huge with the three seats adjsustable on sliders. We travelled with five adults & two dogs & it’s incredibly spacious. And you get a climate control panel on the back of the centre console, a useful deep under armrest storage area, a hidden low down shelf in the front, two front cup holders, fold-out cupholders for middle-row passengers, large door pockets & two 12v sockets (front & boot). And on Premium a massive panoramic sun roof brings loads of light into the cabin.

Boot

A 332-litre boot with all the seats up & 1,026 litres with five seats in place. And a massive 2,093 litres with everything but the front two seats folded. We folded rear three down easily to create space for our walking gear & coats & it’s a really useful size.

Safety

Both versions are stacked with safety thanks to MG Pilot the brands suite of on-board safety features. Included are autonomous emergency braking, front collision warning, lane departure warning & prevention, emergency lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control & intelligent cruise assist. You also get a 360 degree surround camera & a driver monitoring system.

Infotainment

The 12.3” screen is large enough & the operating system quick enough to keep you happy, with a simple four-block home page offering. You simply scroll left or right to choose each input such as SatNav, Radio & Climate with both Apple CarPlay & Android Auto also displayed for quick access. Our only gripe is that the icons for CarPlay & Android Auto are located on the left hand side of the screen so are a little bit of a reach for the driver.

There’s an easy to understand vertical tower of symbols on the right of the screen for short cuts & if you scroll fully left a dictionary of icons allow you access to the sub menus for all of the cars primary functions. In here you’ll be able to switch from hybrid to electric driving & turn off some of the  annoying safety features such as driver monitoring. MG are not alone in making this available but to our mind drivers are more than capable of concentrating on the job at hand without being told every few seconds that they aren’t looking straight ahead.

Driving

The gear lever & electric parking brake are located between the front seats & changing gear is very easy compared to many SUV’s that now feature quirky steering wheel gear changes or toggles located elsewhere. On our mixed road drive with five on board the S9 really impressed.

On the motorway the cabin remains calm & quiet with little wind or road noise getting through. We connected our iPhone for podcasts & to Waze relatively easily & then set cruise control via the steering wheel buttons – a tad fiddly to be fair – then sat back & relaxed.

Power even when fully loaded is adequate & the default is EV driving so we utilised this on slower roads reverting to Hybrid on the motorway. If you don’t switch between the two, then  efficiency can suffer as the motorway will deplete the battery range more quickly. Good new though is that when the petrol unit kicks in it’s quiet & the changeover is smooth.

Handling & comfort

The steering is quite light so parking & manoeuvring is easy for a large car. On winding roads the S9 has a tendency to roll from side to side in keeping with most large 7- seaters. Driving alone I noticed that road imperfections can transmit a clunk into the car, but when fully loaded this was nicely hidden. Wind & road noise is also kept at bay. As the driver I asked passengers their thoughts & with two serious petrol heads on-board was pleased that they found the ride comfortable & compliant.

Pros

Ridiculously good value. Rides & handles as one would expect but is better when full. Excellent battery range.

Cons

Seats 6 & 7 are small. Charging at only AC speeds seems a bit dated. Driver safety warnings can be annoying.

Verdict

Whilst the S9 isn’t the best seven-seater to drive nor the most practical, it’s incredibly low price will make it a bit of a no brainer for many. So if you’re a company car drive who needs that extra space it’s well worth your consideration. Just don’t expect scintillating handling nor incredible fuel economy & be aware that it’s only AC charging speed, means that having home charger is the key to making one work for you. We can forgive it almost everything though because of the incredibly attractive pricing.

A blindingly brilliant bargain 4/5