We recently drove the MG Hector in both diesel MT and petrol hybrid MT at a media drive in Coimbatore. This is our detailed report and MG Hector Review for you.
MG Hector Review- Exteriors & Design
MG Hector is quite unique when it comes to design and visual appeal. While it has many design elements seen on some other cars like sleek DRLs ar front and separate housing for projector headlamps and fog lamps below it. The front of the car looks quite impressive.
The car looks quite attractive from the front with a bold and macho stance. The side view seems comparatively simple and contemporary, but the sheer size and subtle elegance make it look good from the side as well.
The wheel size from the side profile, look a bit smaller for the size of the SUV, but that might just be my subjective understanding, you tell us how do you find them?
From the rear, it looks quite sporty with a large combination tail lamp running from side to side. The dual tone bumper with scuffs plates and large horizontal red reflector makes it look quite sporty. So in terms of looks, MG Hector does impress.
MG Hector Review- Interiors and Features
Step inside the cabin and the premium feel continues. The dashboard is nicely laid out with the central infotainment being the most attractive part of it. It looks like a smart tab integrated into the car.
It is a 10-inch touch screen which has audio controls, climate controls and controls for smart features offered on the car like apps and live maps. It also shows the 360-degree view of the car when reverse gear is engaged or 360-degree button is pressed.
The display resolution of the central screen and its touch response seems to be a bit on the not-so-impressive side. But the fact that there is a voice assistant, which can be triggered with voice or a voice assistant button on the steering wheel, it makes up for the not-so-impressive touch response of the touch screen.
The steering wheel design is also quite sporty with a lot of controls provided on the wheel. The instrument cluster also houses a 7-inch display which makes it look very premium.
The quality of materials used is fairly good and most of the surfaces are pleasant to touch. Some plastic buttons, like the ones below the infotainment system, feels less-than-premium to touch, but you can live with these minor nitpicking.
The seats are really comfortable and supportive, both at the front as well as the rear. The front seats are power adjustable on some higher trims. The panoramic sunroof is also one such element, which makes this car stand out from the crowd.
The higher trims are loaded with 6 airbags for safety. For comfort, there are rear AC vents, a charging socket at the rear and some storage below it. Also, the NVH is well controlled, especially in petrol, but the diesel tends to get a bit noisy beyond 3000 RPM if you drive it in a spirited way, on relaxed cruising under 3000 RPM, it is fairly quiet.
We like to be inside the cabin of the MG Hector, it looks good, feels comfortable, is quite spacious and is also loaded with comfort, safety and convenience features.
MG Hector Ride & Handling Review
Handling is one department where I was pleasantly surprised. Considering the size of this SUV, the MG Hector, the handling is quite impressive. The car feels quite grippy and planted while the suspension is tuned nicely to not be too-soft or too-hard. Yes, there is some body roll at times, but it is quite controlled. The steering feedback is good and the steering is slightly on the heavier side, which I personally like.
The ride quality is also fairly good, it felt comfortable to be in the car except for some sharp bends in the mountains where the slight body roll made us a bit uncomfortable. But largely, it was quite a pleasurable ride.
MG Hector Engine, Performance and Mileage Review
We drove 2 variants of MG Hector during our media drive, the 2-litre turbocharged diesel with 6 speed MT and a 1.5-litre turbocharged hybrid petrol with 6-speed manual transmission.
The diesel motor produces 350 Nm of torque while delivering a peak power of 170 PS. The petrol motor produces 250 Nm of torque and 143 PS of peak power. The diesel is much more fun to drive than petrol because of the additional torque and power, but the diesel version has a harder clutch and more noise and vibrations than the petrol hybrid counterpart.
The petrol version feels very silent and refined. The diesel is also fairly quiet up to 3000 RPM, beyond which it gets noticeably loud. Check out our video below for the same.
Overall, both petrol and diesel units on the MG Hector do justice to the size and weight of the car, but diesel motor on this car is more fun and agile than petrol any day.
In terms of mileage, you can expect a real world you can expect around 10 to 12 KMPL from diesel and around 10 KMPL from petrol variants, maybe up to 10% more on the Hybrid petrol compared to the one without the hybrid system.
MG Hector Image Gallery
MG Hector Video Review
MG Hector Review Verdict- Should You Buy One?
The price of the MG Hector will be announced around the last week of June 2019. A lot depends on how MG prices it. Our best guess is that the prices will be aggressive for this segment as this car will compete with the likes of Tata Harrier, XUV 5OO, Jeep Compass and Hyundai Creta as well, it has a lot of competition to face.
In absolute terms, the MG Hector SUV looks stylish, is comfortable on the inside with fairly premium cabin, some great features like a panoramic sunroof, connected car iSMART system to name a few.
It also features a set of powerful engine options with Hybrid as well as a petrol automatic option. It also offers good handling and ride comfort. It should be a car I can recommend you provided that the prices are kept aggressive.
