MG3 Hybrid (2024 - ) review

The margins on small cars have made it difficult for manufacturers to make money on them, especially with the extra cost of electrification. This was among the reasons for Ford killing off its big-selling Fiesta but the resources of MG’s Chinese parent company mean it can hybridise the MG3 and still sell it at an affordable price. Like its Renault, Toyota and Mazda equivalents this is what’s known as a ‘full’ hybrid, so it can power itself for short distances on the electric motor alone, though it doesn’t need plugging in to charge so you’re not tied to having a driveway or off-street parking to keep the battery topped up. But on cars of this size electrification can be a law of diminishing returns, and mildly hybridised alternatives like the Suzuki Swift or even purely combustion engined city cars like the Kia Picanto can match the real-world fuel efficiency and running costs while being cheaper to buy in the first place. And a lot better to drive.

MG’s seven-year warranty inspires confidence there’s back-up should anything go wrong with what is a mechanically complicated petrol-electric system, though Toyota now offers 10-year cover on its Yaris equivalent if you commit to main dealer servicing. While MG’s cars seem to be generally reliable we were a little concerned at some of the behaviour of the MG3 Hybrid, and the sense it hasn’t been as thoroughly developed as some of its rivals.

This is a thoroughly modern supermini and comes with plenty of driver assistance technology as standard on top of the usual airbags and Isofix child seat fixings in the rear. The only things not included on the lower of the two trim levels are, perhaps, two of the more useful alerts for real-world driving situations, these being warnings for crossing traffic when reversing out of a parking space and when something is in your blind spot. In the modern way there are lots of bongs and chimes, to the point you lose track of what the car is actually warning you about. We also found the traffic sign recognition controlling the speed limit alerts wasn’t always accurate, meaning an intrusive electronic scolding for ‘speeding’ when the car thought the limit was lower than it actually was. You can turn all this off but it’s a pain to do so via the screen menus and it resets every time you turn the car off. See ‘Power’ for more but we were also concerned at the effectiveness of the hill hold system.

Points deducted for not having reach adjustment to the steering wheel, which is something you tend to expect as standard in modern cars and meant the wheel always felt just a little further away from us than we’d have liked. Beyond that the MG3 is acceptably comfortable in its seating position for driver and front seat passenger, if nothing spectacular. Head- and legroom in the back is on the cosy side for grown-ups as well, at least when seated behind a full-size driver. This new generation of MG3 seems to have lost some of the playfulness we enjoyed in its predecessor as well, and while the steering and suspension are all perfectly acceptable they’re hardly what you’d call fun, which is an issue compared against the laugh out loud chuckability of rivals like the Suzuki Swift or Kia Picanto, or the big-car refinement in the Clio or Yaris.

All MG3s get a fully digital dashboard, with screen-based instruments behind the wheel and a central one for controlling navigation, communication, entertainment and – annoyingly – basics like heating and ventilation. Fiddly graphics make this harder than it needs to be and while there are physical shortcut buttons for ‘home’, volume and the air-con the latter didn’t always respond when pushed, forcing another delve into the screens and more time with eyes off the road. There is navigation as standard but we reverted to CarPlay, though you need to plug in to use it. Android Auto is also supported. On top of the already generous standard spec our Trophy level test car got a 360-degree camera system, heated front seats and steering wheel, privacy glass and more besides. For all that there’s no escaping the cheap feel of the plastics and other materials inside the cabin, though.

There’s plenty of power available from both the electric drive motor and the combustion engine, to the point the MG3 can zoom off the line like a hot hatch. Or not, there being another occasion on our test when it struggled to go beyond 65mph on a steady motorway incline, even with the accelerator pinned to the floor. This inconsistency was also a concern in low-speed manoeuvring, where on a couple of occasions the car rolled forwards while in reverse gear after the automatic hill hold released too quickly. After a hasty stamp on the brakes it would then shoot back on electric power with no throttle input at all. Which is the kind of excitement you don’t need if you have a steep driveway or were to attempt a reverse park on a hilly street. We asked MG and were told it was aware of this “feature” and that owners would become “quickly familiar” with its quirks, while also saying if recalibration were required this could be applied as an over the air update. All very well, but this is the sort of thing carmakers usually sort out before the car goes to market, not after it’s in the hands of owners.