MG MGS9 (2026 - ) review

Bottom-line pricing may not reflect the reality of monthly finance or lease deals used for most car purchases but it’s still a useful comparison in value for money terms. And a comparison favouring the MGS9 against equivalent plug-in hybrid seven-seat SUVs from mainstream brands, a Peugeot 5008 nearly £10,000 more expensive and the gap to a Kia Sorento or Hyundai Santa Fe even bigger. Even against Chinese rivals MGS9 looks competitive when compared with the likes of the Chery Tiggo 8. Running costs will very much depend on whether you are motivated (or able) to plug in and run the car on its battery rather than the combustion engine, the MG in theory capable of huge distances between charges and/or fill-ups when used as intended. Company drivers will also appreciate the low CO2, and savings this can bring in Benefit In Kind. Even if you don’t plug in the fuel consumption is pretty decent for a car of this size, and however you drive it the MGS9 should prove as affordable to run as it is to buy.

While more established than many of the other Chinese brands now hitting the market MG is still a relatively new player, but its cars sell in huge numbers and its hybrid tech is well-proven. And if anything does go wrong the seven-year warranty should out-last most first ownership cycles, so if you’re buying new there shouldn’t be too much to worry about.

All the driver assistance tech in the world is useless if it’s so intrusive you feel motivated to turn it all off before starting every journey. At least the MGS9 gives you that option, with a pre-programmable custom setting for the MG Pilot assistance systems you can select with one swipe and selection from the drop-down favourites menu. Once you’ve done that you can enjoy freedom from the constant (and consistently wrong) speed alerts bongs and panicked electronic squawks if you go within a metre of a white line, meet a vehicle coming the other way or – heaven forbid – stifle a yawn on the way to work. This face-scanning driver distraction warning is so over-sensitive it even tells you off for glancing at the instruments, let alone interacting with the screen. In better news you do at least get the useful stuff like alerts for unseen traffic in your blind spots or passing behind you when you reverse out of a parking space and, should the worst actually happen, there is the usual array of airbags and the like to keep you safe.

We’ll gloss over the fact the steering has only the vaguest connection with the front wheels for the fact nobody buys seven-seat family SUVs expecting an entertaining driving experience. The ride quality is more of a frustration, given it’s simultaneously wallowy in corners but also crashy around town on the big 20-inch wheels. It’s a lot more refined and peaceful on a motorway cruise, though, the engine near silent and the suspension handling steady state driving more comfortably. The real reason for choosing a car like this is the flexibility to carry more than three kids in the back when needs must, the middle row offering plenty of legroom and the flexibility to slide back and forth to free up more bootspace if you need it. Which you probably won’t, because with the third-row folded there’s tons of space back there. With all seven seats in place there’s still a token amount of luggage capacity, the back row big enough for teenagers but probably a bit cramped for adults. Everyone riding up front enjoyed the massage seats for driver and front-seat passenger on our top spec car, though it did make sibling rivalry for calling shotgun even more intense than usual! The only real practical concerns relate to the size of the thing, the MGS9 a tight fit in regular parking spaces while the long rear doors make it particularly difficult to get in and out of if you can’t score a parent and child space.

There are just two trim levels to choose from with the MGS9, even the base one getting stuff like a panoramic roof, paired screens for instruments and infotainment, 360-degree cameras and heated front seats. It’s not a huge step up in cost to the top of the range Premium like the one we tested, which we’d happily be paying for the 12-speaker Bose stereo, heating, ventilation and massage for the front seats and more besides. Quality and finish are acceptable for the price but let’s just say you’ll feel where the extra money goes if you’re comparing against that Peugeot 5008 or Kia Sorento. While the interface is predictably screen-heavy MG’s operating system has improved in recent times, and we appreciated the swipe-down menu for easy access to commonly used features and back-up of physical buttons for basics. The wireless CarPlay and Android Auto is slick enough as well, though it can be a bit of a faff switching in and out of this just to operate the heating, ventilation and other ‘native’ systems through the main screen.

The many and various ways petrol engines, batteries and electric motors can be combined for different levels of hybridisation can look confusing, so let’s stick to the basics and say the MGS9 has a big enough battery to cover over 60 miles on pure electric power if you can be bothered to plug it in. And a conventional petrol engine in reserve if not. Beyond that you just stick it into D and leave the car to figure out the best combination. Which, in many situations, will be gliding silently away on battery power alone, and feeling more like an electric car than a combustion-powered one. Performance is well-judged for a family SUV and the MG is generally smooth and refined, even when the petrol engine does kick in. There are some rough edges, though, and the tyres can scrabble for grip when pulling away on wet surfaces. You also have to be assertive on the throttle in low-speed manoeuvres on slopes to stop it rolling away with you, which can make parking on hilly streets or steep driveways a bit more heart-in-mouth than it needs to be. This isn’t unusual in electrified vehicles, but takes a bit of getting used to and suggests there may yet be some fine-tuning required.