MG ZS SUV (2024 - ) review

The ZS remains undeniably good value for money. While both trim levels will now cost £1,105 more than the outgoing model, this feels justified given at launch it will be a full hybrid and it now has more features as standard. To put it in context, the Dacia Duster is now available with a hybrid option, but it starts at almost the price of a top of the range ZS. Meanwhile you’ll have to find over £10,000 extra to buy a Nissan Qashqai e-Power. We drove the ZS nearly 100 miles on our test and it claimed to be doing 51.4mpg, which is better than we saw in the Qashqai and suggests fuel costs shouldn’t be too high. MG is also promising competitive finance deals to undercut rivals on the total cost of the agreement. However, company drivers might be better off considering the plug-in hybrid HS or waiting for the new electric ZS equivalent in order to make Benefit In Kind savings.

This is an all-new model so at the time of writing we don’t yet know how reliable it will be. However, MG is confident in its product and offers a seven-year/80,000-mile warranty to cover you should anything go wrong. MG has been introducing new models at a great pace this year and while our experience with the MG3 showed room for improvement, the ZS seemed more composed, demonstrating how MG is constantly refining its products.

The new ZS comes with more safety kit as standard than the previous generation. Both trim grades come with a suite of features as part of MG Pilot, which now includes things like lane keeping assistance, adaptive cruise control, alerts for if you are about to reverse out into traffic and blind spot monitoring – our favourite addition. While in other MG models we’ve endured a cacophony of reprimanding bings and bongs, the ZS seemed less skittish, but it did scold us unjustly when it got the speed limit wrong. The Intelligent Cruise Assist feature which steers the car and adapts to the speed of surrounding vehicles wasn’t infallible either. It generally behaved as expected, yet on one occasion it slowed down for a vehicle that wasn’t there. These glitches are not uncommon – we’ve experienced them in everything from the Suzuki Swift to the Tesla Model 3 – but they can still be rather unnerving, and the technology is clearly still evolving.

Like the HS, the ZS has two levels of trim, starting with SE and going up to Trophy. The ZS offers a decent amount of space. Up front the seats are firm but comfy enough and on the Trophy models they are heated and made of leather-like material. On top of the range models the driver also gets a heated steering wheel and an electrically adjustable seat with manual lumbar support. In the back legroom is reasonable but might be tight for long-legged passengers or if the front seats are pushed back. The cabin is roomier than the outgoing model – due to an increase to the car’s dimensions – and it feels like a step up in quality with a new flattened steering wheel and wing-shaped drive selector. Although the boot is now a smidge smaller, it has an adjustable height floor and additional pockets and hooks to increase practicality, and with the seats down the overall space is larger than it was before. Out on the road the ZS coped well over rough road surfaces, but it did seem to let more road noise into the cabin than we would have hoped for.

Technology is another area where the ZS has had an upgrade. The driver now gets a seven-inch digital display with an additional 12.3-inch infotainment system. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both supported but you’ll have to plug your phone in on both trim levels and not all cables seem to work. The ZS retains a few physical buttons so you always have access to the volume controls without going through a screen and you can also programme shortcuts to features like the heating using the steering wheel. This sounds great in theory, but in practice it’s still a rather clunky system as you need to exit your smartphone apps every time you want to change your temperature settings. You’ll get used to it, but it does make the shortcuts feel superfluous. All models come with climate control though, plus you’ll get keyless entry, rain sensing wipers and an app allowing you to lock, unlock, pre-condition and locate your car too. Top of the range Trophy models gain rear privacy glass and in addition to the standard rear parking sensors they also have a 360-degree camera which comes in very handy.

While a petrol ZS will be joining the line-up in due course, initially it will be available as a hybrid. MG promises a smooth driving experience like you get from fully electric cars and we have to say, the ZS comes very close indeed. The combination of a 1.5-litre petrol engine with an electric motor gives the ZS 196 horsepower, making it quick to accelerate off the line, while joining motorways at higher speeds or overtaking is pretty effortless. We very rarely noticed the petrol engine kicking in and only heard it occasionally if we put our foot down when driving uphill. The ZS has three levels of regeneration sending energy from the brakes back into the battery. Each mode can take a bit of getting used to, and the highest level of regeneration is best kept for around town. The ZS also has three driving modes with an easily accessible button allowing you to change between them. There’s a noticeable difference between ‘Sport’, ‘Normal’ and ‘Eco’, each changing the power delivery accordingly. While most people will stick to ‘Normal’ mode, we enjoyed trying the ZS in ‘Sport’. If anything, this gave us more power than you really need in a family SUV, and it didn’t take much to spin the wheels when pulling out at a junction. Overall, while the ZS obviously doesn’t handle like a sports car we were impressed by how controlled the car felt through the corners making it easy and relaxing to drive.