[vjoy3]

Sorry if this sounds silly but why would you trust a company eager to hide its origin and adopt a name that's from the other side of the world.
Am okay having a fancy name of your favorite super hero car for a model but the whole company trying to sound British ☕
Just like a typical Chinese product, has all the bells and whistles that one can drool for few days... But do they last?
Reminds me of friends who abandoned their careers in known MNC and took fancy roles in new Chinese companies that opened offices here and launched extremely attractive phones / TVs. In less than a year each shut shop and layed off.

[sreejinair]

Originally Posted by BunnyPunia

I guess you missed the LAG part. Do read the driving part again.
Calling a review by a journalist paid without thinking twice or checking the credentials seems biased and unwanted. This wasn't a media Hector but a car we took from a friend.
Hope you don't label journalists with such words in the future. Peace

Bunny bhai, sorry I missed the lag part in your review. Unfortunately ctrl + f is what I did

After reading this I stopped.

"Slot the lever into D and the Hector takes off smoothy with the creep function coming handy for start-stop traffic. Once on the move, upshifts are smooth and the big (its the longest SUV, remember?) MG goes about commuting in a very effortless manner. This combined with the light steering and plush suspension makes the Hector DCT one hell of a city commuter."

There is an image just after the mention of mileage in the same para and I probably thought its all praises from there on. Hence I did ctrl + f to find the word LAG, couldnt find it. Check the screenshot attached.

Anyway, I read the whole thing right now and yes the word isnt there, but its there

My first TD of the hector and I almost hit an oncoming swift, the steering was too light. But I guess people will get used to it.As far as the lag goes, not just the enthusiasts even regular folks will find the lag bothersome.

In the end, its written
"It is comfortable, the gearbox makes daily commutes hassle-free and the value quotient remains high."

Its comfortable I agree,

The gearbox makes daily commutes hassle-free, I dont agree

the value quotient remains high, I agree based on its size and features on offer. I agree that the diesel and hybrid are for sure VFM.

Oh and good the owner didnt get a car with huge panel gap, between the hood and the left front fender, unlike the showroom cars in many cities. Based on the pictures posted in the review, it looks like there is no such gap on that particular car.

Anyway sorry for using the words "paid review", I dont agree that the extremely light steering wheel and the almost 2 second lag makes the hector a good city commuter, thats just my opinion. Doesnt give me a right to say that it was a paid review, my bad brother.

Peace

[imzahid]

Originally Posted by musclecar

MG seems to be following the other Chinese brands like Xiaomi & Oneplus. Create a lot of buzz and hype around the sales numbers (booking in this case), do flash sales, make people believe that its the best bang for the buck and increase market penetration.

Hope they realize cars are not sold like mobile phones

It's absolutely mind blowing how it has been successful to build a Xiaomi or Oneplus kind of hype for a car which costs 15-20L rupees!! Not a small achievement by any means considering the fact that Indian audience are generally not that welcoming towards newly launched car brands.

[pavi]

Originally Posted by vjoy3

Sorry if this sounds silly but why would you trust a company eager to hide its origin and adopt a name that's from the other side of the world.

If that is the case, how many companies are there who can claim their pedigree now. Lamborghini, Porsche, Audi, Skoda, Bugatti, Ducati etc. are still not considered as a VW in the market. If I buy some other company, it’s not illegal or immoral to use that name. Havells bought Lloyd, but still the AC’s are marketed and sold as Lloyd. Some people think a Toyota Glanza is better than a Maruti Baleno, I am seeing a number of Glanzas on road now. Going by that logic, if you see a market where a specific name plate can make an impact, why you should not use it.

Most people are considering resale while buying cars. Then why should a company who have invested enough to buy a brand not use the same to market their cars.

[simeonovitch]

Not sure whether to post this here or in the alloy wheels thread, but this came up in my Instagram feed

[self_driven]

Originally Posted by simeonovitch

Not sure whether to post this here or in the alloy wheels thread

While the close up pic looks good, the complete side profile doesn't look catchy. I think the problem lies with MG's design itself; the wheel arches are too small for a car of this size.

[::CMS::]

All media reviews about this car are focusing only on the flashy features which is nothing but done with short sight. All reviewers are floored by just seeing the infotainment unit however they don't see the issue from an owner's pov. I can find a hell lot of issues with this car or the concept. Yes, it's good on papers however will be a burden for an actual owner.

This is a typical example that says Indians' can be easily attracted by giving some flashy features, people wont use most of them after a week. I dont see anything different in the center console which a voice enabled tablet installed in portrait mode along with many controls however its going to be a headache for an owner.

Eg, almost all features are tied to the central headunit and no way to do them manually. So anything happens to the head unit not only traps the owner in buying another one from the company but also have to completely rely on the sim connectivity range. Eg, the ac don't have any other manual controls, even in high end cars almost all controls have the option to use manually. Even with the display car, the screen hanged and not allowing anything to function and no way to get out of the stuck screen page. Once hanged, there is no option to restart, no buttons I could see to restart the unit, it needs to reconnect the battery to use any features then.

Moreover there are many issues that I foresee when the physical button is not used to enable the voice command, anybody can control, even from outside the car bu saying "hello mg", it cannot detect whether its from inside or outside. Its a security threat too, how about using a Bluetooth speaker to invoke the voice commands, it's pretty easy to mimic human voice!!!! Since its a public forum, I cant say more, even surface transducers will work. Btw, people can continue the epic tv remote fighting inside the car too....

Apart from these, I felt the suspension is too soft for a big car like this and hence a hell lot of body roll. Steering is very light and very less feedback from the road. Due to the bad GC and in - out angles, I would say its a big car that can be driven only on good roads. The screen lags a lot with apps running in the background, esp when the network is bad or hunting. The bad sim reception issue is reported by many while their phone is working fine. Also heard that even though its an Airtel sim, its using Reliance-JIO network, not Airtel.

Yes it will turn few heads for some time and many features are there to attract the initial rush, but with time it will have the fate like compass like the higher maintenance.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by ::CMS::

This is a typical example that says Indians' can be easily attracted by giving some flashy features, people wont use most of them after a week. I dont see anything different in the center console which a voice enabled tablet installed in portrait mode along with many controls however its going to be a headache for an owner.

The lack of buttons will force one to use voice controls

Eg, the ac don't have any other manual controls, even in high end cars almost all controls have the option to use manually.

Bit of a no win - On the other side of the coin, people criticise Mercedes for having too many buttons. MG is following Volvo's example. Frankly, I find it embarrassing when travelling in a friends XC90 to fiddle with the screen to adjust the AC for my zone. Had it been knobs, I could quietly adjust then reset to origin setting at end of journey.

Even with the display car, the screen hanged and not allowing anything to function and no way to get out of the stuck screen page. Once hanged, there is no option to restart, no buttons I could see to restart the unit, it needs to reconnect the battery to use any features then.

Was the actual display car battery connected or was it an auxiliary power source?

Moreover there are many issues that I foresee when the physical button is not used to enable the voice command, anybody can control, even from outside the car but saying "hello mg", it cannot detect whether its from inside or outside. Btw, people can continue the epic tv remote fighting inside the car too....

Our experience is that the unit is very obedient to the driver but not that responsive to passengers. Also, only the secondary functions are connected to the unit. No driving related functions. All though I dread the bratty kid with a loud voice who will say "Hello MG, I want to see the sky...on a rainy day"

Apart from these, I felt the suspension is too soft for a big car like this and hence a hell lot of body roll. Steering is very light and very less feedback from the road.

I have pushed it hard into corners, it is reluctant but not that bad. Steering is light, but it is best driven normally and not in a boy-racer manner.

Due to the bad GC and in - out angles, I would say its a big car that can be driven only on good roads.

Like most SUV's on sale, like the Creta etc., it is really a large jacked up station wagon

The screen lags a lot with apps running in the background, esp when the network is bad or hunting.

Yes it will turn few heads for some time and many features are there to attract the initial rush, but with time it will have the fate like compass like the higher maintenance.

The 7 year warranty and service plan will take care of this.

[::CMS::]

Originally Posted by ajmat

The lack of buttons will force one to use voice controls

The issue is that when the unit hangs, nothing will work.

Bit of a no win - On the other side of the coin, people criticise Mercedes for having too many buttons. MG is following Volvo's example. Frankly, I find it embarrassing when travelling in a friends XC90 to fiddle with the screen to adjust the AC for my zone. Had it been knobs, I could quietly adjust then reset to origin setting at end of journey.

The quality of the unit will be an issue, have hared 2 stories of screen hanging in display cars. Nothing will work.

Was the actual display car battery connected or was it an auxiliary power source?

Like any unit it will have power (like standby) even while the car is switched off. So a battery reconnect will be the only option.

Our experience is that the unit is very obedient to the driver but not that responsive to passengers. Also, only the secondary functions are connected to the unit. No driving related functions. All though I dread the bratty kid with a loud voice who will say "Hello MG, I want to see the sky...on a rainy day"

I think I remember seeing an option in settings to adjust the sensitivity however finding a sweetspot based on the conditions will be difficult. Usually people will prefer to keep it at high and even an outsider will be able to enable voice command

The 7 year warranty and service plan will take care of this.

Thats the catch, for these kind of issues the service guys will say its network range dependent and there is no issue with the unit, this seems to be a common issue based on the feedback in public forums. So warranty will not be applicable. During the initial period they may replace the unit itself, but later it will be a headache. Moreover the user will have to stick to the same unit in case of an issue.

[pawan_pullarwar]

Today I saw a new Hector on the road in red color. Its looks stand out in traffic - definitely a looker. When the signal turned green, I started following it. I could see the car actually felt like it is floating on the concrete road. I haven't driven it but I guess it could be a problem on the highway during long drives.

[advenk999]

Originally Posted by ::CMS::

All media reviews about this car are focusing only on the flashy features which is nothing but done with short sight. All reviewers are floored by just seeing the infotainment unit however they don't see the issue from an owner's pov. I can find a hell lot of issues with this car or the concept. Yes, it's good on papers however will be a burden for an actual owner.

Agree with you on the ride. Too too soft and it loves to roll!
Almost lost control when I tried a quick turn in a quiet residential area as the steering was literally dead and lifeless! Zero weight! You feel so disconnected from the car!

Mod Note: Please avoid quoting the entire post when responding

[RaghuVis]

Originally Posted by BunnyPunia

This wasn't a media Hector but a car we took from a friend.

Has MG started delivery of Hector DCT as well? I somehow missed this news completely. I had read somewhere that only manual deliveries are started now and automatic deliveries will start in a month or two.

[GTO]

Quick Take - MG Hector Diesel

Some very quick points & observations from my side below. These are just brief notes from a weekend drive. Our "Official Review" will deliver the final word.

• Took the Hector out for a 300 km weekend drive as I believe there is no better way to deeply understand a car than a multi-day road trip. From Friday - Sunday, our test car has already seen 400+ km put on it. And today, it’s getting another 200 km.

• Hector is big on the “wow” factor. Family members who sat inside were “wowed” by the panoramic sunroof, tablet controls & comfort levels. They bought into the “British” branding and refused to believe this is a Chinese car. On the road, this thing turns heads like Amitabh Bachchan (had experienced the same kind of attention with the 2009 Fortuner, XUV500 & Harrier). Indians love SUVs. Period. A dude in an Elantra followed me into a McDonalds drive-through!

• Not got the engineering finesse of a Creta or Compass. Equally, it’s easily on par with or better than the homegrown Harrier & XUV500.

• The “Morris Garage” buyout & branding is a case study. If this was launched as the “Baojun 530”, it would’ve sunk without a trace.

• I saw zero niggles in the 300+ km weekend drive (unlike the Harrier which we had so many issues with).

• Noticed some things that are “off”. Lack of attention to detail is evident from a brand that is relatively new to car-making. Example = the instrument console that is simply impossible to read on a bright day. Also quite dumb to give a revv counter that sweeps anti-clockwise. There is enough of a gap between the clutch & brake pedals to put in a 4th pedal!!! They’re that far apart. No issues during driving though. I didn’t notice this until I looked.

• MG knows it can’t compete in depth of engineering with the champions of auto making (which only 1% of petrol-heads notice). Which is why they’ve doubled up on the wow factor with gizmos, equipment, flashy design etc (which 99% of the market notices).

• Long 5-year warranty is a brilliant strategy. Will help in reducing apprehensions about an unknown brand. MG knows how to market.

• Everyone who has seen the car says it is terrific value-for-money. A Compass owner commented that his car feels overpriced (I reminded him about the driving pleasure his Jeep offers).

• Bling, bling, bling, The front end is the only part of the car that I will say has character. I hate the awkwardly proportioned side profile, and the overdone bright rear with the red strip & XL-sized skid plate. Gawdy design isn’t to my tastes at all (I prefer the lines of the Compass & Harrier). In fact, the side & rear styling would be more of deal-breakers to me than its “Chinese” origins (the looks + engine have decided a lot of my car purchases). Such a design will age quickly too – come back to this post of mine in 2022 and you’ll agree with me.

• Solid build and part quality are both acceptable. There are inconsistencies however which have no business being there in a 20-lakh car (our official review will highlight all of these).

• Tyres look small for all that body bulk. Doesn’t help the already weird side profile. I wouldn’t go over 17” wheels for India and think the rims are the perfect size, but wish they’d gone for larger tyres. Thicker & taller tyres (sidewall) would’ve helped. Rather than the wheels, I’ll say that the tyres are too small for the car. For reference, the Hector tyre’s sidewall is 129 mm, while the Harrier’s is 152.75. That means, the Harrier has a tyre that stands almost 50 mm taller (i.e. taller sidewall at the bottom & top)!

• This was my first long-drive with a Chinese car. If this is their act one, all I can say is, they’ll be rocking in another 10 – 15 years. Don’t forget that Hyundai was a joke in the 1990s; the Korean company is a quality-leader today. My 2 main problems with the Hector are design + soggy handling. First one is easy to fix, second takes time & maturity.

• Not having a Diesel AT is going to affect sales. Advantage Creta & XUV500. SUV owners love their diesel automatics.

• Interior is a pleasant place to be in. “Perceived premium’ness” is more than the actual. Once you start digging, you'll spot a fair amount of ordinary bits. Interior has a few good bits, most of them are average / above average, and a small amount poor. Not a Hyundai-level interior, no.

• Front seat’s back support is par for the course. Under-thigh support less for long drives for me (5’10”).

• On the inside, it feels a size bigger than the Creta / Compass, but not the Harrier. Size will be a selling point over Hyundai. Panoramic sunroof makes cabin feel airy & spacious.

• Front & side visibility are good. Rear windscreen is wide, but too short and its base is too high. Meaning, rearward visibility is poor (whether from the IRVM or if you turn around).

• ORVMs should have been a size bigger (glass area) for an SUV.

• Mom loved the backseat. Set the rear seat backrest to a relaxed angle, pulled out the armrest, buckled her up and she was snoring away on the expressway!

• Rear seat is better for 2 adults and a kid than 3 adults due to the seat / cabin width. Under-thigh support at the rear for me (5’10”) was missing. Seat could have been placed a notch higher.

• Ingress & egress are easy, even for senior citizens.

• Wish the steering tilt adjustment went a level lower than its current “lowest” position.

• Missing storage ahead of the gear console. Drove through McDonalds for their superb coffee. With two cups in the front cup-holders, there was no place to park my phone which was connected to the ICE via a USB cable (Android Auto)! Should have had that big storage cubicle that most SUVs have, ahead of the gear lever.

• Door pockets are satisfactory.

• Driving position is spot-on. No ergonomic issues. I’m very particular about my “ideal” driving position and found it in a jiffy. Although, it sucks that the driver armrest isn’t adjustable in such a well-equipped car.

• MID has very good graphics & display quality.

• Horrible automatic-wipers. Don’t detect lighter drizzles. I moved to manual mode for the entire trip.

• A bit apprehensive about its safety levels (“Chinese product” fears lingering in my mind). Don’t know whether it will surprise us like the Toyota Etios did (as an example), or disappoint as so many others have done in the crash tests. No C-NCAP ratings for me, I’ll only trust the Global NCAP.

• Air-con is effective.

• Voice controls work surprisingly well. Used them frequently for adjusting the temperature and blower. Need the voice controls as there are no physical knobs for the air-con. If the screen is displaying your music or navigation and you go to the air-con settings, it stays there (I would’ve liked it to revert to the music / navigation after 5 – 10 seconds of changing the climate control settings).

• Excellent sound system. As someone who likes it sharp & thumpy, I enjoyed my music. Bass & treble are both good.

• Touchscreen tablet looks swell and has a lovely interface. Gets laggy – doesn’t have the speed of today’s smartphones. This is so stupid. Why couldn’t they just give it more powerful hardware?

• ICE takes about 20 seconds to boot up. Front camera shows objects moving frame-by-frame just after the system has restarted. Things get better once the system has completely booted up.

• Further to the previous point, I realized that the touchscreen software starts booting up the minute you unlock the car (so that owners don’t notice the ~20 second boot time). Once, I unlocked the car, spent some time on the backseat and then started the car. The ICE fired up instantly (no 20-second boot time) because there was a gap between my unlocking the car and starting the ICE.

• 360-degree camera is a great feature (including front camera), but I’m not happy with the camera quality. ICE display is otherwise top-class, so I’m blaming the cameras.

• Sad horn (dual-tone, but poor choice of sound). Disappointingly, horn is too loud on the inside.

• Healthy cargo space in the boot. Gobbled up all our luggage, and then some.

• Jewel of a diesel engine . Loved it in the Compass, love it here. MG did the right thing by “outsourcing” the diesel. Refinement is top class too. MG has done its homework here, where Tata failed (was too noisy in the Harrier).

• As is typical of big diesels, even outside of the turbo-zone, the lag won’t bother you too much in the shorter 1st & 2nd gears. Drop the revs too low in 3rd & higher gears though and you’ll need to downshift.

• Lovely gear-shifter. Enjoyable to use. Again, smart move by taking it as-is from Fiat. Wish this same smoothness was there in the Harrier.

• Diesel’s clutch is short-throw, but on the heavier side. Even 10 minutes in traffic bothered me. This is going to be a pain in rush hour bumper-to-bumper traffic. MG should lighten it ASAP as there is really no rocket science to it.

• MG needs to learn how to go on a diet. Hector is heavy for its size. Building lightweight cars is a science, not easily learned by all (Tata & Mahindra too haven’t figured it out yet). On the other hand, the “heaviness” does contribute to a feeling of “solidity”.

• Very capable long distance cruiser. Relaxed engine, soft suspension, airy cabin, nice music system, 6th gear…you will love it on the expressway.

• I will be driving the petrol after two weeks. Apprehensive about the DCT’s lag after reading so much about it here.

• Easy-to-use steering. Steering is light in the city and while parking. Light on the highway, but not dangerously light or sensitive (like the Harrier). In fact, at certain speeds, you’ll feel that the steering is slow & vague around the center (just as well since the Hector is no handler).

• Soft & compliant ride quality in the city. Regular customers will love it. Soaks in uneven roads rather well.

• Ride quality is comfortable on the highway too.

• Does get wallowy over undulating roads though, especially if you speed ("wallowy" is a term you’ll get well familiar with as a Hector owner). Rolls & pitches over uneven roads, like many body-on-frame UVs. Solution = shed speed on such roads & back off the accelerator.

• Shorter tyre sidewalls sometimes catch it out on the expressway / huge potholes. Despite the soft suspension, the really sharp bumps come through to the cabin. Taller sidewalls would easily solve this. Again, the 17” wheels are the perfect size, but the tyres are too short & too thin. These are things that SAIC / MG will only learn with experience.

• Not a handler by any means. More of a comfortable cruiser than a corner carver. Body roll is there and you feel its weight in fast corners. Squeals like a baby if pushed (understeer easy). 215 mm tyres too thin IMHO & damping / dynamic tuning are amateurish. Jeep Compass is in another league altogether and remains the enthusiast’s top choice. Because some people were discussing this, let me clarify that the Hector isn’t dangerous and starts wailing well before you reach its limit (it’s not scary like a Safari or Scorpio). Best you drive it as a calm dude. One fast sweeping left-hander I’m taking at 90 kmph comfortably, but I knew I’m approaching its limit (Compass could easily take that at 110+).

• If you are a sedate driver, consider Hector. If gearhead, consider Compass. Hector will keep family happier (my family is a fan of “MG” after this drive). Compass will keep driver happier.

• 80 kmph warning sign (on the MID) is exactly like the signboards on our highways. Nice touch. 120 kmph warning chime is pleasant & well-chosen.

• Cabin insulation is good. Outside world kept outside. Road & tyre noise are controlled. Wind noise par for the course (not excessive).

• Brakes do the job.

• Yuck on the “internet inside” badges. Debadging is a MUST.

• Electric tail-gate is cool (opens automatically even if you just tap the button on the dashboard – I would’ve preferred a long press here).

• Even if you don’t press the electric “close” button & simply push the tailgate down, it automatically starts closing.

• Frankly, the diesel’s drive & overall experience have been better than I expected (thanks in no small part to Jeep’s 2.0 diesel & gearbox). I approached it with all sorts of “Chinese car” apprehensions in my mind, yet have walked away reasonably satisfied. The Hector is far from the segment benchmarks, but it does pull together many things that the regular customer cares about. It is going to sell. As a car, it's not the pinnacle of automotive engineering...equally, it's not a "cheap Chinese product" either. Don't blindly write it off.

• There’s no doubt that all the bling & features add to the overall satisfaction quotient. Remove them and it’ll feel dry. That’s unlike say, a base variant of the Compass 2.0 TDI which’ll still make you grin when you take it out on the open road, or a lesser equipped Creta which still feels like an all-rounder.

Weird out-of-proportion side profile reminds me of the Pontiac Aztek!


A lovely, comfortable long distance cruiser:


Two iconic British brands, now owned by us Asians:


Sharp display, nice graphics, laggy at times:


Instrument cluster visibility is poor (it was even worse under the bright sun). At times, I could just see the bright red needles, but not the numerical markings behind:


Big boot. Bag with British flag intentionally chosen:

[sreejinair]

Eagerly waiting for the petrol DCT review, the more I drove it the less I liked it. Looks like you guys will soon have the seltos for a review as the TDs start in 1st week of August.

[bhavukjain]

It has too much bling. Its going to have a love or hate kind of a relationship. There would be no midway I feel.
The side profile is really awful.
Anti clock tacho meter might be confusing at times, brands should go the conventional way which such functionalities.