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I have almost made my mind to go for Astor if it drives reasonably well irrespective of the price. How the N.A. engine will perform vis-à-vis turbo version. Whether there will be drastic difference in pick up. I am lenient towards N.A. engine due to purported long life compared to a turbo engine. Expert comments please

The variant distribution indicates quite an aggressive pricing. If the top-end 1.3 turbo AT is to be priced around 15 lakhs as per several reports, the base variant Style 1.5 MT has to start around 9 lakhs to keep meaningful 50 thousand to 1 lakhs difference between each variant.

I expect both 1.5L NA CVT and 1.3 turbo TC to be priced almost the same with the difference being mileage and a few features.

Visited MG showroom today and happened to come across this beauty. Here you go:D

Saw another car with red interiors. Didn't take any pic of that car since the forum is already flooded with red interiored pics.

I personally feel black/beige looks good over black/red combination.

This is the first time I am seeing a car with so many automatic gearbox variants, had it been some other brand they would have limited the turbo automatic to the two top-spec trims only. Kudos to MG for taking this step amongst it's competitors.

Example: Today if someone wants an Auto Creta/Seltos/Kushaq/Taigun, they have to spend minimum 15Lakhs OTR (17Lakhs for the Creta) to get one, looks like the Astor may have the auto option below 15Lakhs which can be a win for MG!

Isn't this the reason they are doing flash sale for 3000-4000 units. MG will control inventory and demand along with managed expectations? In turn also keep hype and demand burning.

XUV700 is also coming. Pent up demand will be through the roof this festive season.

Most of other manufacturer are all set to raise prices on 01 October. It will also play psychological role to tilt preference towards new entrants/models in the market.

This looks very nice, but is a dirt magnet.

If one doesn't want to put enough effort and money in maintaining one, then it is best to opt for black or red.

Is there any news about what features are gonna be available in the lower variants?

Looking at the variant names, MG could have done a better job here. The variant names are not straightforward to understand the variant stack. Generally, the manufacturer suffix additional letters/words to indicate higher variant but Astor’s variant names are confusing. Smart STD looks like it offers something extra, but it sits below Smart. Same with Sharp and Sharp STD. However, Savvy Red sits above Savvy. They could have followed a simple naming convention by adding “plus” to indicate higher variants instead of adding “STD” for lower variants.

Thanks a Ton for these Pic's :thumbs up.
My doubts have been cleared and this combination is beginning to grow on me. The Airy feeling that light interiors give is unmatched, especially when one doesn't want to feel claustrophobic.

Will see this interior again in real, when I go for Test Drive on 1st October.

Now only 1 thing is left, that is variant selection. I want a Variant with All Safety Features. Is there any chance of Sharp getting 6 Airbags ? I will be happy if it has them.

Not a problem for me. Take a look below,







Yes, that's our 10 year old car (Volkswagen Jetta) without any Interior Refurbishment of sorts. I haven't even bothered to get it cleaned during service intervals.

Very nice and a well maintained car.

I have been able to maintain vento with beige interiors in spick and span shape, but it did need some effort.

I was speaking in general terms and not a specific case. MG Astor interiors seems more lighter than beige interiors one gets in Volkswagen and Skoda. It looks more whiteish tone from pictures.

With kids not everyone will get as lucky. One has to factor this one too before opting for lighter interior.

Drive experiences are still under embargo till 30th September.
However I found someone commenting on the drive experience, which says "Astor lives up the hype in the drive."
Although she is a journalist, but not a keen driver. So, let's still wait till our mods put out their experiences.

It looks more premium when compared to black/red combination. And I don't think it should be a big deal when it comes to maintenance. Our car also has beige seat covers.

I was wondering from day 1 after seeing the interior pics of Astor. It reminded me of some other car's steering wheel design but I couldn't remember. Now after seeing your Jetta's pics it struck me. Astor's steering wheel design is similar to one in 2012 Vento(at least for me:D )

And coming to the feature list, No one has any clue about how things will get distributed across variants. Or they are tight lipped. I tried my best to extract more information but didn't get anything apart from things already available in the forum.

Thanks a lot for these images. I have been waiting to see this since the time the preview came out. I like this ivory & black combo much better than the other two and this will be my choice if I ever buy the Astor.

One by one Astor seems to be fulfilling all my requirements for an upgrade. Really hope it drives and handles well and comes with a good crash rating.


Just for the purpose of nitpicking, I somehow don’t like the way front seatbelt’s are attached to the B pillar base area. There seems to be a significant panel gap too. It could have been better concealed I feel. Also, the sunroof cover seems to be letting in a lot of light even when closed.

Reviews will be based solely out of driving in Buddh International Circuit?

This will surely give a very good idea on driving and handling dynamics of car including high speed stability.

How about real world driving and reviews? Take in B2B traffic, pot hole ridden roads, open highway.

Where is that good old every day usage scenario reviews vanishing?

Manufacturer are getting clever on how to get as much as possible positive feedback on initial reviews by limits to environment in which they are tested.

I am hoping the review covers all scenarios that one will encounter in a daily drive else it just dilutes the whole purpose.

Not everyone will end up driving in a simulated and well controlled environment while wearing a helmet in car along with ADAS.

Thanks for the detailed review Aditya :thumbs up. If it is as fun to drive as VW Tiguan then we have a winner here.

MG have got the pulse of Indian customers which is why they are never short of features which south Korean manufacturers were doing for years.

Diesel engine would have been icing on cake for high mileage users otherwise everything is on point in my opinion.