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2023 MG Hector: How an 80 km test drive convinced me to book the SUV

9th February 2023, 13:39 by Rahul Nagaraj

It does not feel like an SUV but then also does not feel like a MUV also, it's able to strike a balance in between.

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Got a chance to take a long test drive of the new hector. My son was having headaches in my car but not in dad's Baleno, so I requested MG to give me a long test drive on the highway, and they obliged by letting me drive as long as I want. I took it for almost an 80 km long drive, kudos and hats off to MG Hector Showroom at ORR for being so accommodating, as they had to take special approval for such a long drive.

My Observations

Pros

Car is spacious and has a very commanding driving position and the seats are very comfortable and very accommodating.
The interiors are really amazing for the 5-seater, though our test drive car was Hector Plus 7-seater.
Car takes a bit of time to get rolling but once it starts picking speed it accelerates quickly and reaches 80 at no time, I was cruising at 100 with the RPM at around 2000.
ADAS features work well, and it might come as a surprise for the first time as the steering becomes heavy and firm to be in the same lane while in cruise mode.
The car really looks nice from pretty much every angle, the TD car was white and had quite a bit of road presence. It does not feel like an SUV but then also does not feel like a MUV also, it's able to strike a balance in between.
Ride quality is supple and feels planted at low speeds, but as you gain speeds the big body shows its colour and you do feel the boat-like ride quality as described above. It is not a deal breaker but will take time to get used to.
The lag of the music system is taken care of by Apple Carplay, which connects seamlessly and is absolutely fluid to use, on the downside it does not activate the ORVM camera while putting on the indicator when you are on Carplay.
The auto indicator though touted as a gimmick actually works well when you need to take a slow turn, they do come up before the car starts turning, I was able to activate them easily a few times, though they are still best controlled manually.
Loaded with features which put many other cars in the same price segment and even a segment above to shame and they all work seamlessly.
Ac was very good and the car was really cool at the lowest blower setting and temperature set to 24 on ACC, we did a test drive in the evening so that added to keep the cabin cool.
Amazing boot space in a 5-seater, can carry loads of equipment and stuff.
The car can be put in manual mode and has 7 gears which you can go up and down by moving the gear lever on left and will definitely give confidence while making quick overtakes.
Great build quality.
Ambient lights are beautiful and though now they have removed them from cup holders they still have a strip running under the hand rest which gives it a nice feel. Additionally, you have ambient lights on bottle holders on all 4 doors and in the footwell. Would have been great if they had given a strip on the passenger doors also.
The stock music system is amazing and extremely well-calibrated.
Dedicated icons for Apple Carplay and android auto, makes life so much easier.
The all-around LED lights especially the backlights look amazing and the sequential indicators add class to the outside look.
Great Build quality
Best thing kiddo did not have a headache.

Not so good

Lights are mediocre while transitioning from dusk to night, they pretty much were non-existent in low beam, once darkness sets in they work decent and High beam has a good throw. Probably instead of all LED setups manufacturers should keep low beams as Halogen, my favourite lights to date continue to be one on my dad Baleno, it is amazing.
Music system is still Laggy, and needs work, it has to be more fluidic. Though a lot of tasks can be done by voice commands, it is no excuse that MG should have worked harder on it. It was all over the internet and also user feedback which MG did not work on but ended up increasing the size of the system instead. The only saving grace is that Apple car play works flawlessly, and that is what I will use 99% of the time, so I am not too worried, but hopefully, some software updates fix this.
The Big Hector logo in the back in is not to my liking it is too much on your face and should have been smaller.
The use of chrome could have been reduced.
It's a big car and the turning radius is much higher than in Vento, need to plan U-turns better and tight U-turns will take some effort.
MID Display is a bit dull and though I did not change the brightness and I am not sure what brightness it was on, it can be a bit crisper, even at the brightness setting it was on.
Test drive car still did not have a footboard so getting in and out was a bit of exercise.
Maybe they should have introduced a new alloy design to differentiate the side profile.
The camera quality is not great as compared to the competition, could have worked more on this as well, though the 360-degree camera in itself works great.

Cons

Interior colour on the 7-seater was not to our liking, thank god the wife had seen the 5-seater first, or she might have rejected the car just for this colour. The Beige black combo looks great, and they should have given that as an option at least for 6 and 7-seater.
USB C Ports are missing, should have given a few, now will need to use adapters for charging, though with wireless charging it is not too much needed for the driver, there are others who would need to charge phones.
The car needs to be driven with a light foot or rubber band effect is quite evident as it is all engine noise and no movement if you go hard on the accelerator. This car is best driven with a relaxed right foot.
Sports mode is pretty much a joke, you are better off using the manual Tiptronic than going sports mode.
Missing Auto in diesel is a big miss.

Overall Verdict

I have requested them to give me a better quote on insurance to which they have asked me to get a quote from outside and they will try to match it. I will contemplate it for a couple of days but I am 99% sold on the car and will be booking the Hector Savvy Pro in black in the next few days. To someone who called it a Chinese jugaad above, sorry buddy you are grossly mistaken, it is nowhere a jugaad but a very well-rounded product at a sensible price compared to a lot of other counterparts. I think you should go take a look at the car once. What good is a well-engineered product if it breaks down more than a Chinese jugaad.

Leaving you with some pics.