MG GS 2016 Review

MG GS
Quick Spin
Dubai, UAE

Just as the Japanese came in the 1960s and the Koreans in the 1990s, China's automotive manufacturers are headed down under as they lift their sights from their own lucrative home market and eye global domination. MG, the nominated export brand of China's biggest manufacturer, SAIC Motor, is the most serious assault yet, and its GS SUV is its primary weapon. A low-price five-seat wagon with a decent specification, it reads well enough on paper. But what does the driving tell us?

It's a bit weird sitting in a small SUV with the MG octagon badge staring up at you from the steering wheel.

There's no wind in your hair here, no snap-crackle and pop of an angry little engine snorting through a set of SUs (they are carburettors children... C-A-R-B ... oh forget it).

The point is that MG, once a British-owned sports car manufacturer is now a Chinese-owned mainstream brand with designs on taking over the world – or at least becoming an establishing international brand.

We've gone through all that business stuff in this news story here, so we won't reprise, except to say SAIC Motor is the heaviest hitter in the global automotive industry you have never head of.

And if they get the product right, the distribution right and are prepared to stick with it then they should be successful. Just in the way the Japanese came to prominence in Australia in the 1960s and 1970s and the Koreans emerged in the 1990s.

This car, the GS medium-sized five-seat SUV is going to be integral to that plan because it sits smack bang in the heart of the quickest growing automotive segment in the world. Launched at the Shanghai auto show last April, it goes on-sale in Australia in the third quarter of 2016.

It will be sold through a new factory-owned distributor alongside the mid-size MG6 that's been here invisibly since 2013 via a now defunct independent distributor and the MG3 mini, which should launch around March.

GS will come with both 1.5 and 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engines mated to a six-speed dual clutch transmission, three specification levels and the choice of front and on-demand all-wheel drive.

Co-developed by SAIC in Shanghai and MG's UK design and engineering centre at the old Longbridge MG Rover site in the UK, the GS is based on a new SAIC-developed scalable architecture dubbed SSA.

It measures up at 4500mm long, 1855mm wide and 1699mm high. That's within a few mm in each direction of a Mazda CX-5.

Our best guess at pricing – and it's a pretty darn good guess – is $22,990 drive-away. That's for the 1.5-litre fwd, but here we're having a quick spin in the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol all-wheel drive version of the GS. This is a new engine, producing 184kW and 350Nm. Claimed fuel consumption is 8.3L/100km with the aid of idle-stop.

Our test route was a freeway up and back, a few roundabouts, a few wrong turns and some anxious moments ducking and diving on the streets of Dubai as our Chinese navigator tried to sort out her smartphone's navigation app and remember her left from right – not always successfully.

What emerged was a vehicle with decent cabin functionality and ordinary driving manners.

The engine was strong on power but the engagement with the transmission lax, so you spent some time with a dead pedal at throttle tip-in. Changing up and down using the flappy pedals on the steering wheel helped the engine to respond on demand.

Acceleration was strong through the mid-range but became thrashy and vocal nearing the 7000rpm redline.

The electric-assist steering was clearly in need of some fine-tuning. It was doughy, remote and offered little confidence placing the car in a corner at speed. This is an entirely fixable issue with the right people plugged in and tuning the software on a laptop.

Suspension via MacPherson struts up-front and a torsion beam in the rear provided only loose body control.  Roll and float were both noticeable. Despite using Michelin tyres grip was low from the front-end in only moderately quick corners. Ride, however, seemed pretty decent on Dubai's fairly smooth roads.

Again, get someone with a knowledge of shocks, springs, stabiliser bars and tyres involved and the GS would be cleaned up to a quite acceptable dynamic level. At the moment in Australia it wouldn't cut it dynamically, but with around 10 months until local launch there's no logical reason these issues couldn't be rectified.

However, experience tells us that logic doesn't always rule car companies. Sorting GS out will be a good test for just how committed SAIC is to becoming a global player after years growing rich and fat in the protected Chinese market.

The surprise in all this is that Porsche supposedly consulted on the chassis tuning of this car. If GS is going to have the MG badge on it then it should be a bit more responsive than this.

Not much can be done about some other issues, like the poor visibility from the driver's seat when head checking while doing hurried lane swaps (they happened a bit), the under-sized and unsupportive front bucket seats, the rock-hard interior plastics and varying trim fitment.

The latter point is a reminder of the car's Chinese origins and the poor reputation for build quality, reliability and engineering standards that come with that. These are handicaps that are not easily overcome. Maybe when the car transitions to Thai production that will change.

However, the interior is actually quite spacious, especially in the reclining back seat. There are also some neat touches like the way the instrumentation back-lighting goes from white to red when the gear lever is tapped from drive to sport mode; the rear air conditioning vents in some models and reach and rake adjustment for the steering wheel (although whether this transfers to right-hand drive we will wait and see).

The GS is styled by MG's UK design team and looks good from most angles. But it loses its way at the rear, looking tall, narrow and fiddly. Open the tailgate – a feather-light action like the doors – and there's a storage area rated at 436 litres. It looks smaller than that, but there's also substantial compartmentalised under-floor space.

It's an effort to get stuff up into the boot and there are no retaining hooks. There is a 12v outlet though and two seat-back tethers for child seats. There may need to be three for the GS to be homologated in accordance with Australian Design Rules as a five-seater. Flip down the seats and the luggage rating expands to 1336 litres.

Dig right down in there and you'll find a space saver spare tyre too.

Which brings us to gear. There's plenty of water to go under the bridge yet before the GS comes to Australia and all we have to go on right now is the three model line-up for the Middle East. The safety base line there is only two airbags although up to six are available, stability and traction control, cornering brake control, hill descent control (AWD), rear parking sensors and a reversing camera (base spec misses out).

Clearly for Australia, six airbags will have to be standard across the range. The reversing camera should be also, especially considering the GS's limited rear vision.

The top model gets xenon headlights, leather seats, a powered driver's seat and a 6.1-inch colour media screen. The top two models get climate control, cruise control, keyless entry, a leather steering wheel and a glove box with cooling. All three get foglights, driving lights, a cargo area security blind, power windows, trip computer and an electric parking brake.

Driving the MG GS is clearly unlike any experience a traditional MG buyer would associate with. So let's untether from that now.

What is clear is this is an ordinary vehicle. But it can become acceptable, even likeable, if SAIC and its local distributor are brave enough between now and its launch to tune the driving behaviour to local conditions and tailor the equipment list so it marries with the expectations of local buyers.

Leave the GS as it is and launch a car that does not reflect Australian buyer expectations and demands and in a market as cut-throat as this it will sink pretty much without a trace.

2016 MG GS pricing and specifications:
Price: From $22,990 drive-away (Est.)
Engines: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Outputs: 164kW/350Nm
Transmission: Six-speed dual clutch
Fuel: 7.9L/100km (FWD) 8.3L/100km (AWD)
CO2: 183g/km (FWD) 195g/km (AWD)
Safety Rating: N/A

What we liked:
>> Good interior space
>> Mid-range engine response
>> Pricing

Not so much:
>> Low-speed engine tardiness, high-speed engine coarseness
>> Steering and suspension tuning not right for Australia
>> Concrete-hard trims

Also consider
>> Jeep Patriot (from $25,700)
>> Chery J11 (from $19,990 drive-away)
>> SsangYong Korando (from $21,990)