Hey are you guys ready to say hello MG Hi how can I hope you can help me by
telling me who are you sorry I can't do it
well she may not be able to do it but I can because finally we've got a hands on
MG first offering for India the hector on public roads so what is mg
about and what is the hector about let's find out
now if you are over 30 years old and have some amount of interest in
automobiles you know that MG stands for Morris Garages which is a British brand
and you might also know that they are known for making small affordable sporty
machines which this isn't it's big as you can see affordable well
we'll have to wait and see about that and sporty well it's the kind of sporty
we like SUV the face modern SUV right that's a layout we know
so well now on top there you have those LED DRLs and the actual headlamps down
below which are all LEDs you're on the top and variant that we are driving and
I'm gonna shout out here for the usage of chrome there's plenty of it but
tastefully done and another shout out for the front parking sensors on the
hector as well
and we're going to give an even bigger shout out to the generosity of the
hector because you get all LED headlamps and tail lamps on all but the
lowest variant there are LED DRL trun indicators on rvm's but the cool
factor right from the base variant there are roof rails up top and side body
cladding to ensure that even the base variant has the proper rugged quotient
198 millimeters of ground clearance SUV quotient established well someone
it's not setting benchmarks on that front but what it is setting benchmarks
is in terms of length is the longest in the class has the longest wheelbase but
the sad part is those overhangs aren't exactly flattering they exaggerate the
size of it and that's where those wheels which are 17 inch machine finished look
smart but they end up getting bluffed by the car's proportions and those wheel
arches that bulge out diminish their impact and taking away from that SUV
quotient is also the roofline which kind of swoops down like an MPV
well that MPV like body style this clamshell like tailgate and those tail
lamps do they remind you of a certain German
well the German impression the building is it scared forward to even the way the
doors open this feels hefty let's see what it's like on the inside while a
weighty door is unnecessary good plastics aren't and in the hector sigh
of relief that's what it might be for a lot of you who asked us is mg British or
the Chinese well it is a British brand that's owned by Chinese company and when
you step in on you'll see that it is tastefully done this doesn't have the
usual clichés of being only flashing your gaudy in fact the dash design is
simple the way it's all put together it feels solid
the shut aligns are nice and consistent the quality of materials not the most
plush but you do have some soft touch elements here on the dash on the door
pads which give it that sense of richness could it do better
sure it could some of the quilting for the leather of the stitching could be
that much better to increase the sense of occasion on the inside
and it could do better in other areas as well
for instance the support being offered by these seats just the under thigh
support could be better even when you raise it up for shorter drivers like me
it has a six way power adjustable driver seat and tilt and telescopic steering
but the top two variants but finding the right driving position is a bit
difficult
but the driver does get a lot of conveniences like height adjustable seat
belts for the front occupants rear wipe and washer from the base variant and
cruise control too there's also a large 7-inch M ID for the driver which shows
information like tire pressures and your music playlist but this is hard to read
in bright sunlight but what's really taking center stage in this cabin is
that 10.4 inch touchscreen infotainment system now this is the car's computer
and in terms of responsiveness this is better than what we experienced last
time I couldn't get a bit snappier as well but on the whole this is still nice
and usable
one really handy feature that's also displayed here is the 360-degree camera
which makes wriggling out of tight spaces really easy in a car as large as
this
and the infinity sound system is pretty awesome too
the party piece of course of the system is the use of voice commands
hello mg roll down driver side window roll down driver side window I'm sorry
I'm having trouble understanding you may press the talk button to try again
well there that happens once in a while I'm gonna try that again
hello mg open driver side window there you go and that's not the only one the
one that you will really enjoy is to make most of the large panoramic sunroof
hello mg hi how can i help you please open the sunroof and then there's of course this the ismart app
which basically lets you control your internet enabled car using an app on the
phone
open sunroof and the passcode go some reason is saying closing sunroof right
now okay we're gonna open it again sunroof open enter security code done
opening sunroof yes success now open tailgate enter security
code unlocking tailgate it's saying success but as you can see it's not open
the daily again we will try that again
unlocking tailgate hope that's not worked out quite fine and that's exactly
the point of this these are features that are nice to talk about and are
handy every now and then but right now they're more like gimmicks not exactly
things on which you would decide to buy a car
it hasn't won our trust over just yet but interestingly because of being
internet enabled it has a couple of additional features which up the safety
and sense of security because in case of an emergency the system itself can send
out a call and a message to emergency services and to an emergency contact
that you can load onto the system here
well what have we got back here recline adjustable seats check it out and as you
can see they're split and you get three adjustable headrests here along with the
proper three-point seatbelt even for the middle passenger big thumbs up on that
front the other side you get your aircon vents a fast-charging socket and a place
to store your phone in down there in this floor console and what I would have
liked more would have been maybe Sun blinds for the rear passengers because
this is a large glass area and this back seat well it is quite spacious and airy
you can see them on knee room over here it's huge but where it is lacking
here again is in terms of under thigh support you could do with more here even
for shorter passengers like me and taller occupants we'll definitely find
this to be quite knees up and the thing is if you are sitting in the petrol
hybrid on that side behind the front passenger
you really can't push your feet forward because that's where one of the
batteries for the hybrid system is stored
taller occupants though won't complain about headroom here because there's
enough on offer despite there being a sunroof backed in there
587 litres of boot space that is impressive and you can look at this it's
wide it's deep the thing is it's a bit shallow especially with this luggage
cover on top you could remove that when you have larger pieces of luggage
dystonia and you'd think it is shallow because there's the tire sitting
underneath the spare wheel but when you lift this car up you'll see that there
is some more odd stored space here for maybe soft luggage spare wheel is
actually underneath and to access that don't start crying
you don't have to play some kind of a puzzle like your to do in the old innova
you have a small flap here which you open up and then there's a bolt which
you just wind away and the wheel will drop down now let's spin those wheels
now there are four drivetrain options on offer on the mg Hector starting with the
petrol manual then there's the petrol hybrid manual then there's the petrol
automatic which does not get hybrid and then there's the diesel manual of these
four we are only driving the petrol hybrid manual and the diesel manual
today
and the petrol motor seems to be very well suited for the urban grind
but combining hybrid tech with turbo charging what you're getting is dot
boost from the electric motor when you're off turbo and once the turbo is
on of course you've got that Drive plus the electric motor to give you the
responsiveness which means even at low speeds just tap the throttle and you get
nice pepperiness from the engine and that even continues when you're at
highway speeds at 80 kilometres an hour just go on the gas lightly when you're
doing you know you're in sixth gear under 2,000 rpm go on the gas and you
get the pepperiness that you want it's such a satisfying experience
we can tell you that the clutch on this is light so that even for everyday
driving this shouldn't be a hassle
but there are a couple of things that you will wish the patrol did better one
there's a slight wine from the engine that's always a parent inside the cabin
and second even when you're constantly on throttle you'll find that the power
comes on in sudden bursts I think that has to do with the combination of the
way that electric motor and the turbo kind of deliver their talk and third out
on the highway you're gonna find that while this is
adequate for cruising and for covering distances for high speed overtakes power
delivery might feel a little weak and part of the reason is down to the
gearing in first gear you'll do about 50 kph second over 80 and third near about
a hundred and thirty this is undoubtedly to do with fuel efficiency and to get
higher numbers
mg claims a fuel efficiency of 14 kilometers per liter for this engine but
if mileage is a key concern then the seventeen point four KPL of the
diesel might appeal to you more now this two litre diesel engine the hector
we've seated in the compass we've seen it in harrier and it comes in 170 PS
tier of Q which is the same as the compass the Harrier gets less and this
though has been tuned specifically for the hector in conjunction with Fiat
powertrain technologies and SAIC the 350 Newton meters of torque is same for all
these cars and that is a good thing for the hector
what you are getting is a diesel engine that's great for covering distances
quickly out on the highway it's got the punch for that yet at the same time it's
got good drivability even and low revs parts coming on from 1500 rpm and the
gear shifts are pretty slick although the clutch is of course heavier than on
the petrol so in terms of ride comfort is taking up the shocks of the road
nicely
it is job well done because at near sixteen hundred and fifty kilograms for
the top-end petrol variant the hector isn't a light weight for sure now this
is a big SUV and keeping that in mind I am pleasantly surprised with the way it
manages itself around corners neatly if it isn't the sporty utility vehicle that
you might imagine it to be but it is neat and clean the 215 section tires are
a bit narrow to start with and they begin to squeal quite early
when chucked into a corner also we would like to see how the hector fields at
triple digit speeds on an open highway for sustained durations mg has of course
thrown in a whole host of safety technology like ESC hill hold control
all of which make it that much easier to drive and of course I haven't mentioned
that up now the top variants gets six airbags as well we said hello mg and the
Hector's reply was a bit surprising because shown off this flashy exterior
and the Gordy promise of internet inside what you end up with is a sensible
family SUV because it is a large and spacious SUV those engines are easy to
drive that enough drivability for everyday use in the city and punch on
the highway the diesel offering a little bit more out there on the open roads in
terms of driving manners it is safe if an exciting
it is also packed with safety convenience and comfort features some of
which are enabled by the connected car technology but for many of them to be
really impactful on an everyday basis they need to have better consistency in
terms of performance aside from that the Hector could also do better in terms of
backseat comfort and the quality of the cabin fit and finish could be that
little bit better to take on its rivals from other continents but despite these
shortcomings we are optimistic about the Hector actually scratch that cautiously
optimistic because as of now we don't have prices of the Hector and the Hector
is also going to have to win our trust but when MG launched the Hector later
this month they could ensure that when you walk into an MG showroom you walk in
but with caution just with optimism