MG HS review and buyer’s guide
Midsize SUVs are insanely popular in Australia. But is the cut-price MG HS, from an emerging brand, a genuine alternative to the king, Toyota RAV4? Let’s find out if it’s the value stacks up for a consumer like you…
The Toyota RAV4 is the king of sales when it comes to the medium SUV, which is the most popular sub-category of new car sales in Australia - but a challenger has entered the arena…
The MG HS is a compelling vehicle to consider if budget and a ‘close enough’ mentality are among your research criteria for your next new family ferry.
So let’s see how the upstart compares with the benchmark of five-seat familial SUVs, the evergreen Toyota RAV4…
Download the proper MG HS brochure here >>
For the purposes of this review, we’re going to all-but-ignore the hybrid RAV4 model grades, because the HS doesn’t have an equivalent powertrain. But we will compare the two brands’ hybrid powertrains in terms of their applications and help you decide which would better suit you in the context of what driving you do.
Toyota has taken 20 years to get RAV4 this good - but MG has only taken five…
The MG HS is a strict five-seater with a price range between $33,000 and $43,000 before you include on-road costs like rego, stamp duty, GST and delivery fees. A RAV4 in non-hybrid goes from $39,800 for the GX, to the Cruiser at $51,400, again before on-road costs. So let’s compare the closest variant to $40,000 (before on-roads), which would be the HS Essence at $39,000 and the RAV4 GX (the base model, $42,000) and these prices are indicative based on data sourced from Redbook.com.au. (Obviously depending on your state, things like rego and stamp duty can vary).
Just to kick things off, the RAV4 GX only gets 17-inch alloys (and pretty bland ones at that) while the HS Essence runs on 18-inch alloys with some modest flair - but then again, we are looking at the third-tier HS with only one more model grade to go. So you can see how fair this fight is going to be in terms of available equipment.
Here’s everything you’ll find on that $40K HS Essence:
Adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping, auto emergency braking, blindspot detection & rear cross-traffic alert
18-inch alloy wheels, space-saver/temporary spare wheel, tyre pressure monitoring
10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen
Apple CarPlay & Android Auto
Driver’s seat: 6-way electric adjustment, synthetic leather; Heated front seats
Panoramic sunroof & dual-zone climate control
Front, front side and full length curtain airbags
360-degree camera system & rear parking sensors
Keyless entry & push-button start
Electric door mirrors with heating
LED headlights, indicators and taillights, halogen front & rear fog lamps, LED daytime running lights
Silver roof rails, leather steering wheel
Chilled front console
Satnav, front & rear USB ports, 6-speaker sound system
Tell me exactly how the MG HS Essence is not the premium vehicle here. It has literally everything the modern commuting, working, family-driven mum or dad could need in a metro-based midsize SUV. A Mazda CX-5 has a space-saver spare, but only a handful of these features. Ditto the RAV4 - the only thing is has in common here is CarPlay/AAuto, the crash-avoidance/blindspot detection stuff (but every carmaker’s made these things standard now), and the number of speakers.
The RAV does get a full-size spare, however, but in a city environment where tyre shops are everywhere, it hardly matters.
QUALITY INTERIORS: Some Chinese vehicles are hot on the heels of Korean & Japanese carmakers
Inside the HS it’s a surprisingly well-finished interior. It’s here that the level of competition between the established brands like Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda - and the upcoming MG - is quite evident.
The top-echelon HS feels like a brand new previous generation Kia Sportage GT-Line in terms of its fit and finish. This should terrify the big brands. And the lower-level model grades all feel like a factory fresh Hyundai or Toyota from the mid 2010s, straight off the cargo ship.
And you can see by the ambitiously designed air vents and the sweeping symmetrical dashboard lines, the brushed aluminium centre transmission surrounds, the contrasting red stitching - and the good placement of cupholders behind the transmission shifter - that MG’s design team is very close to getting things bang-on.
When you step inside the RAV4, it does not feel like the premium vehicle, it has to be said. All the switchgear and panels inside a GX do feel marginally more solid, and if you have kids who treat your vehicle like a jumping castle, this is a welcome benefit.
Toyota RAV4 definitely has the harder wearing interior, but you’re still only getting a GX for circa-$40K
But it’s hard to see the advantage of buying the low-tier GX RAV4 with its unmistakably grey hard-plastic interior when for roughly the same price leather and colour await you in the top-spec HS.
On the other side of that coin, where there was a vast divide between Chinese brand vehicles and anything the Japanese had on offer, in the early 2010s, that gap has shrunk considerably. They’re not all making shitboxes anymore. On objective criteria, you cannot look at a top-spec MG and have a rational argument that they aren’t close to Japanese or Korean cars in terms of their quality finish, how we’ll they’re made etc.
You don’t climb into the HS Essence and start laughing at X-Y-Z where that was a well-founded expectation back when Holden and Ford were still around, South Korean cars were just starting to ripen and the Japanese were the benchmark automotive engineering and design standard.
Times certainly have changed. In fact, you could suggest with a straight face that there being only three primary icons on the infotainment home screen for the driver to engage with might suggest they’ve overtaken in the ‘how-not-to-distract-drivers’ competition when it comes to technology ergonomics.
And on-demand AWD system is available with a 2-litre turbocharged petrol engine, which is a good option if camping and soggy backroads, or steep driveways are a regular in your life.
This on-demand AWD system means it is reactive, waiting for the ECU to detect wheelspin before splitting the drive and directing some to the rear. Steep hillstarts and heavy rain at the lights are going to be the kinds of daily driving scenarios where this system is most likely to be engaged, but if you do like the odd camping adventure where grassy campgrounds can turn boggy overnight with as little as a dewy morning, this is better than nothing.
It’s absolutely not a Subaru’s constant and symmetrical AWD, and nor is it a beefy 4X4 driveline with low-range gearing etc, but it will get you out of trouble in most light-duty situations. The fact MG also explicitly tells you in its sales brochure about this reactive AWD system should speak volumes about their intentions here. Mazda and Toyota don’t make that disclosure about their AWDs.
RESALE VALUE: Low price & high value -VS- higher price & lower depreciation
The heaviest hit in the MG HS arsenal is the price - it’s a proper haymaker
Let’s quickly talk about resale value because it’s the hidden cost that is the equivalent of losing single cash bills out the window every day of the vehicle’s ownership period under your name. The better the resale value, the smaller the notes. Can the MG make it fivers instead of tens or twenties.
We’ll start with sale volumes because that the most obvious piece of data and it tells a compelling story here. Put simply, the Toyota RAV4 is a juggernaut of residual value.
In 2022, for every one MG HS sold, Toyota moved three RAV4s. In 2023, it’s the same similar situation.
Five year sales trajectory: RAV4 vs HS
That’s 1 x MG HS to 3.5 x Toyota RAV4. And if we look at what used versions are selling for currently, it continues to paint a somewhat Salvador Dali style picture of what kind of losses you’re looking at when it comes to selling your old car on (presumably to pay for the next one).
According to data from Redbook, an early-run 2019 RAV4, with an average of 45,000-75,000km on the odometer, should sell privately between $31,600 to 34,600 - on a four-year-old GX poverty pack. The HS Essence from 2022 (just one year old) should have as little as 15,000-30,000km on it (because the average Australian driver does about 15 thousand clicks per year), but is only going to fetch you about $21,500 to $23,800 (call it $29K if you’ve really babied it, done minimal kms by continuing to work from home, and you opted for premium paint when new).
In four years you’ve lost about $4000 off the Toyota RAV4 GX. In just 12 months you’ve lost roughly $12,000 - that’s about $32 out the window every single day - on the MG HS in top-spec. Having said that, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t get substantially more for it after just one year of ownership. In fact you’d be able to negotiate pretty confidently to get more than $24K simply because it’s so new and with low mileage - it’s just the used market will be full of much cheaper versions, albeit with greater mileage.
HOWEVER: Depreciation, it needs to be said, has a very negative connotation. It leaves any new car buyer with a predisposition of resentment about buying a new car, which is not something you should be burdening yourself with if you genuinely need a new one. It’s okay to need or even just want a new car.
The advantage of buying the MG HS new to begin with is that you’re making a significant financial decision here and getting as much standard equipment for at least $10,000 less than others are paying on a notionally ‘mainstream’ or ‘affordable’ brand like Toyota is supposed to be, doesn’t need to be soured by a guilty conscious.
It should also be noted that Toyota Australia has struggled to make good on deposits for orders made on RAV4 with waiting times stretched as far as two years. It’s so bad they’ve had to begin cancelling orders and refunding deposits.
No such issue for MG, you’ll note. Expect sales of the HS to increase by the end of 2024 and again in 2025 as buyers continue to find the value proposition that lies with a $40K top-spec midsize SUV over a $50K one.
MG should sell about 10,000 HS SUVs by the end of 2023, using VFACTS sales data as a guide
The undeniable fact here is that you can have a fully loaded medium SUV with five seats, outboard ISOFix and top tether anchor points for child restraints, front-wheel drive, plenty of airbags, adaptive cruise, nice stuff like heated seats and sunroof - plus the snazzy wheels - or you could have a base model rental car in the RAV4.
And it’s not like the RAV4 has that much of a lead in terms of finesse. It’s certainly the better vehicle to drive in all conditions, thanks largely to Toyota’s decades of history refining the ride and handling on every vehicle, with the resources to build in volume and make running improvements with every model.
Certainly RAV4 has never been as good as it is right now and while it’s among high quality company like Mitsubishi Outlander, Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage, the Mazda CX-5 and Subaru Forester, the fact is MG is closing fast.
The brand has produced in the HS a pretty good brand new version of each carmaker’s previous generation vehicles mentioned above. The HS feels like a brand new previous generation Kia Sportage which debuted in 2016.
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BRINGING UP THE REAR
One of the hardest working areas of a modern family’s daily transport tractor (AKA SUV) is the boot. You’re going to shove, drop, throw, collect, dump and seldom clean back there, so every bit of real estate needs to be accounted for and off the bat, the RAV4 has a particularly big boot.
You’ll get a hypothetical 542 litres of fluid in there, including air. That’s 17 per cent more space than the HS at 463 litres. But given that you’re paying $42,000 for the GX, that’s $77 per litre of luggage space you’re going to outlay. The HS at $39,000 means you’re paying $88 per litre.
But you’re getting more than just the boot in the MG, you’re getting 85 per cent of the RAV4’s boot space, plus all that equipment which is at least $3000-5000 extra on the Toyota.
And considering both models are heavily relied upon by tourists in rental car fleets across the country, it’s un unreasonable to suggest your two checked baggage suitcases and your carry-on is all going to fit quite satisfactorily.
Both have minimal rear wheelarch intrusion in the boot area and there’s virtually exactly the same aperture with which to lift in your bulkiest, most awkward child-raising accoutrement, and if you want to be really picky, the RAV4 has a slightly squarer boot floorpan which is always a more efficient use of space than anything rounded. But that’s being exceptionally pedantic - it’s not like you’re going to be filling up every crevice.
Both boot floors are at about the same 700-800mm off the hard deck, and neither is particularly better or worse for loading said heavy stuff like bulky prams or oversize luggage. Neither has a tailgate that opens insufficiently high so as you scalp the first six-footer.
Under the boot floor you’ll find that temporary, space-saving spare wheel and tyre which is speed limited to 80km/h. Above that is a separate plastic tray holding the tools. And underneath everything you’ll see very minimal sound deadening type materials. That cabin whirr from wind and road noise continues up the front.
Quite practically, there’s also a good level of underfloor storage where you would notionally be able to keep things like rope, straps, emergency water or a small first aid kit, or tool.
The lack of a full-size spare wheel in Australia, especially if you intend on regional or rural travel a lot, should be a big part of your decision-making process. Why? Because even venturing into the regions on school holidays where the boot is completely full of heavy stuff, the kids are asleep on the ride home, and it’s up to you to get everybody home when you suffer a flat tyre, running on a skinny little party balloon is sub-optimal.
If your vehicle has all-wheel drive, the space-saver will be compromised in terms of how much grip it can offer with the road. It also means you’re speed limited to just 80km/h, meaning it takes you even longer to get home, which increases the symptoms of fatigue and the likelihood of getting something wrong.
Obviously this is a statistically unlikely scenario, but in terms of risk mitigation, it’s certainly an easy factor to consider. At a push, you probably could find room for a full-size spare under the floor of the HS if you remove the plastic tray underneath the carpet panel. This is certainly one area MG Australia could make a small improvement to make a big difference to the practicality of what is a two-tonne vehicle when fully laden with the kids, their stuff and a bunch of bikes and camping gear.
Actually, the payload on the HS is pretty average. The gross vehicle mass is only 1989kg, meaning when you subtract the 1550kg kerb weight, you’re left with 439kg of payload. That’s before anybody’s climbed aboard or before you’ve put a single bag in the boot.
While we’re on the subject of weight and practicality, the HS does have a towing capacity. It’s just not great. In its most powerful, heaviest trim level (even with AWD), it’ll only do 1500kg of braked trailer. But to be fair, that’s significantly more than the utterly pathetic limit set for any hybrid RAV4 at 480kg.
If you need your midsize SUV to pull even a moderate load, have a serious look at 2-litre diesel versions of the Hyundai Tucson or Kia Sportage first-off, or possibly consider a Mazda CX-5 or Subaru Outback if the latter don’t work out for whatever reason.
WHY RIDE AND HANDLING MATTERS
Modern new-car buyers can be a bit quick to dismiss a good-handling vehicle, if they even bear it attention to begin with.
But the reality is that everyone you hold dear in your family, generally speaking, depends on all the minute, detailed engineering tweaks that go into a vehicle’s behaviour on the road.
Tyre companies will tell you that their products are what helps your family car stick to the road… But who keeps your tyres on the road in every single millisecond you’re driving that vehicle through time and space? Engineers inside car company R&D facilities.
If your tyres are Bridgestone’s hands, the suspension, steering and dampers are the metaphoric arms and legs
When a brand-spanking new vehicle comes onto the market like the GWM Tank 300 which can’t keep all four tyres on the deck, that’s a fail. But with certainty, you won’t find either the MG HS or a Toyota RAV4 coming off the deck in the same way, however they do behave differently on the road.
Driving both vehicles through regional Far North Queensland for a week, on a variety of main roads, dual-carriageways, single-lane and quite twisty arterial roads (to and from Port Douglas), as well as back-and-forth through the Cairns strip, with all seats taken - both the RAV4 and HS were quite well behaved. (As they should be on a modern SUV with all the standard passive safety gear like electronic stability control, traction control, anti-lock brakes and electronic brakeforce distribution - which is all required by law, FYI.)
Let’s also consider both powertrains here. The 1.5 turbocharged petrol 4-cylinder in the MG is adequate. It’s nothing special and certainly doesn’t inspire any vigorous, peppy driving behaviour - but that’s because when you try to drive with even extra light enthusiasm, it gets far too excited and starts spooling that turbo and changing down gears.
It only has 110kW to work with, but peak power kicks in at 1700RPM and it thinks you’re off to the races, when all you want to do is pull away gently and smoothly from the lights. It’s not appallingly bad, but it does take finesse to find that calm middle ground.
The 7-speed dual-clutch isn’t terrible, but it does too much hunting for gears when you’re not in ‘sport’ mode and you just want a smooth wave of torque to lightly increase speed for an overtake or something. You don’t want a down-change and a 4000-5000 RPM eruption, because then you have to let-off the gas and settle everything down again, by which point your other half thinks you’re a nutter. This is an ECU management thing which used to happen occasionally with the first DCTs from mainstream brands, but has been largely ironed out these days. MG is nearly there in that regard.
Among the other reasons for this exuberance is the premium fuel it takes. You might’ve saved several grand on the HS, but you’ll be paying more for the fuel you buy because it runs on 95 RON. Being direct injection also means this engine is tweaked toward performance rather than fuel economy, which is why when you step into the RAV4, things feel somewhat bipolar.
The RAV4 is 1650kg with a full 55-litre tank of 91 RON (same capacity as the MG HS), but it’s tuned for fuel economy by being multi-point injection: Here’s what that means in detail >> And that’s not to suggest a medium SUV can’t be tuned for direct injection, because plenty of vehicles in this category are and they are beautiful to drive. The HS isn’t bad per se, it’s just not as refined.
The RAV4 is more sedate and civilised than the HS, it cannot be ignored, especially in terms of throttle input. In ordinary traffic, taking off from the lights, overtaking and merging, low-speed navigation of carparks where you want minimal engine input, it’s absolutely the more refined vehicle to drive.
When you get out ono the open road, including freeways, winding back roads and tight hilly curves with the odd hairpin bend, the RAV4 not only behaves itself in delivering adequate performance from the engine, but also in how it moves through 3D space: Learn more about basic suspension dynamics here >>
The HS has a habit of biting down too hard on the brakes, which makes it twitchy. It pitches the nose down which is okay (that’s what’s supposed to happen) but it isn’t as dignified and doesn’t stay as composed as the RAV4. There’s a bit more body roll in the HS and the RAV just maintains its composure as you get the front end pointed toward the middle of a corner.
At higher speeds the bumps are soaked up much sooner in the RAV than in the HS. The MG continues to reverberate very slightly when the RAV finished see-sawing on its springs long-ago. And this is where things get really interesting in comparing these two vehicles.
The MG is genuinely very close to being dynamically sorted in the same way a Tucson, Sportage, RAV4, Forester or CX-5 is absolutely sublime in these same driving conditions. But it’s not hard to see and feel where the R&D has been spent.
The closer a carmaker gets a vehicle’s handling dynamics to perfect, the harder it becomes to make it so, because you’re changing the tiniest engineering attributes on that vehicle. The fact the MG HS is so damn close that most ordinary car buyers wouldn’t notice most of these behavioural characteristics during their test drive, shows just how good-enough it is.
After all, this is a medium SUV for moving families through the mundanity of suburban life. It’s not a performance car, and it’s not some off-road weekend weapon. It’s just a car, and it’s pretty bloody good - for the price.
But where it is actually important for an ordinary family vehicle to be at its best, is in the worst possible moments. Tyres can only offer so much grip, and most drivers are not taught how to effectively execute an emergency stop or swerve-and-recover manoeuvre. And in these sudden, terrifying situations, you need every little piece of the vehicle’s underlying engineering to be your saving grace.
So all those tiny, finessed engineering inputs of the vehicle make a big difference when you need the vehicle to act quickly in dodgy situations. It needs to not pitch and roll, it needs to have a smooth, controlled reaction to jumping on the brakes. If you swerve, you need the suspension to cope and keep all four wheels on the deck to the greatest potential, not close enough.
Nor do I want to fear monger here, because it’s probably quite unlikely you’ll be in such situation, but it’s possible. And there’s no denying that the MG might not be as well engineered in those extreme circumstances, and yes it probably is going to be good enough in those scenarios. But this is about making you aware of both vehicle so you can make an informed choice.
I the MG is the most vehicle you can afford, the it’s quite okay to say that’s the best option. And it’s not a shitbox, it’s a good vehicle with a very high value proposition. And it drives quite well in a wide range of situations. Is it as sharp as the RAV4? No. Does it need to be? That’s up to you…
If you’re in the market for a hardcore 4X4 wagon that can tow, climb and haul, the Isuzu MU-X is not a bad idea. But here’s why you should take a good hard think before dropping up to $80K on this seven-seat four-wheel drive…