Styling
Where the
Mk1 HS was blandly inoffensive, even after a late-in-its-life facelift to keep it looking fresh(ish), the new one is a big step on aesthetically. It's possibly still a little derivative in places, given the front aspect is strongly reminiscent of the
Lexus LBX, but in general with its sleek lamp clusters, full-width light strip at the rear, black-panel-and-chrome-pinstripe detail between the headlights, large radiator grille and general angularity mixed with a few tasteful curves, the MG HS Mk2 is very easy on the eye. Every model gains full LED lights, silver roof rails and a set of 19-inch diamond-cut 'Blade' alloy wheels as standard, while the Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) gets side steps as well, so it holds true that even a base-spec HS looks smartly appointed on the outside.
Interior
This is the area with the single biggest - and much-needed, to be frank - improvement from Mk1 to Mk2 HS. It's not just that the company has upped the technology quotient in the SUV's cabin, to obvious beneficial effect, but the material quality is better all throughout. Everything looks and feels very nice, with squishy surfaces up top, decent finishes for the key touchpoints (steering wheel, gearlever, column stalks) and a sense of solidity to the way everything is put together. Yes, you can search out, how can we put this, more
earnest plastics lower down in the cabin, but you have to go actively looking for them and in normal everyday use, you'd realistically never, ever touch, poke or scratch at them. Base SE cars have cloth seats, which are fine, but Trophy models have black leather as standard, or the deeply appealing tan/beige option for £500; go for this, and it really lifts the ambience of the interior of the HS. However you spec it, though, it is leagues better than what went before, no doubt.
Then there's the technology. We'll start with the bad, or annoying - the advanced driver assist safety (ADAS) gear onboard is needlessly over-zealous if it's active, and it's not the work of a moment to switch it off either. MG does at least collate all these features under a tab marked 'MG Pilot' in the central infotainment display, which is accessed by one press of the car emblem to the right of the home screen. Now, to disconnect the irritating bonging of the speed limit warning is a single tap of a blue electronic slider button. Same for lane keep assist, although that one subsequently asks you if you want to confirm you're switching it off so two taps are needed (we're up to four in total at this stage, each and every time you start the HS up). But then, when you try and deactivate the driver fatigue and driver attention buttons, they seem to refuse to respond to your first, second or even third presses; this time, you actively need to swipe the e-button on screen to the left. By the time you've sworn at this and then, with the fatigue monitor, you're asked to confirm again, you've probably spent about 90 seconds trying to just switch off the ADAS.
You'll want to, though, because the MG is much nicer to drive without an incessant chorus of beeps and gongs accompanying your every mile behind the wheel of the SUV. And, ADAS aside, the rest of the technology is excellent. A pair of hi-def 12.3-inch digital screens are used for the main infotainment and the instrument cluster, and these are neatly housed in an oblong construct that takes up pretty much two-thirds of the dash. These operate nicely enough, if not being items which reset the digital human-machine interface of the automotive world in any way, and you can employ Apple CarPlay or Android Auto as alternatives if you prefer. SE cars have single-zone air-conditioning, rear parking sensors with a reversing camera, and cruise control as standard, but Trophy-grade vehicles see various useful upgrades like dual-zone climate, parking sensors all round with a 360-degree camera (featuring something called 'transparent chassis', which allows the driver to 'see' underneath the car using the camera system) and full adaptive cruise control... well, unless you stick with the manual gearbox, in which case you have to have 'plain' cruise still. But, generally, like any self-respecting MG, there's a plentiful amount of equipment included as standard across the board.
Practicality
This second-generation HS is 45mm longer than the old one and all of that extra metal has gone into the wheelbase, which in turn leads to greater rear legroom for passengers in row two of the cabin. You'll definitely get four tall adults into the MG, while five might even be possible because the HS has a negligible hump in the floor in the central-rear footwell. In-car storage is better up front in this Mk2 as well, while the boot has increased to figures of 507 litres with all seats in use and 1,484 litres with the 60:40 split rear bench folded away. Those numbers represent 44- and 30-litre gains respectively over the old HS (463-1,454 litres), but crucially they're also 59 and 109 litres up on the previous
PHEV. And the reason we specifically draw attention to this is that, for this new SUV, the plug-in hybrid will not sacrifice any boot space compared to the ICE version; it has the same 509-1,484-litre capacity as the 1.5-litre petrol. Good work, MG.
Performance
Like the outgoing HS, the new one comes as a 1.5-litre turbo petrol four, or as the PHEV. There have been improvements to the powertrain on the latter, not least a significant increase in battery size to 24.7kWh from a mere 14.9kWh previously. That's enough to massively ramp up the electric driving range to 75 miles, while slashing the CO
2 output to just 12g/km, and MG allowed us a brief go in a pre-production model. We'll save a full review on that for another time, but the short initial summation would be plenty of power, believable range claims but slightly more ponderous handling, thanks to a kerb weight that's 250kg in excess of any other HS model in the range.
The 1.5-litre is where we're focusing here, although MG says that while this looks like the same unit on the face of it, it's actually a thoroughly redeveloped engine. It has marginally more power (170hp, +8hp) and torque (275Nm, +25Nm) than the old HS, although the 0-62mph times are broadly the same. The six-speed manual is quicker for acceleration, recording 9.4 seconds to the seven-speed dual-wet-clutch DCT's 9.6-second sprint, but the auto is a little quicker flat out (121mph versus 118mph for the manual). Both 1.5T models are front-wheel drive only.
MG's aim with this unit was to improve mechanical refinement and that has certainly worked, but only to a degree. It can still be raucous at higher revs and it doesn't seem to have much in the way of midrange, which is most odd because that 275Nm is developed between 3,000- and 4,000rpm. It's not helped by a seven-speed DCT which is a little dim-witted at times, taking what feels like split-seconds too long to respond to heavy throttle inputs.
However, generally the 1.5T is a pleasing powerplant and the DCT is a smooth operator if you don't rush it, and because the MG HS is only 1.6 tonnes or thereabouts, it feels sprightly enough in town and it'll happily keep up with traffic flow on a motorway. Overall, while it might not be as silken as, say, a VW Group turbo petrol (although even that giant conglomerate's 1.5 sounds noisy at times), the MG's four-cylinder engine is a fine option.
Economy is not quite so hot, though, with official figures of 173g/km CO
2 and 37.2mpg for this DCT version only middling these days, or even sub-par if you're feeling mean. Most similar output and capacity rivals will claim something in the 40s on paper, mainly because the vast majority of them are fitted with mild-hybrid fuel-saving tech when the HS is not, but in the 1.5T's defence it did manage to achieve 32.8mpg on what was
quite a spirited test route, so we reckon 40-45mpg wouldn't be too hard to attain in the HS if you drive it sensibly on motorways for most of the time.
Ride & Handling
If we said earlier that the MG HS PHEV was ponderous for roadholding, that is not to say the 1.5-litre petrol is any great shakes in the corners. But it's also not bad, either. The body control is a little loose and there's some understeer to work around, so anyone seeing the fabled MG octagonal logo and remembering the (erstwhile) company's historic sports-car creations better not be expecting any of that DNA to have made its way into the HS. Yet, as these C-segment SUVs go, it's no worse in many ways than much of the opposition. The steering is slack and the damping, ultimately, lacks some of the sophistication that you might find in vehicles from larger carmakers than MG, but overall the way the HS handles is adequate for this sort of machine.
Where it has markedly improved from the old car is in terms of rolling refinement. It's a much quieter vehicle to travel in now, with absolutely minimal wind noise evident and only background levels of tyre roar making themselves known on poorer surfaces and at higher speeds. And while it might roll on 19-inch alloys, they're wearing 55-profile tyres so the MG tends to soak up lumps and bumps rather well. It's not perfect, the suspension again betraying the company's value roots as it can become skittish at town speeds if the HS encounters a series of ridges in quick succession, and there are occasions where the wheels thump into imperfections more audibly than they strictly need to. Yet, again, judged on a broader scope, the way the MG HS rides is more than acceptable for what it will need to do for its owners, so it's a clear talent upswing compared to the old Mk1 - which always felt quite rough around the edges from a dynamic perspective.
Value
One of the MG's strong points, and it always has been. A 1.5T SE manual starts from a fiver less than £25,000, which is quite remarkable when you consider most of its main rivals all kick off the wrong side of £30,000. Indeed, we were shown one slide of four key competitors for the HS which, when ordered in a similar equipment spec and with a modest turbo petrol engine, were about £5,800 to more than £10,000 dearer than the MG - these included the Qashqai, Hyundai Tucson,
Ford Kuga and
Kia Sportage.
And with CAP predicting a 55 per cent residual value for the MG HS after three years and 36,000 miles, its second-hand sale figure ought to be within £1,600 and £2,600 of all the other four, so it won't depreciate as much and is therefore less money per month to sign up for on a PCP. MG says it's a 'C-segment SUV for B-segment prices', and it's hard to argue with the company's sentiment on that score, especially as you also get a seven-year, 80,000-mile warranty as standard on all its products.
It's a £1,500 price walk to go from a manual to a DCT on either an SE or a Trophy 1.5T, while stepping from the lower trim grade to the higher one requires an additional £2,500. After that, the only real option is that £500 light-coloured leather on the Trophy, so a £29,495 example like our Trophy DCT with tan hide is the most money you can drop on a 1.5T from the off.
Verdict
The Mk1 MG HS was a big seller for the manufacturer, with 14,584 finding homes across the UK throughout 2023 - making it the company's most-popular model here. It also gave MG its first-ever top-selling car in a calendar month when it topped the country's sales charts in January 2023... and that was for the previous HS, remember, which was cheap but only OK. This new one, though, is better: better to look at, (far) better to sit in and better to drive. Yet it's just as tremendous value as it ever was and it's suitably practical too. Sure, the 1.5T Trophy might lack the outright polish of some of the best-in-class rivals, but when it's several thousands of pounds cheaper to buy in the first place, it makes this much-improved second-generation model considerably hard to ignore.
