The last MG I drove was a 1967 MGB GT. Owned by my best friend, it was designed by Pininfarina, built in the UK and somewhat prone to overheating.
I also recall an erratic petrol gauge that seemed troublesomely optimistic and — when tested — often saw the 2+2 coupé splutter to a halt on the side of the road, which was fairly frequent back in the early 2000s when neither of us were particularly flush and preferred to keep our crumpled bank notes for procuring other sorts of liquids.
Questionable mechanical fortitude aside, the old blue GT with its chrome spoke wheels was a hoot to drive — big on novelty and usually our transport of choice when tackling house parties and other after-hours endeavours. It was, for all intents and purposes, the ideal transportation for two self-proclaimed Johannesburg hipsters coming of age.
Twenty-one years later I’m back behind the wheel of a MG and life is different. My friend has long since moved to Sydney and now drives a Toyota RAV4. I’m living in the Western Cape, grappling with middle-aged irrelevance and remembering fondly the days before Instagram, influencers, AI and the death of physical media.
MG, as you probably already know, is now owned by Chinese carmaker SAIC who uses the badge and its heritage to help sell a lineup of vehicles that could — regardless of what their marketers might have you believe – pass for those from any number of Chinese manufacturers.
Cynicism aside, it’s a seemingly astute move as Jaded Gen-Xers and Xennials — demographic cohorts who actually remember “real” Morris Garage products and the experience of driving them — are more likely to look twice at a generic-looking SUV wearing an MG emblem than something from Dongfeng, Chery, Foton, BYD or JAC. Brand history may matter little to today’s new-car buyers but it still resonates with those of us who grew up reading magazines, going to the movies and buying CDs, even if it’s just a suggestion — an abstract, somewhat tenuous link to a time gone by.
Anyway, pseudo-anthropological assertions aside, the MG ZS Pro I’m driving on a so-called “brand immersion” event in Cape Town comes across as a well-sorted product. The panel gaps are pleasingly tight while the paint finish — free from any orange peel — is streets ahead of the Ford Puma (made in Europe, I’ll have you know) I tested a few years back.
Inside, things are equally tidy with a mixture of hard wearing plastics and leather inserts on the dashboard and door panels creating a stylish environment that should hold up well to everyday use and abuse. I also like the satin chrome detailing around air vents, along the centre console and across the multi-function steering wheel.
The driving position is good for a crossover SUV and the driver’s seat is both comfortable and laterally supportive.
Screens? You get two of them, both measuring in at 12.3-inches. One acts as a fully digital instrument cluster while the other handles infotainment, HVAC controls and vehicle settings. The display is crisp, but the menus are fiddly and occasionally distracting — I still don’t enjoy swiping through screens just to adjust fan speed and temperature — and key features like the heated seats aren’t immediately obvious.
Below it is minimalist grouping of physical short-cut keys (front and rear defroster, hazards and volume), while the centre console holds a ridiculously oversized gear selector, an e-brake switch and a drive mode selection button that lets you swap between Eco, Sport or Normal.
I stick to the latter and, zipping along the desolate West Coast roads en route to Langebaan, am more than happy with the way the MG ZS Pro tracks on down asphalt. Like most Chinese crossovers, power comes from a 1.5l four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that here cranks out 125kW and 275Nm of torque. These are reasonably healthy figures and in real world conditions more than enough for cruising above the national speed limit and punching past slow moving trucks.
Off-the-line acceleration is brisk with SAIC claiming a 0-100km/h sprint time of 8.5 seconds. In all honesty I wouldn’t be surprised if it was slightly quicker – it feels that urgent. Drive is sent to the front wheels via a Continuously Variable Transmission that, like all CVTs, suffers from that annoying speedboat-like drone at high revs. To be fair though, this unit ranks as one of the more civilised examples I’ve experienced.
Fuel consumption? SAIC says 6.9l/100km but I’m seeing a figure in the high eights.
Handling is about as good as you’d want things to be in a family-biased crossover SUV, with impressive body control, plenty grip and steering that unlike in so many other Chinese cars offers reasonable feedback. Dynamically speaking you can do a lot worse.
Ride quality also seems fairly well fettled for something born from the People’s Republic. Even with 18-inch alloys wearing skinny-ish 215/50 profile tyres, the well-damped MG ZS Pro handles choppier sections of rural West Coast tarmac without too much histrionics.
It’s a relatively short drive — about 100km or so from our starting point at Killarney Raceway — but enough to show me that beneath that squint-and-it-could-be-anything exterior lies a vehicle of unexpected substance. The MG ZS Pro is well put together, offers punchy performance and operates with a level of polish a lot of its compatriots still lack.
This is good news if you’ve bought into the allure of that bonnet crest: two chromed letters that, despite the obvious disconnect between past and present, still have the ability to stir a sense of nostalgia. And in a market increasingly defined by cookie-cutter homogenisation, that might just be MG’s real advantage.
TimesLIVE
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