The QS is a car that is going to do big things for MG, or so it hopes.
The company’s first seven-seat offering, we’re told it has been designed with families
in mind.
And MG says it’s a true seven-seater, not 5+2, combining practical versatility with
premium styling.
But don’t expect an electric vehicle, this one’s powered by a good old conventional
turbocharged petrol engine.
STYLING
There are two grades: Excite and Essence. Both are powered by the same 2.0-litre
turbocharged petrol engine.
Excite is front-wheel drive and priced from $46,990, while the Essence is all-wheel
drive and priced from $50,990 — both figures are driveaway for a limited time.
Our test vehicle was the better equipped, all-wheel drive Essence, finished in
metallic black pearl, a colour that adds $800 to the price.
Standard kit includes pop-out door handles, cloth trim and three-zone climate air with
rear air controls, a micro-fibre leather finished steering wheel, power-adjust front
seats and multi-coloured ambient interior lighting.
There are also 20-inch alloys, adaptive cruise control, auto lights and wipers, LED
head, tail and daytime lights, rear parking sensors, electric tailgate and a panoramic
power-operated sunroof.
Along with all-wheel drive, Essence ups the ante with little extras like 21-inch wheels,
adaptive dampers, six driving modes instead of three, leather trim, heated and
cooled front seats, electric lumbar adjustment, wireless phone charging, auto
dimming rear view mirror, auto high beam, LED fog lights, front parking sensors, as
well as 12-speaker Bose audio.
QS is covered by MG’s 10-year/250,000km warranty, provided it is serviced with MG
— otherwise it reverts to seven years/unlimited kilometres.
Service is required every 12 months or 15,000km.
INFOTAINMENT
Infotainment is supplied in the form of a 12.3-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth, voice
control, satellite navigation, AM/FM and DAB+ digital radio, wireless Apple CarPlay
and Android Auto and generic, eight-speaker audio.
Another 12.5-inch screen provides the driver instrumentation.
There are five USB-C ports, two in front, two in the rear and one in the third row, with
12-volt outlets in the front and luggage area.
Essence adds wireless phone charging and it accommodates two phones
simultaneously, but the right buts up against the centre console and won’t
accommodate longer phones.
Access to iSmart connected services is valid for 12 months.
SAFETY
QS is yet to be rated for safety by ANCAP.
It comes with seven airbags, 360-degree camera, forward collision warning and auto
emergency braking (no details on the latter).
A string of safety systems includes lane departure warning, lane keep assist, lane
change assist, emergency lane keep, door opening warning, blind spot detection,
rear cross traffic alert, drive monitor system, unsteady driver warning, traffic jam
assist and intelligent cruise assist.
That said the driver is assaulted by continual warnings, the reasons for which are not
always obvious.
Missing is head-up display.
There’s ISOFix child seat anchors for the outer rear seats as well as three top
tethers, but no provision for placing a seat in the third row.
ENGINES / TRANSMISSIONS
A 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine produces 153kW of power at 5300 rpm and
360Nm of torque from 1750-3500 rpm, with drive to the front or all four wheels
depending on the grade, via a nine-speed dual clutch style automatic.
DRIVING
At 4983mm in length, with a 2915mm wheelbase, QS is an appealing reasonably
large vehicle that makes smart use of the available space.
The front seats are comfy, with plenty of second row legroom, which is where you
want it most, and some room leftover for luggage with the third row of seats
deployed.
There’s even a storage nook below the floor to stow the security screen when it is
not in use. But access to the third row is easiest from the driver’s or traffic side of the
vehicle which is not ideal from a safety point of view.
Our little one was distraught to learn that her car seat could not be placed in the third
row. Not happy, not by a long shot!
Trendy, welcome back door handles pop out when the car is unlocked, but remain
extended and exposed to damage until the car is locked again.
There’s no gear change paddles, nor for that matter can one change gears manually
using the transmission lever.
However, there are six drive modes from which to choose: Normal, Snow, Off-road,
Sport, Custom, and Eco.
All-wheel drive is a torque on demand system which means Essence operates
predominantly in front-wheel drive.
The rear wheels come into play only when the system senses a loss of traction.
This delivers better fuel consumption.
The level of power offered by the drivetrain feels adequate, but this could change
easily with the car fully laden.
Throttle response is at best erratic, bordering on downright problematic.
It takes a second for the transmission to hook up and another second or two before
the turbo spools up, then the car surges forward.
Trying to master or feather the response is nigh impossible.
The brakes are abrupt too, kicking in quickly and sharply.
In contrast the electric brake lags when you put the car into park, which can be a
worry on a steep driveway.
The soundtrack to this is provided by the bings and bongs from the safety assist
systems, constantly warning of transgressions that are not always apparent.
It’s enough to drive one troppo.
One of the benefits of stepping up to the more expensive Essence is the addition of
variable, adaptive suspension.
We’ve got to say the ride, even with 21-inch wheels and low-profile Michelin rubber is
pretty good, erring towards comfort rather than handling.
At the same time, it is no soggy biscuit.
Ride quality is better around town than in the back lots, but it should be borne in
mind that the suspension is linked to whatever drive mode is active.
Sport obviously makes it stiffer, but the Normal setting works just fine.
Like many cars these days a pair of 12.3-inch screens, housed in a sweeping panel,
forming the basis for instruments and infotainment.
You get satnav, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and, in the Essence,
premium 12-speaker Bose sound.
Both screens can be configured to taste, while swiping the touchscreen reveals other
menus.
Learning what controls what on the steering wheel is a matter of experimentation.
The up and down arrows on the right side are for volume, but there’s no labels to
indicate this.
There’s no central volume control either, but a row of toggles along the lower edge of
the dash do provide access to fan and temperature settings. The auto climate setting
takes ages to cool the cabin and will have you reaching for the controls.
The specs suggest the car has rain-sensing wipers, but we could not find an auto
setting on the wiper stalk.
The front USB and 12-volt sockets are located in the lower console where it is
difficult to see and access them.
On the morning of our final day with the car the infotainment system decided to
revert to Chinese (see pic).
Good luck making it revert to English.
The power-operated tailgate had a mind of its own too. Sometimes it refused to
respond to the key fob, at other times it even refused to react when we pushed the
close button located on the underside of the open tailgate.
Looking back across the road we were surprised to see it still open. Hmmm . . .
A mesh-style retractable screen filters light from the sunroof, but is liable to transmit
heat during summer.
With a 65-litre fuel tank QS prefers premium 95 unleaded.
Fuel consumption is a claimed 8.4L/100km for Excite and 8.8 L/100km for Essence.
We were getting 9.2L/100km after close to 600km. That’s not particularly bad, but it’s
not particularly good either, especially in the context of hybrid and electric vehicles.
QS is rated to tow a 2000kg braked load and comes with a space saver spare.
This feels like a car that has been rushed into production before the engineers were
happy to sign off on it.
This might for instance explain the legacy ‘Ultimate’ badge on the front three-quarter
panel.
In the old days it took years for new models to come to market.
SUMMING UP
The QS isn’t a bad car, it’s just that it could be a much better car.
The seven-seater offers a lot of car for the price, but a few bugs remain to be ironed
out — some sooner than later.
Throttle response is erratic and could lead to problems in some circumstances where
time is of the essence.
Fuel consumption is on the heavy side and ideally the petrol engine needs to be
replaced by a more efficient hybrid.
Take note the driveaway offer officially ended at the end of September, but certainly
worth haggling.
RATINGS:
Looks: 7.5
Performance: 7
Safety: 7
Thirst: 6
Practicality: 7.5
Comfort: 7
Tech: 7.5
Value: 8
Overall: 7.2
AT A GLANCE
MODEL LINE-UP
QS Excite, $46,990
QS Essence, $50,990
Note: These prices are driveaway for a limited period and include government or
dealer delivery charges.
SPECIFICATIONS:
MG QS Essence, 2.0-litre turbo petrol, 9sp dual clutch auto, AWD, 7-seat SUV
ENGINE
Capacity: 2.0-litre
Configuration: 4-cyl in-line, turbocharged
Maximum power: 153 kW @ 5300 rpm
Maximum torque: 360 Nm @ 1750-3500 rpm
Fuel type: 95 RON premium unleaded petrol
Combined fuel cycle: (ADR 81/02) 8.8 L/100km
CO2 emissions: 198 g/km
DRIVELINE:
Nine-speed automatic, AWD
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT, AND CAPACITIES
Length: 4983 mm
Width: 1967 mm
Height: 1778 mm
Wheelbase: 2915 mm
Kerb weight: 1994 mm
Turning circle: 11.8 m
Fuel tank: 65
BRAKES
Front: Disc
Rear: Disc
STANDARD WARRANTY
10-year/250,000km warranty (provided it is serviced by MG). Otherwise, it reverts to
seven years/unlimited kilometres
