MG Motor UK ZS review

The ZS drives surprisingly well, yet more evidence of the strides forward the firm has been making lately. We will say that the front wheels spin up a lot at junctions and the like, which is only partly down to the heavy shoes that are issued to Top Gear staff.

The hybrid powertrain pumps out 193bhp, which is on par for a 2005-spec Golf GTI, but advances have certainly been made since then in terms of dumping power to the front wheels. It’s not a car where you’d want to exploit its 8.7s 0–62mph capability, though, so perhaps the torque scrabble is the car’s way of getting you to save petrol.

What’s the ride like?

The suspension is soft enough to keep things comfortable for family motoring. There’s certainly nothing about the car that would encourage you to get a little frisky on a B-road – it starts to lose composure if you push it too hard – but it soaks up the worst of the road surface around town. There's a little lean through corners, another aspect that encourages you to dial it back a smidge.

Is the engine noisy? 

Like most tech-focused hybrids, the ZS is at its best when you’re tickling it along: under heavy acceleration the petrol engine is fairly raucous, which is partly down to how the car juggles its power distribution and partly the three-speed auto gearbox (yes, you read that correctly) not having the flexibility it might have with more cogs.

It calms down quickly enough, though again this isn’t one of those silky smooth hybrids where you’re not sure if the engine is actually running or not.

Must be economical though.

The ZS and its hybrid setup are rated at a taxman-friendly 55.1mpg and 115g/km CO2, though we only averaged 42mpg over 120 miles of mixed roads in cold weather. A quick run into town and back was closer to 50mpg, where the 0.92kWh of battery could show off a bit.

So not outrageously economical, but this is a bluff crossover SUV (though at just over 1,400kg the ZS isn’t crazy heavy) – you can’t expect miracles. The aim of these hybrids is to provide something that isn’t a diesel, but gives you diesel fuel bills. So in that sense, it works.