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The MG brand’s improved MG3 supermini is a sporty value-orientated proposition that now boasts a smarter look and a longer warranty.
The MG3 is a supermini you probably won’t have considered. Yet it’s fun to drive, practical to own and vastly more affordable than the conventional choices in this segment. If you don’t need class-leading efficiency and you’re prepared to forgive a few rough edges in return for the big savings on offer, then in this improved form, it could rank as a very clever choice.
Background
There’s something about the two letters ‘MG’ that strikes a chord in the British consciousness. The brand named after ‘Morris Garages’ way back in 1924 has been a part of our automotive heritage for nearly a century. And still they come: take this car, the MG3 supermini.
As with this model’s MG GS Crossover stablemate, it’s true to say that this car is properly British-developed, with its styling and drive dynamics created by many of the same talented folk who at the turn of the century brought us the surprisingly satisfying MG ZR, ZS and ZT family performance models. Chinese manufacturing clout also means the brand can bring this Fiesta-sized supermini to market for up to 30% less than obvious rivals. Which leaves MG able to claim what they see as an unbeatable combination of fun and value for this car. Does it deliver that in this revised guise? Let’s find out.
Driving Experience
As usual with the MG3, the only engine option is a 1.5-litre petrol unit that MG owners SAIC bought in from GM, though a little compensation comes with the news that it has in more recent times been brought up to cleaner Euro6 standards and develops a healthy 105bhp, substantially more than most direct rivals can offer. That means a reasonable turn of speed, rest to sixty two achievable in 10.4s en route to a 108mph top speed. Though it’s true that most of this car is Chinese, many of the bits that really matter are British through and through – an observation especially true when it comes to the elements concerned with ride and handling. There are suppler-riding cars in this class and more sportily-suspended ones, but few models of this kind that I can think of achieve a better combination of both over good roads and bad. Which for a first attempt in this segment, is quite an astonishing achievement for the Longbridge-based development team given that the class in question contains models of the talent of Ford’s Fiesta.
Body roll is brilliantly controlled, grip is prodigious and there’s better feedback through the steering than in most Gtis we’ve driven, primarily perhaps because modern era electric steering hasn’t made it to MG yet. The downside of that is that the helm is heavy during parking manoeuvres in the kind of urban environment where the option of an automatic gearbox would be nice to have.
Design and Build
The main change to this revised MG3 is revised exterior front end styling which adds what the brand calls a ‘star-rider’ grille. This frames the brand’s famous octagonal logo. The company claims it’s “a distinctive statement of modern British style designed to target young and style conscious buyers”. Make of that what you will.
The interior will come as a welcome relief to anybody who’s a bit baffled by the complexity and deep technology of many modern superminis. Climb out of a Peugeot 208, with its tablet computer style central infotainment system and, without being unduly blunt, it’s very different. Still, the MG3 is tidy inside with seats that look and feel very Volkswagen. In the lightly upgraded cabin of this revised model, there are a few white touches around the stereo, on the steering wheel, the door pulls, handbrake and gear lever but aside from that, everything is uniformly grey. Sit in the back seats and you’ll find the front seats are sculpted to improve leg room, while the rear headroom is genuinely impressive.
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