MG ZS Review & Prices

The last-generation MG ZS was a car that you’d buy for the price and then spend your life apologising for - it was unattractive, thirsty, poor to drive and had a really cheap-feeling interior. The new model aims to push the old car right to the back of everybody’s minds - it’s a huge improvement in just about every way.

In fact, with an up-to-date hybrid engine and newly techy interior, it’s rather like trading in your old Nokia for a new smartphone. Probably not the latest iPhone, given MG is a budget brand - more like one of those off-brand Android phones that gives you quite a bit of bang for your buck.

As a compact hybrid SUV, the ZS EV has no shortage of competition. Some of the best alternatives include the Renault Captur E-Tech, Hyundai Kona Hybrid, Peugeot 2008 or the excellent Toyota Yaris Cross.

MG’s hybrid system is quite a bit different from any of those cars, though. For a start, it’s more powerful, with a total power of 191hp. That’s more biased towards the electric motor - in fact, at 136hp, the ZS’s electric motor is more powerful than the entire output of the 2008 or the Yaris Cross, and less than 10hp off the Kona and Captur.

With a larger battery than any of these models too, the ZS drives itself on the electric motor most of the time, with the engine operating more like a generator. However, put your foot down and both power sources give their all, making for impressive performance.

The ZS also compares favourably when you look at interior space. There’s plenty of legroom for a six-foot adult to sit behind a driver of the same size, so there should be no issues fitting in child seats or lanky teens. The boot is a good size, too, though marginally smaller than the outgoing car it’s still a useful space. With 443 litres it’s bigger than the hybrid Captur, the Yaris Cross and only slightly smaller than the Kona.

The interior is where you can see some of MG’s cost-cutting coming into force - there are some low-rent materials, like hard plastic for the door tops complete with moulded fake stitching to make it look like leather from 50 paces. But there are plenty of positives, including a large touchscreen infotainment system that’s the best from the brand so far.

You also get loads of kit - climate control, sat-nav, smartphone connectivity, leather upholstery and a full swathe of driver assistance tech all come as standard on the Trophy model.

To drive, the ZS is pretty inoffensive - which seems like damning with faint praise until you remember how dire the old car was on the road. With plenty of punch from the hybrid system, light controls and good visibility, the new ZS is a perfectly reasonable companion to cover the miles in. Only firm suspension over bumps and potholes and quite a lot of wind and road noise spoil the party, though a Yaris Cross and a Captur both feel more satisfying to drive especially on a twisty road.

If lots of power and equipment for a low price capture your imagination, check out our best MG ZS deals right here. You can find a used MG ZS for sale here, or search other used MGs for sale. And remember that Carwow can even help you sell your old car when the time comes.

The new ZS starts from just under £22,000, which seems a big jump from the old car until you take into account the hybrid engine and ample standard equipment. Compared with a top-spec, automatic variant of the old car, it’s not a big increase, and the two are pretty comparable.

It’s also cheaper - both in terms of cash price and monthly payments on a PCP - than a Renault Captur hybrid, Toyota Yaris Cross or Hyundai Kona. If you want to pay less for a compact SUV, you’ll have to look to things like the Dacia Duster or nearly-discontinued Citroen C3 Aircross.

Lots of power, but firm suspension means it’s a bit lumpy over bumps - and refinement is an issue

In town

The MG ZS uses the same hybrid system as the MG3. It pairs a 1.5-litre petrol engine with around 102hp to a powerful, 136hp electric motor. It also uses a 1.84kWh battery - more than double the size of most alternatives.

The result of this system is that, around town, the ZS mostly uses its electric motor, with the petrol engine kicking in as a generator rather than driving the wheels. This means it’s easy to make smooth progress, as you’re basically driving an electric car. Don’t expect the silent progress of an electric car, though, as the engine comes in and out as needed, and has quite a coarse edge to the sound and often seems to rev higher than you might expect. It’s not obtrusive, but it’s moreso than the petrol engine of a Toyota Yaris Cross.

The ZS has good visibility out of the front, and you sit quite high up. The suspension is quite firm, which means you feel more of the road’s bumps and lumps than you do in a Renault Captur - even when the latter’s on its largest alloy wheels.

On the motorway

With so much power at your disposal compared to a Renault Captur or Toyota Yaris Cross, the MG ZS feels like it gets up to speed with much less effort and that there’s more in reserve when you need overtake. However, it’s not quite as smooth under heavy acceleration - the gearbox only has three ratios, which means there are quite large gaps between them, and if you’re putting your foot down the power surges quite disconcertingly.

If you drive more normally, it’s not quite so big an issue, and the alternatives are guilty of similar things - like the Yaris Cross and its CVT which often holds the revs very high for long periods.

The ZS’s suspension still feels firm on the motorway, and you can definitely notice things like expansion joints on bridges. But it’s not quite as irritating as it is around town. What’s more annoying is that the ZS has quite a lot of wind and road noise at speed, where alternatives are much more refined.

Every ZS gets MG Pilot as standard, which is a full suite of assisted driving options including adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping aids. It works quite well, though even the closest following distance is very generous.

On a twisty road

The ZS has light steering that doesn’t give you very much feedback, and so it’s not particularly satisfying to drive quickly. There’s plenty of grip and you never feel like it’s incapable of taking corners fast, but there’s no pleasure to be had in doing so - a Renault Captur or Yaris Cross are both better to drive on a twisty road.

The powertrain does have a Sport mode, which makes it feel even more eager but adds unnatural-feeling weight to the steering. We’d leave it in Normal mode most of the time, especially given the driving mode switch is positioned quite far back on the centre console and not the easiest to press without looking.

Not particularly clever, but lots of space in the boot and back seats

Up front the MG ZS is a mixed bag. The glovebox is a good size, as are the door bins, and there’s a decent cubby under the central armrest too. However, the cupholders are tiny. There’s a tray ahead of the gearlever which looks like it should have a wireless charging pad - more on that later - and another one to the side which is a little useless because it doesn’t have raised edges and the surface isn’t very grippy, so items you put on there are liable to slide off.

There’s a reasonable level of adjustment in the seat, including lumbar support for the first time on an MG. It’s quite narrow, though, so larger people may find themselves sat on the seat bolsters rather than between them.

There’s also currently no reach adjustment for the steering wheel - MG assures us that this issue only affects very early-build cars and will soon be rectified, but worth checking that you can actually get comfortable before buying.

There is a USB-A and a USB-C port up front, though annoyingly the latter is only for charging devices and you have to use the older standard to connect your phone.

Space in the back seats

Considering it’s a small SUV the MG ZS has loads of room in the back seats. There’s space for a six-foot rear passenger to stretch out behind a driver of a similar size, and there’s even room under the front seats to slide your feet.

It’s not the widest cabin, so it won’t be the best or three, but two adults should be able to get very comfy. It’s a shame there’s no fold-down centre armrest, though you do get air vents and a USB-A port in the middle console.

There are ISOFIX points for mounting a child seat on the outer two rear seats, and there’s enough space and the doors open wide enough to make fitting even a bulky rear-facing car seat quite easy.

Boot space

With 443 litres of space, the ZS has more room in the boot than a Toyota Yaris Cross (397 litres). The Renault Captur has more space with its rear seats slid forward, but with them in the rearmost position it has only 348 litres on offer.

The ZS gets a movable boot floor, so you can choose between maximum volume and a flat loading floor. Fold the rear seatbacks and you do get loads of space as well as an almost totally unobstructed load bay - good for trips to the flat-pack furniture store. It’s a little short on clever features, though - underfloor storage is limited, bag hooks are pretty puny, and there’s nowhere to store the large, rigid parcel shelf.

Not the most stylish interior, but it seems well built and the touchscreen is MG’s best yet

MG’s latest cars - the MG3, HS and ZS - all have a fairly cohesive exterior design, but you can’t say the same about the interior. Though the switchgear is shared, the ZS has a totally different interior design to MGs other cars, and that brings some positives and negatives.

It’s more traditional than the MG3, with a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster in a recessed portion of the dash rather than a pod on the steering column. The infotainment screen is integrated into the dashboard too, and it sits lower than it does on other MG models - making it a bit easier to interact with.

That screen is 12.3-inches across, and it runs an updated version of MG’s interface. So while it’s similar to the screens on the 3, 4 and HS, it’s quite a lot more responsive and the controls have been made larger and easier to hit. That’s great news, as the fiddly interface of the infotainment systems was a key complaint of these other models.

It’s still not as easy to use as the Android-based infotainment system of a Renault Captur, but compared to the screen in a Yaris Cross it’s actually a little better. There’s a row of shortcut keys under the screen which give quick access to a few functions, but we’d love to see a couple more given dedicated climate controls.

It’s also a shame that, while Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality is included, it’s wired-only - most new models have wireless integration. There’s also no wireless charger, though you probably won’t need it much if you’re using the smartphone integration as plugging in will keep your phone topped up. But it’s a pity that it’s not even an option.

Quality is a mixed bag. The ZS feels relatively solidly built, though not as good as the bank-vault quality of a Yaris Cross. But lots of the materials are much cheaper than they appear, such as tinny-feeling fake chrome and scratchy plastic atop the door cards.

Officially, the ZS will return 55.4mpg and emits 115g/km of CO2. That’s a little down on the Yaris Cross and the Captur, both of which claim over 60mpg - and driven carefully, can in fact deliver it.

In the real world we got 48mpg out of the ZS over about 100 mixed miles, not driving very carefully - with a lighter foot over 50mpg would be possible. So it’s not as efficient as its main alternatives, but that’s to be expected given it’s so much more powerful than they are.

Its emissions put it two BIK bands higher than the Yaris Cross or Captur for company car tax, but they’re still appreciably lower than any of the purely petrol-powered competition.

The new MG ZS hasn’t yet been tested by Euro NCAP. The old car had a score of just three stars when it was tested in 2017, though the closely-related ZS EV electric car did score five stars in 2019. The latest MG to be tested was the MG4 back in 2022, which scored five stars.

Safety equipment is all present and correct including the obligatory speed warnings and driver monitoring tech, all of which is quite easy to turn off through the menus should you want to - though it’s a shame there isn’t a way to map these functions to one of the steering wheel shortcut buttons.

Certainly we’d have no qualms over the MG ZS’s safety credentials, but if you’re concerned you may want to wait for the car to be tested by Euro NCAP.

MG came a flat last in the 2024 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, with motorists rating it poorly for reliability. MG is much more optimistic that its latest cars will be more reliable than those which came before them, though, and has invested heavily in its dealer network as well as parts supply to hopefully improve the speed and service when it comes to fixing problems which might arise.

At least you shouldn’t be put out of pocket for issues with the ZS - MG covers all of its cars with a 7-year, 80,000 mile warranty, which is one of the longest around.