At what point does safety become dangerous?
It’s the question that I kept asking myself during my time with the MG HS Hybrid+, because while it has some obviously likeable traits, it’s also one of the single most irritating cars I have ever driven. Which is saying a lot in this era of endless ‘bings’ and ‘bongs’ from hyper-active safety systems.
Both car companies and the safety authorities have a lot of questions to answer when it comes to the poor integration and calibration of these systems, like driver attention monitoring, speed limit warning and lane departure warning. So many brands have so much trouble with these systems, and yet they continue to be forced into cars when they clearly aren’t ready, simply to tick a box and get extra credit on their crash test reports.
Which is nice in theory, but the practical reality of these poorly applied systems means they are at best useless and at worse an active distraction. The latter is very much the case with the HS Hybrid+, which produces so many bings and bongs it makes you want to pull over and walk the rest of your journey.
You might be thinking ‘well it wouldn’t bong at you if you kept your eyes on the road, idiot’, which is largely true except you can’t drive with your eyes in the immediate straight ahead position the whole time. Any good driver should be scanning their peripheral vision and checking their mirrors on a regular basis to understand the situation around them.
But if only that was the problem…
One of the bigger issues is that MG, like so many car makers these days, have done away with almost all the physical buttons in the car, so if you need to do something that should be simple, it becomes a complex navigation through multiple touchscreen menus. And, of course, this requires you to take your eyes off the road and then the beeping starts again.
The good news is, you can turn most of these systems off, but it’s simply ridiculous that you have to, because they should operate better. One of the redeeming features of the HS is that MG has added a programmable MG Pilot button that allows you to turn off your least favourite/most annoying functions with a single button. It’s still not ideal, because you need to do it every time you start the car, but it’s a simpler process once you set it up.
All of which is a shame because, as I said, it has many likeable elements that would otherwise make it a very appealing mid-size SUV.
For starters, it’s good value with a starting price of $42,990 for the Excite and $46,990 for the higher-grade Essence – and both of those are drive-away prices. That positions it beneath the class-leading Toyota RAV4 Hybrid as well as the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage and Nissan X-Trail.
For that money you get a well-equipped SUV, powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with an electric motor to provide both extra performance but also help save fuel.The hybrid powertrain makes a respectable 165kW of power and 340Nm of torque, which provides more-than-adequate motivation for an SUV of this ilk.
It’s the fuel economy that’s the key selling point though, with a claimed combined urban/highway fuel economy of 5.2L/100km. Our test car was showing 5.8L/100km on its trip computer after hundreds of kays of driving, so it’s fair to say MG is realistic in its claim. Anything under 6.0L/100km is a win for an SUV of this size, especially in these financially difficult times, and it only serves to strengthen the overall value proposition that MG is offering up.
The driving experience is fine, but nothing special. The suspension tuning could definitely be improved, as the ride is fussy at times and noticeably below-par on some of my regular commutes. Roads that I typically don’t think too much about were suddenly very bumpy in the HS.
While I understand it’s a significant cost burden to take on, I do believe that MG desperately needs to invest in more ride and handling localisation if it doesn’t want to get left behind by GWM and others that are looking to tailor their vehicles to local tastes and conditions.
But, honestly, ride and handling isn’t really a major turn-off for the HS Hybrid+. Indeed, the combination of space, its frugal powertrain and sharp value do make it a very appealing proposition.
And if it was just the active safety features that were sub-standard we would probably have little hesitation recommending it, but it’s not just that. There were a number of problems that emerged during our time in the HS that gave us pause for thought.
The Bluetooth system is terrible, dropping out with regularity that makes it borderline useless. Any phone conversation typically required between three to four hang ups and call backs because people couldn’t hear me (and we experienced similar in the MG QS).
It plants a seed of doubt over the quality of the product, which may come back to bite you in the long-term – or maybe you have a blessed ownership experience and don’t like taking calls in your car.
If MG can improve its active safety systems and tidy up the issues around the Bluetooth then the HS Hybrid+ could be a serious rival to the RAV4… but not yet.
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