New MGS9 2026 review: the largest MG ever is great value for money

Verdict

The MGS9 is extraordinary value for money and will appeal to anyone looking to ferry kids around while not breaking the bank on running costs. Its kit list and spaciousness should make it an attractive option in the family SUV market, but the MGS9 comes with a few annoying quirks that spoil the experience. Space in the rear seats, which is the main reason you’d choose it over the HS, isn’t particularly great either. 

This is the largest MG ever made, the MGS9. Despite that accolade it’s not actually the brand’s flagship model because it’s positioned below the all-electric IM5 and IM6 - which target a clientele with more premium aspirations. 

Instead, the MGS9 sits above the MGS6 EV and the MG HS in MG’s lineup - the latter of which shares the same plug-in hybrid powertrain as the MGS9. It’s a 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine with an electric motor that powers the front wheels to the tune of 224bhp. More importantly, however, the MGS9’s 24.7kWh battery serves up 63 miles of electric range. 

The MGS9’s main point of differentiation from the HS is its size, which allows it to provide a seven-seat layout. As a result, MG now has a rival to other plug-in hybrid seven-seaters like the Jaecoo 8, Chery Tiggo 8, Kia Sorento PHEV and Peugeot 5008. 

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We can immediately discount the Kia, Peugeot and even the £45,000 Jaecoo as direct competitors, however, because the MG is astonishingly cheap for its size. The MGS9 starts from £34,205 in Comfort trim, while the Premium version we tested is priced from £36,945. The Tiggo 8 starts at £33,545, but the MG is 255mm longer.

Back to the MGS9’s plug-in hybrid system because it’s the only powertrain that’s offered on the big MG. Starting out we had 58 miles of electric range highlighted with almost a full battery (already more than the official maximum 56 miles of the Chery Tiggo 8), while our test drew up a mix of EV and petrol-power, the MGS9 seemed pretty reliable with its electric range estimate. If you need further confirmation, our real-world tests of the MG HS PHEV that uses the same powertrain revealed impressive EV range capabilities. That car won our Chinese PHEV mega test last year by achieving just one mile less than its claimed EV range of 75 miles. 

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Like a lot of plug-in hybrids we’ve tested, once the MGS9’s battery depletes and the internal-combustion engine is required more often, efficiency can decrease noticeably. Run the MGS9 around without charging up and you’ll see something like 43mpg.

Whenever the petrol engine kicks in it is pretty smooth and while it doesn’t make the nicest sound, it’s not particularly noisy. A reason for that is that it’s mounted well in front of the front axle, buried within the MGS9’s enormous engine bay. There’s more than enough punch from the electric motor to make smooth progress if you’re in pure EV mode, too. 

In fact, the MGS9 is pretty refined as a whole. Wind noise is noticeable at motor speeds, but only because of the hushed powertrain. Imperfections in the road can occasionally transmit a thud through the cabin, but road noise is kept at bay fairly well. 

As for the MGS9’s ride quality, that’s less impressive. Considering its size, the MGS9’s 2,160kg kerbweight isn’t a ridiculous figure, but the car has a tendency to feel unsettled over rough roads. As we found with the MG HS, the steering is far better resolved than other Chinese plug-in hybrids like the Jaecoo 7 or Chery Tiggo 8 with a more consistent feel. Push on faster and you have to be ready for the lack of responsiveness, though, and there’s a distinct body roll in the bends that gives MGS9 a top-heavy feel. 

Clearly, MGS9 buyers and buyers of seven seat SUVs in general will not usually be looking to drive with too much verve. While we wouldn’t want to make too many assumptions, that’s probably even more true of the specific MGS9 we tested with its interesting beige on beige colour scheme. The process of jumping inside the MGS9 will be exactly that for shorter drivers because you sit very high up. Even with the standard-fit electrically adjustable seats - which also add heating, ventilation and a massage function in Premium trim - in their lowest setting it’s quite a clamber. 

A simple black and silver colourway is available on the MGS9 but our car had a brown, beige and wood trim combination and while it might not suit all tastes, it certainly provided plenty of wow-factor and, on first impressions at least, a suggestion of luxury. Some elements of build quality did seem suspect - the wood trim itself felt cheap and flimsy in places, the side bolstering of the faux-leather front seats looked disjointed from the base and some unsightly bright-yellow cables were sticking out underneath the seats, too. However, after extensive prodding around and after several hundred miles of driving we didn’t notice any major rattles or creaks on the move. 

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As for the kit, the MGS9 is super impressive. The dual 12.3-inch touchscreens are taken from the HS, there’s a panoramic sunroof, plus climate control for all three rows of seats and five USB ports, too. Premium adds those extra functions to the front seats, plus a hands-free bootlid and a 12-speaker Bose sound system - which sounds better than the Sony system found in Cherys and Jaecoos. 

Having the same infotainment system as the HS means the MGS9 suffers from slow loading times between certain screens (such as the integrated sat-nav) and the resolution isn’t as crisp as in some rivals. The MGS9’s safety assistance technology is pretty annoying too - lane keep assist seems especially intrusive, possibly down to the SUV’s sheer width, but selecting the ‘MG Pilot’ custom setting to turn off assistance is relatively easy, as long as you remember every time you set off. 

Being big on the outside means space on the inside isn’t exactly at a premium. The way this generous raw capacity has been utilised isn’t all that impressive, however. Take the middle row seats as an example. When folding the seats down on one side there’s a lever that also pulls the seat forward, which is fine. Then on the other side there’s a button that drops the backrest forward but does so at such ferocious speed you have to pull your hand away - it seems amazing that this mechanism has passed MG’s testing. Once you get into the rearmost seats you’ll find they’re only suited to small children, though a high floor and flat-bottomed seats mean knees will be tucked up high even for kids positioned back there. 

There are a few nice family-oriented storage solutions and features inside the MGS9. We like the climate control panel on the back of the centre console, the deep central stowage under the front armrest, the fold-out cupholders for middle-row passengers and the two 12v sockets (one in the boot and one under the dash). 

With all seven seats in place there’s 322 litres of boot capacity - more than a five-seat Vauxhall Corsa’s. You can easily fold the rear seats down for a completely flat floor to create a huge 1,026 litres of space in five-seat mode, too. 

While it’s clearly not designed for it, you can just about stuff the on-board charging cable in its bag into the space underneath the boot floor. You’ll want to keep it handy though because unlike the Chery Tiggo 8 (which offers a decent 40kW charge rate), the MG doesn’t come with rapid charging. Like the HS, the MGS9 should take around four hours to charge from empty to full at home when utilising a 7.4kW home wallbox charge point.

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