MG S9 Review: The best 7-seat SUV I’ve ever tested?

[00:00] This is the new MG S9 and it is the best

[00:03] value for money car in the UK right now

[00:06] and I'm going to explain why. I'm Matt

[00:07] Watson. You're watching Carw Wow.

[00:12] You can get an MGS9 on Carw Wow for just

[00:15] over £31,000. This range hopping version

[00:17] through Carw £335,000.

[00:20] It's mad. This car is absolutely

[00:22] massive. You're getting a lot of metal

[00:23] for your money. That's 3 m 4 m. It's 5 m

[00:28] long and there's a benefit to it being

[00:30] so long. It's a sevenseater and the best

[00:33] thing about it is there's loads of room

[00:36] in the back even for adults. So, let's

[00:38] just fold this out the way. Right. Come

[00:40] on. So, you can see what's going on.

[00:41] Let's get Nick. Nick's tall. He's over 6

[00:43] foot.

[00:45] You got enough room there?

[00:46] >> Oh, loads.

[00:46] >> Look at this. I've got decent amount of

[00:48] knee room. Head room's okay. And the

[00:49] best thing is this. Look,

[00:52] these back seats.

[00:55] That is insanely good for a sevenseater.

[00:58] The only area where they dropped the

[00:59] ball a bit is this. Look, there's just

[01:01] one old school USB port there for

[01:03] everyone to fight over. For such a big,

[01:05] sensible car, I think it looks all

[01:06] right. It's got a very like intense

[01:08] grin. It's a bit like this, isn't it?

[01:10] >> You want to know how I got these scars?

[01:13] Yeah. Similar, isn't it? But it doesn't

[01:16] look like a budget vehicle, you know? It

[01:18] looks way more expensive than its price.

[01:20] and it's copied some features off

[01:22] expensive cars such as this chrome

[01:24] hockey stick. It's like an old 7 series.

[01:26] I also think this part of it is very

[01:28] similar to a Scoda Kodiak. I don't think

[01:31] it looks any better or any worse than a

[01:32] Scoda Kodiak apart from one feature at

[01:34] the back here which is pretty terrible.

[01:36] Bear with me for a moment cuz I need to

[01:37] get something. The horrendous fake

[01:40] exhaust tips as I'll illustrate now with

[01:42] the carwow stick of truth. Awful, awful,

[01:46] awful. And those aren't the only

[01:47] annoying thing about this car. The start

[01:51] stop button is hidden behind the

[01:52] steering wheel. So look, from your point

[01:53] of view, you miss it. So because the

[01:55] car's quiet and it's mainly in electric

[01:56] mode, you forget to turn it off. You

[01:58] just get out. Especially if you're in a

[01:59] Tesla and you're used to doing that kind

[02:00] of thing. And then you try to lock it

[02:02] and then it's a course. Oh, it's

[02:05] annoying. Oh, turn off. I wish you

[02:08] wouldn't do that. In fact, you know

[02:09] what? I hate keyless go because you

[02:10] often lose the keys and can't go. This

[02:13] happened earlier.

[02:18] Drew, have you got the smart key? It

[02:20] thinks there's no key in it. I gave it

[02:22] to you and I haven't had it since.

[02:24] >> I put it in here cuz then the car I

[02:26] started the car.

[02:27] >> Right. I'm going to get out. Let you

[02:29] guys look. You had it though. I handed

[02:30] it to you, didn't I?

[02:32] >> And then you just can't remember.

[02:33] >> I had it because I turned it on.

[02:35] >> Have you looked under the seats

[02:36] properly? Even the pit of doom. It's

[02:39] not.

[02:41] >> He wouldn't have jumped out.

[02:43] >> Where did you put it? I would have put

[02:44] it

[02:46] on the screen there.

[02:50] Let's never do that again. And do you

[02:52] know why you're doing that? Because the

[02:54] car is liable to lock itself. Once

[02:56] again, keyless go issues. It's honestly

[02:58] it's bollocks. It's bollocks. Am I just

[03:01] old? Yes. Shut up. I'm not a fan of the

[03:04] poppy Audi door handles, which are

[03:06] ripoff of Land Rovers. It's a bit like

[03:08] shaking hands with the kind of all

[03:09] flimsy. Also, these doors are huge,

[03:11] which does make it easy to get in and

[03:12] out when you have them open wired. It

[03:14] also makes it really hard to get into

[03:16] the car when you're in a tight space.

[03:18] You're not going to squeeze through that

[03:19] gap, are you? Not even I. You only have

[03:21] slow wireless charging. And the design

[03:23] of the pad is stupid. Look at it. Look

[03:24] at the shape of it. It's not It's not

[03:26] symmetrical. So, while your phone fits

[03:28] in that one Oh, that's good. It doesn't

[03:30] fit in that one quite. Can you see?

[03:31] Great. Oh, and also when you accelerate

[03:33] it, just do that. As you can see,

[03:35] there's no phone button on the steering

[03:36] wheel, which means that if you do a

[03:38] voice command and it doesn't understand

[03:39] it and it ends up calling some Tinder

[03:41] date from 10 years ago, you constantly

[03:43] just hang up. You have to do it on the

[03:45] screen and you end up in panic mode.

[03:46] Speaking of the screen, if you want to

[03:48] turn off the annoying beeps and bongs,

[03:49] you have to press car,

[03:52] go down to Oh, over speed warning. I'll

[03:55] turn that off. Then scan down. Where is

[03:57] the other one?

[03:59] This is one you definitely want to turn

[04:01] off. the driver distraction monitoring

[04:04] cuz it's way too strict. Yes, go away.

[04:06] But all that kind of thing is very hard

[04:07] to do when you're driving. Bloody

[04:09] annoying things. The car sometimes makes

[04:11] this weird worring noise from under the

[04:13] bonnet for no reason. You'll hear it

[04:15] randomly. It'll probably appear in a

[04:17] future take. For such a big car, there's

[04:19] only two positions for isopix anchor

[04:21] points here on the outer middle row,

[04:23] none in the rearmost row and none on the

[04:25] passenger seat. Wasted opportunity.

[04:27] Unlike with a Cherry Tiger 8, which has

[04:29] DC fast charging, this plug-in hybrid

[04:32] only has old school AC charging. Also,

[04:35] while it's supposed to do 353 m per

[04:38] gallon, this is how much I'm averaging.

[04:39] I hate the way when you fold down this

[04:41] seat that drops down. So, then you have

[04:44] to go get back. However, I'm done

[04:46] criticizing this car because there's

[04:47] loads I like about it as well. I like

[04:49] the light roof. So, you got sunlind, but

[04:51] it's still nice and bright in here. And

[04:54] the sunroof is massive. Plus, look,

[04:55] look, look, look. It is a sunroof you

[04:58] can open and it's standard on all

[05:00] models. All cars also get 360 degree

[05:03] camera lock with top down view where you

[05:05] can see through the car. Very good. You

[05:07] don't just have one, but you actually

[05:08] have two customizable buttons on the

[05:10] steering wheel which you can actually

[05:12] configure to do lots of different

[05:13] things. I've got the left one doing

[05:14] regenerative braking between low,

[05:16] medium, and high. And I've got this one

[05:19] on the right doing a 360 camera. The S9

[05:22] has an electric only range of 62 mi. as

[05:25] a result has very low emissions and it

[05:27] falls into the 10% benefit in kind

[05:29] category. That means for a high rate

[05:30] taxpayer it's going to cost you about

[05:32] 1,500 quid a year to have this car

[05:34] through your company. Also, look, it

[05:36] comes with a handy cup holder in the top

[05:37] of the engine. It'll probably appear in

[05:39] a future tank. Perfect to Monday. That

[05:42] should warm it up. It's making that

[05:44] noise again.

[05:46] Where's the keys? It's cuz it's on

[05:50] there. It stopped. Look, no noise.

[05:53] Considering this car is such good value

[05:54] for money, you'd think that it'd have a

[05:56] budget feeling interior, but it doesn't.

[05:58] The design looks smart. Some of the

[06:01] materials are nice. Controls such as the

[06:03] drive mode selector and the switch gear

[06:06] nicely damped. The steering wheel feels

[06:08] expensive. It's surprising really

[06:10] though. If you do start tapping, some of

[06:12] the plastics sound a bit hollow, but

[06:14] nothing wobbles or really caks. I'm very

[06:17] impressed. I'm also impressed by the

[06:19] fact they've got physical buttons for

[06:21] the climate control and actual vents you

[06:24] can move around. Although the vents in

[06:26] there actually move on their own. If you

[06:27] look in there, can you see them moving?

[06:28] Can you see them just panning around?

[06:29] Look at that. Now, the screen, it is a

[06:32] bit dark in terms of the graphics and

[06:34] it's not the most responsive either, but

[06:36] it's all right and the menus aren't too

[06:38] confusing. You can swipe down to some of

[06:39] the functions like that. The digital

[06:41] driver's display is clear, but it is

[06:43] fairly bland. Also, I'm not convinced by

[06:45] this, the gear selector. Wish it was on

[06:47] a column stalk. Just seems a bit of an

[06:50] appendage. Storage is good though. Just

[06:52] want to show you. This look doesn't feel

[06:54] cheap. That's deep as well in there.

[06:57] This feels nice. Two cup holders and

[06:59] glove box is just acceptable. Underneath

[07:02] here though, there's a lot of storage.

[07:04] And we've got a 12vt socket and some

[07:06] USBCs. Plus, the door bins are large.

[07:09] Speaking of large, look at the size of

[07:10] that sun visor.

[07:13] That feels all right. The entry- level

[07:15] version of this car is so well equipped,

[07:16] but for three grand extra, you can get

[07:18] this range topper, which has fake

[07:19] leather interior, upgraded seats with

[07:22] massage and ventilation function, and a

[07:23] Bose sound system, which sounds very

[07:26] good. But which one would I buy? Well,

[07:28] I've actually configured my ideal MGS9

[07:31] on Carw Wow. If you want to see which

[07:32] version is the color I go for, and the

[07:34] saving, click on the pop out banner up

[07:36] there or scan the QR code on screen now

[07:38] or just follow the link in the

[07:39] description of this video. Anyway, I'll

[07:41] tell you one other area where I'm really

[07:43] impressed with this car. How good it is

[07:44] for longd distance journeys. I'm

[07:46] surprised how good this car is at higher

[07:48] speed. So, let's just pick up from 40 to

[07:50] 60. Doesn't take very long. Look at

[07:52] that. 60 mph. It's very quiet. Such a

[07:56] quiet, relaxing car to travel in. I'm

[07:58] amazed how quiet it is. It's as quiet as

[08:01] a luxury car brand like BMW or Audi. How

[08:04] is this just like 30 odd,000?

[08:07] It's madness. It definitely feels more

[08:10] expensive when you're just cruising

[08:11] along in it. But the quiet cabin isn't

[08:13] the only thing I noticed while driving

[08:15] the S9. The visibility is great for the

[08:18] driver as well. It's a huge car, but I

[08:20] feel I can see all around it. So, even

[08:22] when going down narrow streets such as

[08:24] this, I am not phased. You get great

[08:25] view forward as well. You can really

[08:27] judge where the corners of the car are.

[08:29] Look, I'm going to squeeze through this

[08:30] gap here. Just whack up the cameras. No

[08:32] problemmo.

[08:35] So, good. People would be put off this,

[08:36] oh, it's just too big for me. But ah,

[08:39] it's easier than you think. Even the

[08:41] turning circle is all right. Let's get

[08:44] the old cameras up. Can I make it round

[08:45] here? Actually, this is a tidy one. I

[08:47] don't think this is going to work, but

[08:48] let's give it a crack. Don't curb it.

[08:50] Don't hit that car. There's no way I'm

[08:52] getting past that. If I get past that,

[08:54] do I do it? I'm going to do it. If this

[08:56] works, it's mad. Oh, I figured it out.

[08:59] That show where my wheels are going to

[09:00] go, not where the front of the car is.

[09:03] >> Hello. You all right?

[09:04] >> Yeah.

[09:05] >> That's a different one for you.

[09:06] >> Oh, no. Yeah. Oh, it's an MG.

[09:08] >> Yeah, it's good, isn't it?

[09:09] >> That's spooky cuz I've been looking for

[09:11] an MG Z.

[09:12] >> Yeah, it looks posher than an MG,

[09:13] doesn't it?

[09:14] >> It's got that sort of a Range Rover look

[09:16] about it.

[09:17] >> Blime me. Range Rover.

[09:19] >> Guess how much this costs. This car I've

[09:21] got here.

[09:21] >> Well, MGs are normally pretty good.

[09:23] That's why I was looking at them. I

[09:24] suspect it got all the

[09:26] >> This is top of the range.

[09:27] >> Top of the range. I'm probably going to

[09:28] be a mile out, but

[09:32] >> 40.

[09:32] >> 40. Do you know what the actual list

[09:34] price at this one it's about 36 but

[09:37] through carwow £33,000

[09:39] >> is it

[09:40] >> sevenseater as well.

[09:41] >> Honestly this thing is insane value for

[09:43] money.

[09:44] >> That is good value.

[09:44] >> Do you know what we're doing though?

[09:46] We're holding up his majesty's post.

[09:48] >> Yeah.

[09:50] >> Right. Good to see you. So maybe check

[09:53] one of these out. You could use it for

[09:55] your delivery vans. There's loads of

[09:56] space inside it. See you later. Despite

[09:58] its large size, the S9 is a dodle to

[10:01] drive in town. But how will it fair on a

[10:03] twisty country road? This MG isn't

[10:05] particularly exciting to drive, but then

[10:07] what did you expect? It's a 7seater

[10:09] budget SUV from China. It's a bit like

[10:11] complaining that water is wet. And to

[10:14] tell you the truth, it actually handles

[10:16] pretty well, as well as you need it to.

[10:18] It'll grip through the bends. You don't

[10:19] feel like you're going to fall off the

[10:21] road. And generally, it's pretty comfy

[10:23] unless you suddenly hit a bump and then

[10:26] you get a jolt and a clunk. The

[10:28] suspension, you can just tell it's a

[10:30] little bit of a budget car. And you're

[10:31] surprised because otherwise it feels

[10:33] quite premium.

[10:36] There's your clunk. Good clunk. There's

[10:38] another thing that's funny about it. You

[10:39] see, we're coming up to a bend. And if

[10:41] you suddenly try to accelerate with too

[10:43] much steering lock on, the front wheels

[10:45] just spin up all too easily. So, here we

[10:47] go. Bend. Accelerate. Hear that noise?

[10:52] That's the front wheels slipping. It's

[10:53] because this is electric powered. I know

[10:55] it's a hybrid, but it's electricity

[10:56] that's driving the wheels. You get

[10:58] instant pickup and the tires just can't

[11:00] cope. They're like, "Oh no, we're

[11:01] checking out." And then obviously the

[11:03] systems rain things back in. But do you

[11:05] know what? A lot of electric powered

[11:07] front-wheel drive cars, which this is,

[11:09] have that same issue. And to be fair,

[11:11] there's plenty to like about this car. I

[11:13] can forgive it of that. But will I be

[11:14] impressed by the MG's performance? Well,

[11:16] on paper, the stats look good. So, you

[11:18] got a 1.5 L plug-in hybrid, 300

[11:21] horsepower, so it should be reasonably

[11:23] nippy. Let's find out. I'm going to

[11:24] launch it. 3 2 1 floor it.

[11:30] Steady pickup. There we go. It is a

[11:33] heavy car. 2.2 tons. What's the naugh to

[11:35] 60 time?

[11:37] 8.8. In the brochure, they claim it's

[11:40] 9.6. That's good, isn't it? But I said

[11:43] heavy. What's the braking performance

[11:45] like? That's just as important if you

[11:47] got your family on board. All right,

[11:48] let's do an emergency stop from 60 mph.

[11:52] We're looking for a distance of 35 m.

[11:54] Anything over that not great. Coming

[11:56] into the braking zone right now. 3 2 1.

[11:59] And I'm going to break hard.

[12:05] What did we get? Oh, 36 m. Let me stamp

[12:08] on it harder. I think I was a bit

[12:09] chicken. Here we go. Like that is

[12:12] everything.

[12:16] That is like leg day at the gym. That's

[12:17] more like it. 34 m. Not bad for a car

[12:21] this large. Speaking of which, this car

[12:23] is so comfy here in the middle row.

[12:25] Loads of knee room, loads of foot space,

[12:27] loads of head room as well. The seats

[12:29] are quite far from the floor, so you've

[12:31] got lots of under thigh support. And of

[12:33] course, you can slide the seats forwards

[12:35] and backwards. And look at this as well.

[12:37] You can recline them. Oh, I'm impressed.

[12:39] I'm so impressed. Let's try with three

[12:40] in the back at once all aboard.

[12:43] >> Okay.

[12:45] Wow.

[12:46] >> What do you think about that?

[12:47] >> That's really good. This is like among

[12:49] the very best. Just hop out. Thank you.

[12:53] So, if I fold this down, you have

[12:55] covered cup holders. Now, you only

[12:57] normally get this on premium cars.

[12:59] You've got climate control here in the

[13:00] back. Two USBC's, door pockets, massive

[13:04] door bins. What's not so good though is

[13:05] this ice fix anchor points are a little

[13:07] bit hard to get to. So, it can be a bit

[13:09] of a faf trying to fit a seat for the

[13:10] first time, but there's loads of space

[13:11] here for even the bulkiest rearfacing

[13:13] seat. And you know what? The daughter

[13:14] really loves the fact these big windows

[13:16] go all the way down. She loves it. In

[13:19] fact, she's actually put a little mark

[13:20] on it there as her stickers. The range

[13:22] hopping version of the MG gets an

[13:25] automated tailgate with hands-free Come

[13:27] on. There we go. Handsfreeness. Now,

[13:30] with seven seats in place, the boot is a

[13:31] reasonable size. Look, it's not too bad.

[13:33] Got a little bit of extra storage under

[13:34] there. Then you got absolutely acres of

[13:36] space if you fold down the rearmost row.

[13:40] And then, oh booger. If you want to do

[13:43] literally, you do have to do a walk

[13:45] around. Oh, that was the wrong one.

[13:48] It's this lever down here. There we go.

[13:50] Oh, go to the other side.

[13:55] I guess you can't expect electrically

[13:57] operated rear seats in a car at this

[14:00] price. But you do have, look here. Oh,

[14:03] 12vt socket. That makes up for

[14:05] everything, doesn't it?

[14:07] Not quite. And neither do the lease

[14:09] deals. And here's why. We've run the

[14:11] numbers on the leasing price of this car

[14:12] through CarWow and this is how much it

[14:14] will cost per month. This is the total

[14:16] cost of the lease and this is actually

[14:17] the depreciation if you to buy it new.

[14:19] So, it's actually cheaper to buy the car

[14:21] and sell it on than to lease it. Now, if

[14:23] you want to compare the leasing deals of

[14:24] this to its competitors, we've done a

[14:26] special page on Carway. You can check

[14:27] that out. There's a link in the

[14:28] description and in the pin comment.

[14:31] Also, you can just click on the pop out

[14:32] banner or scan the QR code on screen

[14:34] now. But, there is another thing you

[14:35] could do. You might be thinking, you

[14:37] know what? I'm not really interested in

[14:38] a lease anyway. I'm going to buy a used

[14:40] car because you could get a Volvo XC90

[14:43] for well a bit more than this actually.

[14:45] A 5-year-old XC90 is still more

[14:47] expensive than this car. Here's one I

[14:49] found on Carw Wow. And there's the added

[14:51] risk when you're buying used, isn't that

[14:52] that it might have had a shady past. So,

[14:55] here's a car vertical report of an XC90,

[14:58] not one that was on CarWow, which has

[15:00] had seven damage reports. You can even

[15:03] see the damage of the car. That's why if

[15:05] you're thinking about buying a used car,

[15:07] you absolutely positively have to do a

[15:08] car vertical history check to make sure

[15:10] it doesn't have a shady past. And if you

[15:12] do that, use the code car wow for 20%

[15:15] off. Or of course, you could just play

[15:17] it even safer and buy new. And there is

[15:20] no new car that is as good value as this

[15:24] MGS9. So if you need a sevenseater on a

[15:27] budget that is actually a mighty fine

[15:29] car, go right ahead and buy this MG. I

[15:32] hope you enjoyed the video. If you did,

[15:33] give it a like. Let me know if you agree

[15:35] with my verdict in the comments below.

[15:36] If you want to watch some other videos,

[15:37] click on the windows. And to sell your

[15:39] car the easy way, you can do it through

[15:40] CarWow by clicking the Car Wow logo.

[15:43] Thanks for watching and I'll see you

[15:44] next