Pauli363
Established Member
So. We have had our Mk11 ZS standard range Trophy for 6 months now. We are also just back from the longest trip we have taken so far this weekend for a wedding 110 miles away. On the journey I was thinking about the things I like and don't like about the ZS so far.
To clarify before I start. These are my own thoughts, but overall we are very pleased with the car so far, having completed just over 6500 miles in it. This makes the niggly little issues all the more annoying, as I suspect most of what I will list is the exact same gripes that the majority of us probably have.
Its not exhaustive, but here goes.
Likes.
The ride and power. Its a bit softly sprung. Not terribly sophisticated I have to say. But to me, this leads to quite a comfortable ride. However, over undulating surfaces, there is a lot of rolling about compared to the myriad of other cars I have driven. It doesn't bother me overly, but its an observation.
I find the instant acceleration and torque very satisfying. It really is quite a nippy thing and very enjoyable to drive a distance!
The drive mode Dial. I had one of these in my Jaguar XF and loved it there. Simplicity itself, and works really well in the ZS.
Overall build quality. Far better than it should be for a so called budget brand. We both really like the cabin and how its appointed. Its a nice place to be. The fitting and materials, as well as the panoramic roof are really nice.
Headlights. Excellent.
Steering. As good as Ive had in other cars.
Refinement: low speed is almost silent. Not bad at higher speeds either.
Running costs. We really are saving a lot of money on petrol. We charge almost exclusively from home using our Hypervolt charger. Between the MG smart app, and the Hypervolt app, we can do most things from the phone.
The MG Smart App. Not perfect, but its worked really well since we have got the car.
The amount of driver and electronic aids. (see also dislikes!) Speed sign detection, intelligent cruise, blindspot detection, revising sensors, 360 camera, all great.
As is auto headlights/ wipers etc.
What we don't like.
Indicated range. This can be all over the place in a matter of minutes. Noticed especially in this colder weather. Can drop 10 or 15 miles before we are out of the driveway sometimes. it can make it hard to gauge how far you might get. Our range indicated about 187miles when we left. It was about 110 miles to the destination, and we had about 30 miles showing when we arrived.
The infotainment screen. Frustrating to say the least. Easily the worst screen I have ever had to use in a modern car. Poorly thought out and executed. The most used and required digits are tiny. Ie, time, temperature etc. That little padlock for locking and unlocking the charger plug from the front of the car is laughable. I can't even tell if its locked or unlocked from about a foot away its so small!
USB music cannot be placed in usable folders or played back as you might expect. You cannot select artists, genre etc as you would expect. It just lumps all the tracks into one list which is really not good. Such a poor application, and so easy to have done right.
The 360 deg camera. Nice to have at this price point, but for goodness sake. Its like looking at the screen on a 15 year old Nokia phone. Up the Res a bit MG!
The Satnav. Testing the Satnav against Google Maps on my phone on our weekend journey was an absolute eye opener. We were away for a family wedding in the middle of Ireland. I set the hotel as the destination. The MG satnav had us on a route 25 minutes longer and about 20 miles longer than google maps.
It also lead us up every tiny lane it could find. Think grass growing up the middle of the lane and you get my drift. There is no option to switch between fast route/ shortest route. but that is so impractical. I wouldn't trust it now on a long journey. I kept it on driving the 110 miles home last night, with google maps also on, and my wife could not believe some of the roads the MG satnav was trying to take us up. Literally directing us off the main road to our destination up effectively a dirt track on occasions. Pretty poor.
Trying to switch between radio, USB etc is a faff as well, again simply not intuitive.
Overall, Its just not really a pleasant experience interacting with the infotainment screen. Not a patch on most other brands. Plenty there, but not nice to use.
That leads me on to the digital dashboard display. Much as its thoroughly modern and nice to have, its badly set up again and fails to provide what it really should.
tiny lettering and little display logic used. It does however provide most of the info needed re battery etc, and is acceptable on the normal screen for power and speed. Although again, tiny lettering and not making the most of the screen available.
Driver aids. Almost all are now turned off. I have left on collision warning and that's it. The emergency collision braking almost put me through the steering wheel one day behind a car that had braked, but not in a dangerous manner, and well within my comfort zone for reaction. It scared the life out of me, and undoubtedly if there had have been a car behind me, it would have run in to the back of me. So its staying off.
Lane departure. Great novelty for about a week. "look what my car can do", but the novelty quickly wears off when its beeping and pushing you about constantly on a narrower road.
The self drive facility that lasts about 10 seconds. Why?
No tinted glass. Why? Just why?
Plastic wheel trims. Not a deal breaker, and I know there are alloys under them. But the energy saving for having these must be miniscule.
Charge Flap. I know this is meant to be a step up from the Mk1. But to me its not great. The flap is very flimsy, and I can see it getting broken down the line. The springs on the two inner port doors are already losing their springiness.
and that's about it. No car is perfect, especially at this price point for a full EV and I appreciate that. Would I get another one? Yes, absolutely. If MG addressed the above it would be even better. In fact, if the Marvel ever makes it here, I would really fancy one.
Most of the above gripes could be rectified quite cheaply as the majority of my dislikes above are software based. A bit of updating and tweaking would make a huge difference for a small outlay. Its a great car. We would love another 100 miles of genuine range. This would really elevate the whole experience, but that will come no doubt.
To clarify before I start. These are my own thoughts, but overall we are very pleased with the car so far, having completed just over 6500 miles in it. This makes the niggly little issues all the more annoying, as I suspect most of what I will list is the exact same gripes that the majority of us probably have.
Its not exhaustive, but here goes.
Likes.
The ride and power. Its a bit softly sprung. Not terribly sophisticated I have to say. But to me, this leads to quite a comfortable ride. However, over undulating surfaces, there is a lot of rolling about compared to the myriad of other cars I have driven. It doesn't bother me overly, but its an observation.
I find the instant acceleration and torque very satisfying. It really is quite a nippy thing and very enjoyable to drive a distance!
The drive mode Dial. I had one of these in my Jaguar XF and loved it there. Simplicity itself, and works really well in the ZS.
Overall build quality. Far better than it should be for a so called budget brand. We both really like the cabin and how its appointed. Its a nice place to be. The fitting and materials, as well as the panoramic roof are really nice.
Headlights. Excellent.
Steering. As good as Ive had in other cars.
Refinement: low speed is almost silent. Not bad at higher speeds either.
Running costs. We really are saving a lot of money on petrol. We charge almost exclusively from home using our Hypervolt charger. Between the MG smart app, and the Hypervolt app, we can do most things from the phone.
The MG Smart App. Not perfect, but its worked really well since we have got the car.
The amount of driver and electronic aids. (see also dislikes!) Speed sign detection, intelligent cruise, blindspot detection, revising sensors, 360 camera, all great.
As is auto headlights/ wipers etc.
What we don't like.
Indicated range. This can be all over the place in a matter of minutes. Noticed especially in this colder weather. Can drop 10 or 15 miles before we are out of the driveway sometimes. it can make it hard to gauge how far you might get. Our range indicated about 187miles when we left. It was about 110 miles to the destination, and we had about 30 miles showing when we arrived.
The infotainment screen. Frustrating to say the least. Easily the worst screen I have ever had to use in a modern car. Poorly thought out and executed. The most used and required digits are tiny. Ie, time, temperature etc. That little padlock for locking and unlocking the charger plug from the front of the car is laughable. I can't even tell if its locked or unlocked from about a foot away its so small!
USB music cannot be placed in usable folders or played back as you might expect. You cannot select artists, genre etc as you would expect. It just lumps all the tracks into one list which is really not good. Such a poor application, and so easy to have done right.
The 360 deg camera. Nice to have at this price point, but for goodness sake. Its like looking at the screen on a 15 year old Nokia phone. Up the Res a bit MG!
The Satnav. Testing the Satnav against Google Maps on my phone on our weekend journey was an absolute eye opener. We were away for a family wedding in the middle of Ireland. I set the hotel as the destination. The MG satnav had us on a route 25 minutes longer and about 20 miles longer than google maps.
It also lead us up every tiny lane it could find. Think grass growing up the middle of the lane and you get my drift. There is no option to switch between fast route/ shortest route. but that is so impractical. I wouldn't trust it now on a long journey. I kept it on driving the 110 miles home last night, with google maps also on, and my wife could not believe some of the roads the MG satnav was trying to take us up. Literally directing us off the main road to our destination up effectively a dirt track on occasions. Pretty poor.
Trying to switch between radio, USB etc is a faff as well, again simply not intuitive.
Overall, Its just not really a pleasant experience interacting with the infotainment screen. Not a patch on most other brands. Plenty there, but not nice to use.
That leads me on to the digital dashboard display. Much as its thoroughly modern and nice to have, its badly set up again and fails to provide what it really should.
tiny lettering and little display logic used. It does however provide most of the info needed re battery etc, and is acceptable on the normal screen for power and speed. Although again, tiny lettering and not making the most of the screen available.
Driver aids. Almost all are now turned off. I have left on collision warning and that's it. The emergency collision braking almost put me through the steering wheel one day behind a car that had braked, but not in a dangerous manner, and well within my comfort zone for reaction. It scared the life out of me, and undoubtedly if there had have been a car behind me, it would have run in to the back of me. So its staying off.
Lane departure. Great novelty for about a week. "look what my car can do", but the novelty quickly wears off when its beeping and pushing you about constantly on a narrower road.
The self drive facility that lasts about 10 seconds. Why?
No tinted glass. Why? Just why?
Plastic wheel trims. Not a deal breaker, and I know there are alloys under them. But the energy saving for having these must be miniscule.
Charge Flap. I know this is meant to be a step up from the Mk1. But to me its not great. The flap is very flimsy, and I can see it getting broken down the line. The springs on the two inner port doors are already losing their springiness.
and that's about it. No car is perfect, especially at this price point for a full EV and I appreciate that. Would I get another one? Yes, absolutely. If MG addressed the above it would be even better. In fact, if the Marvel ever makes it here, I would really fancy one.
Most of the above gripes could be rectified quite cheaply as the majority of my dislikes above are software based. A bit of updating and tweaking would make a huge difference for a small outlay. Its a great car. We would love another 100 miles of genuine range. This would really elevate the whole experience, but that will come no doubt.
.
.
