Mg3 hybrid+ trophy high revs and not changing gear

[Big Ears]

Well done, how did you get on financially?

 

[mgpooter]

What sort of issues have you had and what did you really not like?

 

[Koz]

Well done, how did you get on financially?

I am back where I am before I had the car minus a small usage charge for every mile I've had the car.

 

[Big Ears]

I would return ours in a breath but the boss loves it, not technically minded and never does anything but get in and drive it then moans at me about it

 

[Koz]

What sort of issues have you had and what did you really not like?

Hope you are doing well, here are the issues I've had.

The main issue was the engine over revving and taking an absolute age to change gear to drop the revs. This occurs randomly and it doesn't really matter what state of charge the HEV battery has. Over 3k RPM for a sustained amount of time doesn't seem good for fuel consumption or the longevity of the motor... In addition there was a metallic scraping noise at motorway speeds which was a cause for concern.

The drivers seat or something else was squeaky when turning left,

The heated steering wheel only warmed up half the time, sometimes it did not work well.

The HVAC heating system is poor for heating the car and the drop in mpg is considerable especially in winter. I was rarely seeing above 40mpg. I've been seeing mid 40mpg in a Ford mild hybrid over winter! This brings to light the complexity of the engine isn't really all it's cracked up to be when a simpler mild hybrid system performs just as well if not better.

One annoying aspect of the mg3 hybrid+ is the radio not switching off when you switch off the car and open the door.

 

[alesacq]

I went to the dealership this morning, my speed selector is defective, and therefore on order, but as it is not available in Europe, I will have to wait. for the noise of the engine at 60 or 70, he thinks that the engine is under or over-revving and is causing this vibration and for him an update (as reported by DE PARIS) could solve the problem. so when my part arrives, they will check after the updates.
I will keep you informed but when????

any news?

 

[JackONeill]

I’m experiencing the same issue—when the engine is cold, the car stays at over 4,000 RPM at 100 km/h and refuses to shift up, no matter what I do. It only shifts once the engine warms up a bit, which is incredibly annoying. Every time I drive home from work, I have to listen to these ridiculous engine noises—it’s no fun at all.

I also have those strange rattling noises when coasting or lightly pressing the accelerator, but only at speeds between 20-60 km/h. On top of that, the tyre pressure warning comes up on every drive, but after about 30 minutes on the motorway, it disappears...

I’ve had the car for three weeks now, driven 1,800 km, and I'm averaging 6L/100 km (39,2mpg).

Do you think the ZS Hybrid would have been the better choice?

 

[Koz]

I’m experiencing the same issue—when the engine is cold, the car stays at over 4,000 RPM at 100 km/h and refuses to shift up, no matter what I do. It only shifts once the engine warms up a bit, which is incredibly annoying. Every time I drive home from work, I have to listen to these ridiculous engine noises—it’s no fun at all.

I also have those strange rattling noises when coasting or lightly pressing the accelerator, but only at speeds between 20-60 km/h. On top of that, the tyre pressure warning comes up on every drive, but after about 30 minutes on the motorway, it disappears...

I’ve had the car for three weeks now, driven 1,800 km, and I'm averaging 6L/100 km (39,2mpg).

Do you think the ZS Hybrid would have been the better choice?

I've had the same issues and got rid of the car. Now driving a full EV.

After driving a hybrid I can conclude there's potentially more to go wrong for a small increase in mpg.

 

[Big Ears]

Full EV sales are dropping like a stone it seems, I was watching Harrys Garage on Youtube.

 

[MG3Austria]

Hello I live in Vienna Austria, we bought the car one month ago. The car has been by the dealer since this week. We have exactly the same problem. The car can't find the right gear. Especially at 100 km/h it doesn't switch to third gear, so you can hear a very loud engine noise. Even in normal traffic between 50-60 km/h, it always shifts up and down. Furthermore, the car hardly ever runs on electricity, which consumes 7 liters per 100 kilometers. We now have a replacement vehicle for this timeframe and this one doesn't have the problem. Very quiet, usually goes uphill electrically up to 60 km/h. It switches to third gear at 105 km/h, so it's completely normal. We suspect different software versions? Has anyone found a definite reason?

 

[mgpooter]

I have decided that the engine needs to start if the battery needs a charge right now and if the heating &/or the A/C, etc., is on. The trouble with a cold engine start is all this power demand, as the hot engine coolant is needed for the heater, made even worse if you also need more power to run at say 60mph with that cold engine. Once warmed up the revs fall right off which doesn't make sense to me if it does have a gearbox!
New owners really need to now about this and where to locate the stupid rev counter as the manual states the engine must not run over 3k (3000rpm) for the first 1000 miles! Mine certainly did in its first few days.
Am also finding it virtually impossible to run cold at 50mph on the local motorway as I just hate taking a cold engine over 3000rpm.

 

[MGdelight]

Just wanted to know if anyone has had the gear change issues /accelerator pedal vibration when increasing to motorway speed resolved by the dealership. I too experienced this from day one. Recently when driving back across the A roads to Sheffield the engine started to rev and loosing speed. The car is due for its first service next month so would like to take it to a dealer (Manchester/Liverpool) that knows exactly what is needed to address the well known issues with the new MG3.

 

[KeithS]

The normal operation will mean the engine revs can rise to 2,500 or even 3,000 RPM when the battery that drives the car needs charging.
Unlike most hybrids, the '3' and the new ZS, have an additional feature where the petrol engine acts purely as a generator, so not propelling the car but spinning to charge the drive batteries to power the electric motor which is what is being used to drive the car.
The exception is usually on a Motorway etc, where the petrol engine is propelling the car with the electric motor cutting in where deemed possible.
The result, mostly when going up steeper hills, to provide the batteries with enough power for the electric motor is the high revs. Undoubtedly this 'feature' is the most annoying for me given that I live at the top of a hill, meaning the high engine revs are present on nearly every journey, but regrettably it is, what manufacturers term, a characteristic of the car!
On a positive, when not revving ridiculously, the drive train and car is very quiet, and it makes it easier to hear, in the case of my car in warm weather, the creaking drivers seat/seat belt buckle!
Having had my car for a year (it's having its first year service this week), I would sum it up as a very mixed bag. The engine revs issue is undoubtedly the most frustrating, and I had an issue which others experienced from new with the EGR valve, which was eventually replaced- solving the problem. Finally on the debit side is the absolutely abysmal customer service from MG UK, who in some 40 years of owning always from new, a multitude of different car brands, is amongst the absolute worst. As an example, last week I called them to check on the warranty conditions regarding servicing time and mileage. The advisor was completely confused, adamant that my car was serviced in December by Glyn Hopkins in St Albans. In fact this was when they replaced the above mentioned 'valve'. He absolutely refused to accept the information in front of him was wrong, and when I suggested he should speak to the dealer to get the history corrected, he told me it was in effect for me to do. I did ring the dealer, who confirmed what I said was correct, but I'm certain no one will have contacted customer service to correct the situation.
Crummy service might have been more acceptable when they only sold budget cars, but as I've said before, if I'd spent 50-60k on a Cyberster, I would be very worried.
Which bring me on to the positive- for the money there is no other car that offers all the features for the same money as the MG3 HYBRID TROPHY. Aside from some occasions of phantom braking, the MG PILOT works very well, and will tackle autonomously bends in the road, that my other car which costs sort of four or five times the price certainly won't! The clarity of the 360° camera is excellent, and for 18,900 after discount (incl met paint) features like heated seats and steering wheel as standard are great. I use a carplay device which gives me wireless access to Waze etc for navigation, so I don't need to use the very basic built in sat nav, and finally for a smal, car the ride is pretty good, and certainly better than my previous 'daily' a very bumpy DS3!
Thanks to all these convenience features etc, I find myself using the car for not just my local journeys, but for longer motorway runs. Yesterday I did a 100 miles round trip up the M1, and partly due to variable limits of 60mph I achieved over 61mpg, and to coin a phrase proved to be 'very acceptable'.
So as I say a mixed bag, and I find myself having to accept the bad with the good...afterall no car is perfect, particularly it you're very fussy like me!
Oh and sorry for turning my reply into a 1 year review!

 

[Bertie Wooster]

Revs rising going up a hill seems to me to be expected, the gearbox will shift to a lower gear and the revs will rise, this is normal on any car with an IC engine, even on a bicycle if you change down you will have to pedal faster.

That is normal but the fault described is engine over revving and incorrect gear selection