MG Hector Plus – Road Test Review

During lockdown many of us have moved from our regular sizes to the plus size and so has the MG Hector. Needless to say that the Hector has been the pole bearer for MG Motor in India. The Hector has sold well right since its launch last year and now the Halol based car maker has launched the six seater version of the car and also added some premium bits to it. We test drive the recently launched MG Hector Plus to find out if it really is a good 6-seater for you, read on to find out all on it.

 

Exterior
The Hector Plus gets a different and slightly conventional face as compared the regular Hector with a reworked front bumper and restyled DRL. The headlamps and fog lamps have also been restyled. The large rimless grille dominates the front end.

The side profile remains the same as with the Hector but feels a bit longer thanks to the slightly extended rear bumper. The sides get Morris Garrages branding in chrome on the side cladding and huge wing mirrors in body colored housing. The 17 inch alloy wheels come with diamond finish while the door handles retain the chrome finish on them. The roof gets a huge panoramic electric sun roof along with silver roof rails.

The rear profile on the Hector Plus is highlighted by the restyled bumper with large faux silver skid plate and restyled reflectors placed on them. The tail lights now come with split type styling with follow me led turn lights. The reflector that connects the tail lamps on the 5 seater Hector is not here making the rear end look different. The boot gets electric open and close feature along with the unique smart open feature.

Interior

The first thing that you notice upon entering the Hector Plus is the plush and extra roomy cabin space. The upholstery on the plus model is in tan leather keeping up with the premium feel of the cabin. The crash pad and door pads also get the the tan leather treatment along with silver mat inserts. The flat bottom steering gets perforated leather wrapping with  height and reach adjust.

The instrument cluster is same futuristic looking unit as on the Hector 5 seater with intuitive LED display in the middle and clear speedo and rpm dials on both the sides. The center dash gets the unique tab like 9.7 inch touchscreen infotainment system which has a inbuilt sim that powers all the smart connected car features just like on the Hector 5 seater. What is added here is the new Chit Chat feature that talks back to a few limited set of voice commands.

The seats offer very good support and comfort. The drivers seat gets full electric adjust while the front passenger seat gets electric adjust for reach and back adjust.

The biggest difference between the Hector and the Hector Plus are the captain seats in the middle row and the last row seats. The middle row captain seats are the highlight of the Hector Plus. These seats get adjustable arm rests and also can be manually adjusted for reach but miss our in the tumble feature. The comfort level here is excellent with tons of leg, knee and headroom. The Passengers here also get their Ac vents and USB charge port. The only niggle is getting to the third row seat which is a tight squeeze as the captain seats dont tumble. You need to go past the pretty tight gap between the upright captain seats to reach the last row.

The last row is strictly for kids and getting in is a bit of a task. Seating here is only for a very short time and distance .  you do get cup holders, usb charge port and Ac vents with individual blower adjust. The floor height is a bit high and leg room is pretty tight on here.

The Hector Plus comes with a boot capacity of 155 litres with all seats up which can be further extended to 530 litres with the third row folded down.

Engine – Transmission – Drive

The MG Hector Plus uses the same engine options as the Hector and is available in two engine options, a 2.0L Turbocharged Diesel with 170PS of power and 350Nm of torque, mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. This is the same engine that also powers the Jeep Compass and the Tata Harrier. The Petrol Hybrid Hector gets its power from a 1.5L Turbocharged Intercooled with belt starter generator. It produces 143PS of power and 250Nm of torque and is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. The Hybrid unit is a 48V system, that as per MG increases fuel efficiency by 12% and reduces CO2 emmision by 11%, this electric motor also gives an additional 20Nm of torque boost while taking off from a standstill.

We drove the 2.0L Diesel manual for our test. Getting behind the wheels of the MG Hector Plus the first thing that you notice is the sheer SUV like dominating seating position and the view. Visibility is amazing from the drivers seat and also very comfortable. The overall refinement level of this Jeep sourced engine is excellent and so is the cabin insulation leaving out all the unwanted road noise or traffic sound. The power delivery is abundant and very linear. Only thing that we could spot here against the car is the slightly heavy clutch, but then one gets used to it after some time.

The Hector Plus feels very easy to drive an maneuver in traffic and city roads even though its such a large bodied car. The SUV drives well and feels very positve. The steering feedback is positive too, the overall driving dynamics are ditto like the regular Hector SUV.

Safety

The MG Hector Plus comes with a long list of safety features that include 6 airbags, ESP, Traction control, Hill hold, ABS with EBD, Brake assist, 360 degree camera, tyre pressure monitoring system, electric parking brake (on AT), front and rear parking sensors, ISOFIX child seat anchors.

Verdict

The MG Hector has been a excellent SUV in its class since its India entry. With this the Hector PLus what MG Motor is trying to do is that its trying to undercut the Toyota Innova and also rival the Mahindra XUV 5OO. The Hector Plus gets the unique captain seats and the third row along with all the USP’s of the Hector and also the engine options. The MG Hector Plus gets six people in style and comfort with good amount of premium feel making it a good option in its class.

Review – Ritesh Madhok
Photography & Video – Govind Gadekar