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-   -   MG India's first SUV named Hector. Edit: Launched @ 12.18L (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/205468-mg-indias-first-suv-named-hector-edit-launched-12-18l-99.html)

Saw a brand new Hector on the ITI road baner approaching from the rear. The vehicle felt huge in the IRVM for sure. The red colour all the more menacing. Couldn't click any snaps since driving.

Received on WhatsApp, original source unknown.

Probably first instance of MG Hector breakdown on public road. It's a TD vehicle. There's leakage under the engine (not visible in video, but on up close photo). Seems like coolant.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?&v=-xmGQJdbqfs



Can't comment on the authenticity or background of this. Front bumper seems ok, no impact visible from this angle.

Thanks to Sangeet / Kaushal for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

My colleague has a Jeep Compass Petrol DCT. He claims that the average mileage is only about 6-7 kmpl. The numbers goes to about 9-10 kmpl on highway trips. MG Hector being much heavier than Jeep Compass and almost hosting a similar 1.5 L petrol engine, I dont think the mileage would be close to what MG claims. Anyone planning for Petrol DCT variant should lock their minds that the mileage would only be around 6-7 kmpl. Anything over and above that is a bonus.

To be fair, you can not expect that kind of mileage from a heavy petrol automatic. And 9 is not a bad mileage either,assuming that the MID is correct and considering it is pulling 1.6 tonnes. My Hyundai Xcent automatic gave me 9 for the first 5000 kms and it is only 900 kgs. I know a colleague's Nexon petrol automatic which gave him 8 kmpl for the first few weeks though it later improved. Other than the Suzuki automatics, no other pertrol automatics give decent mileage. We all know how Suzuki achieves it.

On MG's part, it was not ethical to start the mileage counter at 13. Most cars start at a relatively lower value and later improve as real mileage figures come in. My Hexa starts at 7 kmpl on every counter reset and later starts showing the real values once it travels a few kms. Starting the counter at 13 was really ambitious and I would even call it sleight of hand. We have seen quite a few posts here mentioning good mileage figures from MIDs during the test drive.

Starting the mileage at any value is pretty strange. As far as I recall , in my Vento DSG, it remains blank for sometime and once enough data is collected it begins showing.

On the mileage numbers, have said it before based on my experience of the turbo petrol and dsg in the Vento. Expecting anything above 10 in typical city conditions is unrealistic (apart from exceptions). Also, since the turbo petrol + dual clutch AT will be reasonably good to drive, the tendency to push it harder on highways will be more, which will impact the mileage. If you baby the car on the highway, am sure you can extract good mileage.

Bottomline, mileage should not be a key decision criteria for a turbo petrol automatic. If it is, then probably this( or any other similar specced car) is not the right car to buy.

I got a chance to visit the local showroom once again, to inquire on the status of my booking and to catchup with the GM. They had over 6 delivery vehicles prepped for delivery over the weekend, however they more than 500 bookings.

This is one of the 2ADs in Delhi, and mentioned that the plant is struggling with despatches as this sort of demand wasn't expected. They have only delivered close to 55 cars (and 3 auto) :eek: and mentioned that they have been indicated that the production will increase to 3500pm only by October. MG has circulated all dealers a FAQ sheet, which talks about why HG was forced to shut bookings.

He mentioned, while they still keep receiving requests from a lot of people who will come with some network or reference to book the car and put the entire amount down, even for deliveries in December (wedding season), they are having to turn these down. MG has also indicated that the automatic bookings made closer to 19th July (last date) may not be even guaranteed deliveries before 31st December, if they are not able to secure solutions to ramp-up production in time. He mentioned while they are having to turn-down fresh bookings completely even when they as dealers are loosing these customers, mentioned that even retaining these was/will be challenging as they may very much be asked to wait for more than 6months for delivery (which is a very difficult pill to swallow for a potential customer).

However, the GM was quite happy with MG (their parent have more than 6 more world-leading German and Brit dealerships in Delhi), as MG has really taken care of the dealers and they have promised the dealers that there might be no new additions to number of dealership for some time to come (might be true for Delhi). The GM was certain, that with the planned line-up and strategy that MG has for India, they will be in a position of Demand exceeding Supply for a few years.

I also enquired with him about taking the insurance from outside, he mentioned "no problem" and that it will not impact warranty or AMC. I also checked with him what is the real world mileage coming in DCT. He mentioned that while they are still struggling with 6kmpl for their TD vehicle, for 2 patrons that he knows personally, living in congested Rajender Nagar and Shalimar Bagh and driving for short distances are managing before the 1st/2nd service a 9kmpl, which should only improve.

While I have booked Kia GT DCT as well and awaiting the launch, I have a feeling that my final choice may still be the Hector. I still feel IMO that unless Kia knocks one out of the ground in pricing, the HECTOR will remain a much better bang for your buck proposition (VFM), and a more appealing & desirable product of the two for most.

I took TD again yesterday and observed the instantaneous mileage on MID. It hovered around 12 to 16 while cruising on highway but dropped all the way to 2 to 3 while accelerating hard. I tried on empty road at 80kmph as well as at choc a bloc traffic in Gurgaon.

Guess the car should give 9 to 10 after run in.

I also didn't observe any sort of panel gaps and plastic scratches, as seen by fellow members

@GTO - Thanks for a nice summary of the drive ahead of the official review. It gives a perspective of what to expect in Hector. Eagerly awaiting the official review, especially for the petrol DCT.

I had a short TD of the Petrol DCT over the weekend (~15 kms) and here are my observations.

Showroom Experience
- Went to the showroom with my family on Sunday around 11:30 AM. The SA and team was courteous to offer access to the display vehicles. We were left at our pace to explore. Thankfully with no sales pitch and no one following us, we could spend some time inside the vehicle.
- A lot is already mentioned about the size, space, features and the overall quality so will not repeat. However the overall package 'wowed' the family.
- Overall a good showroom experience, even considering that bookings are closed. SA mentioned that bookings should re-open soon, however no timeline given.

Test Drive (Petrol DCT Sharp Variant)
- The ingress to the driver seat was very easy and finding the correct driving position was very quick. No Lumbar support adjustment though. The view from the driver seat is commanding and the visibility of bonnet ends is helpful.
- The Auto Gear Lever is nice to hold and has standard PRND, there is no sports mode. The 'S' is for the manual mode (Don't know what S stands for)
- There is some lag to kick off from standstill (~1 sec), however I didn't find it annoying (I have never driven automatic so may be my benchmark is set lower!). I am sure more extensive TD will validate the behavior.
- Once on the move (> 20 kmph), didn't notice this lag, the gear shifts were smooth. The power delivery was linear and the ride was plush. The NVH was very well controlled and there was very little noise inside cabin
- My run was mainly on the highway and service roads hence didn't experience any B2B traffic. The driving was very much relaxed and didn't find it boring. It was easy to maneuver and didn't feel size to be big once inside the cabin.
- At the same time, it was not very eager as well. For my driving style (relaxed), I found it comfortable. Someone with enthusiastic style may have a different view.
- Breaking was okay.
- Used few voice commands they worked well. The touch screen visibility was good, but it was a bit slow to respond in some areas.
- The steering was obstructing the speed dial and was difficult to read the analog speed. There is digital speedometer in the center of the console though.
- Since touch screen is the only way to control various functions (other than voice commands), I was somewhat uncomfortable taking my eyes off the road and adjust AC etc.
- My family enjoyed the backseat ride with plenty of space and soft suspension. Didn't go too hard on potholes but the overall ride on rough road was satisfactory as per them.
- It was rainy and very dark outside, hence the advantage (or disadvantage) of panoramic sunroof could not be verified.
- Auto rain sensing wipers were unpredictable and they didn't work when I thought they should. Only when the drizzles increased, the auto wipers came into action.
- The SA told me that for overtaking if I hard press the accelerator, the gear shifts down so that I can rev hard. I tried couple of times and could see some difference however couldn't conclude the exact operation.
- The electronic parking brake engages/disengages by using the button and keeping the brake paddle pressed.

Overall I came back satisfied (if not fully convinced) with the initial drive. Of course will do a longer TD next time, in B2B traffic, slopes and hills etc.

Areas of Apprehension
- Long term reliability of the materials and equipment used, especially touchscreen as many important functions are dependent on it
- Real world FE of the DCT
- No physical control means taking eyes off the road and manage the touch screen, especially when its a bit slow.

Will I buy one? Not yet, I shall wait for official TBHP review, more TDs of Hector as well other automatics before I decide.

Took another test drive and here is what I found

I was able to park the vehicle at a 30-35 degree incline, using just the gear selector (P mode) I didnt have the auto hold nor the electric parking brake on. The other thing that I noticed was when shifting it from P to R or any other gear/mode there was a mild jerk, its quite noticeable. This only happened on the incline and not on flat surface.

I clicked 4 photos of the MID, the 1st on showing 4.2 km/L and 119 kms was before I started the TD. The 2nd one which shows 0.0 km/L is after I reset the trip. The 3rd on which shows 0.1 km and 0.0km/L is after I started driving and the last one showing 11.9 km/L was after the 5.1 km city drive.

+1 Thanks for sharing, that is what I remembered as well from my TD, that there was no mention of the so called 13kmpl start point as is mentioned by friend of GTO, which I find very strange. The pic above proves that like most others, the average starts measuring after completion of a certain distance. The onboard MID mileage figure may still very much have the optimistic error that we are used to though. My 15km run also returned a comparable number, and so it did for someone else on the forum. I'm optimistic lol:

https://youtu.be/LHVl_DVSZj0

Another Comparo - Hector Vs Harrier, as I said in my last post... IMO I do predict MG will be a formidable player in India.

Until Harrier comes with auto box and sunroof, I do not think if they have the option to buy a Hector (bookings closed) IMO anyone will buy a Harrier!

I'm not surprised at the mileage figures in single digits, that's par for the course as far as petrol goes. A large suv with a 1.5 litre engine is never going to be a choice for road tripping. This is the kind of car you buy if your running is low but the space and utility is important, the automatic I mean. MG should have gone with the hybrid automatic option. They're lucky the direct competition is from jeep and outdoing FCA should be easy.

Better mileage can be expected after BSVI fuel becomes available, nearly every turbo petrol ownership thread in this forum talks about additives or speed 97. Petrol is irritatingly dependent on fuel quality and extremely sensitive to throttle inputs.

Thanks to Dweep Advani for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

MG India has revealed that they have updated the stock tyres on board the Sharp variant. Until now, the stock tyres which were offered, were Goodyear Assurance. These will now be freely upgraded to Continental Max Contact MC5.

Although, Hectors already delivered with Goodyear tyres, will not be eligible for this upgrade.



Rushlane

Is this an upsize as well on sidewall? it looks bigger, although the size is not visible in photos.

Also while moving from Goodyear to Conti's MC5 is definitely an upgrade, but given SUV tyres are generally fairly pricy and are meant to last for ~80k+ kms, wouldn't a softer compound mean they may have a much shorter life?


Mileage study by CarDekho on Hector DCT vs Compass Petrol Auto.

CD Claims that even with the bigger engine and size in Hector, with slightly lesser ARAI claimed figures, in all conditions Hector is significantly more frugal than the Compass. Compass also in no conditions delivered a double digit figure.

They claim for Hector DCT; Jeep Compass Auto

City:Highway (100:0): 8.61 kmpl ; 6.10 kmpl

City:Highway (50:50): 10.11 kmpl ; 7.10 kmpl

City:Highway (25:75): 11.08 kmpl ; 7.73kmpl

City:Highway (75:25): 9.3 kmpl ; 6.56kmpl

City:Highway (0:100): 12.25 kmpl ; 8.50kmpl


https://www.cardekho.com/india-car-n...ared-24079.htm