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Old 8th January 2023, 11:00   #1
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2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look



Since the MG Hector has already been reviewed by Team-BHP, this report will only focus on changes made to the 2023 facelift. To read the full official review, click here. Also check out the report on changes in the 2021 facelift here.



Introduction



MG’s first product in the Indian market was the Hector SUV. Since its launch in 2019, there was a facelift in 2021 with some feature additions and cosmetic changes. And as we step into 2023, MG has updated the SUV once more. First things first, this is not an all-new generation Hector - it still uses the same platform. Coming to the engine options, you have a 2.0L diesel and a 1.5L turbo-petrol. There is a 174 BHP, 2.0L hybrid powertrain on offer in Indonesia, but we don’t know if it will make it to India or not.

For now, let’s focus on the 2023 model. MG has made a few cosmetic changes to the outside and the inside. There's a new Dune Brown paint shade added to the existing palette of 6 colours. MG has also added a few features to the already long feature list to stay ahead of the curve. For starters, it now gets level 2 ADAS with 11 features. MG has worked with Bosch to develop this system for the Hector. There’s one radar sensor in the front. The ADAS features include adaptive cruise control (ACC), bend cruise assistance (reducing speed when navigating a turn while ACC is on), lane departure warning, lane keep assist, traffic jam assist, forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, hydraulic brake assist, pedestrian emergency braking and intelligent headlamp control. Note that the ADAS features will be exclusive to automatic variants of the petrol version only. More details will be revealed at the launch of the car.

Another new feature is the auto turn indicators which is very self-explanatory – the car’s indicators come on as soon as you turn the wheels beyond a particular angle at slow speeds. The Hector also gets the Bluetooth-enabled sharable digital key feature from the Astor. This feature allows your 2 phones to be digital keys and you don’t need a physical key to drive the car. You can just use your phone to unlock the car and drive off. Correspondingly, the car unlocks / locks as you approach / leave the vehicle respectively.

On the inside, the dashboard design has been tweaked and now has many more straight lines. The cabin now has a massive 14-inch touchscreen infotainment system with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. As before, it is in portrait orientation, but the user interface has been updated considerably. The menus and submenus are well organized and overall, the touchscreen is good to use. This is a far better system than before and a big step up. It is quick to respond and doesn’t feel laggy. MG has also updated the i-SMART hub by partnering with new apps and integrating them into the infotainment system. MapMyIndia, being one of the apps, has also updated its user interface and now has a system called location sharing discover app. Essentially, this allows you to be the lead car when traveling with multiple cars in a group. You can ask your friends to download the app and their locations will be shown on Hector’s navigation system. Pretty cool if you like group travel. Another update is that the voice guidance for MapMyIndia is now available in 5 languages – English, Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi, and Marathi. There are also 75+ connected car features in the new Hector (the outgoing car had 60 features).

So, what's new on the outside?


The biggest change has been at the front. The face has been redesigned with a new grille and bumper:


Argyle (diamond shape) inspired front grille gets a mix of chrome and piano black border. The placement of the headlamps and DRLs remains the same, but the headlamp housing is now finished in piano black. Air dam now gets a chrome border instead of brushed silver:


18-inch dual-tone machined alloy wheels have been carried forward. They’re shod with 215/55 section tyres and look great:


Subtle changes have been made to the rear. The ‘MG’ logo is smaller and a chrome strip runs on either side of it and under the two LED tail-lamp clusters. Tail-lamps are connected by an LED strip. You also get spaced out ‘H E C T O R’ badging at the bottom of the tailgate and an ‘ADAS’ badge on the right:


Rear bumper has been redesigned and gets dual fake exhausts. There’s also a faux skid plate-like integration with a chrome border. As was with the outgoing car, the spare wheel is placed under the car:


New ‘Dune Brown’ shade:


So, what's new on the inside?


MG has updated the interiors quite a bit and you have this new dashboard design. It’s a lot sleeker in comparison with the outgoing car and you have more horizontal elements now. You also have a massive 14-inch touchscreen that takes the center stage. All the A/C vents also get a new design with horizontal orientation:


Steering wheel has been carried over from the outgoing car. The only change is that the switches for ADAS features have been added on the left spoke:


Doorpads now get a black and beige theme which looks quite nice. Speakers have a silver border too:


Seats are now draped with beige upholstery. Driver seat gets 6-way electric adjustment while the passenger seat gets 4-way electric adjustment:


New squarish start / stop button design looks good:


Big talking point of the cabin is a 14-inch touchscreen infotainment system. It now runs updated software and the user interface has also been modified:


360-degree camera display has also been updated and now, the clarity is much better than the outgoing car:


Loads of options and displays that you can navigate through like TPMS, ambient lighting, window settings, headlight options, wireless charging options, etc. An interesting addition to the sunroof options is that you can operate it through the touchscreen. You can also open it gradually in increments of 10% as needed with the touchscreen slider:


Below the touchscreen, there is a wireless charger that also has a USB port:


New gear lever design looks nice and sleek. There’s an arrow-like detailing on the piano black gear console. There’s a silver ‘Eco’ button in the top right corner:


Seat ventilation switches have been neatly integrated into the center console. You also have traction control and A/C max switches here:


Like before, the automatic variant gets an electronic parking brake along with an auto-hold function. Parking sensor button is placed behind along with a few dummy buttons. There are two cupholders with a sliding cover:


You can now slide the driver armrest forward and there’s a small storage space underneath as well:


Panoramic sunroof lets in a lot of light:


A look at the beige upholstery of the rear seats:


Rear AC vents get the same design as the front units:

Last edited by Aditya : 9th January 2023 at 22:13.
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Old 8th January 2023, 11:00   #2
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

Last edited by Aditya : 8th January 2023 at 11:02.
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Old 8th January 2023, 11:21   #3
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

Great features addition overall, the car is pretty much loaded with any feature possible now. Only thing probably missing is Paddle shifter, with the lacklustre petrol engine outright performace, it might have helped a bit. Other then that hardly anything I can think of missing in this car.

Missing diesel automatic and why MG does not listen to it's customers ask remains a mystery.

@Aditya - Does the car have wireless android auto/Carplay or is it still wired.

Edit: Just checked on some videos and they are claiming it is wireless, that is a boon.

At around expected 28 lacs on road price in Bangalore, it is going to go head on with XUV700 AX7, the engine performance on XUV is obviously better, but then Hector seems to be much more premium overall. Would be a good fight and Hector might be able to actually convert some of XUV700 bookings.

Last edited by AtheK : 8th January 2023 at 11:36.
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Old 8th January 2023, 11:21   #4
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

The upgrades seems much needed but why did MG had to plonk in that huge so-called ''Diamond Grill"? This is so much in-your face and at least in the pictures is looking horribly out of place. They could have taken Hector Plus as the base and redesigned it for the Hector!
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Old 8th January 2023, 11:28   #5
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

Great looking interiors but I'm quite concerned by the responsiveness of the touchscreen. It was a major flaw in the current gen version and the facelift's touchscreen seems to have been improved only slightly based on some of the videos I'm seeing. And if it's like this in the beginning, how will it be say after 5 - 6 years of usage I wonder.

Any current users of Hector can comment on how the touchscreen response became after 2 - 3 years of ownership?
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Old 8th January 2023, 11:38   #6
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

Quote:
Originally Posted by ulag62442 View Post
Great looking interiors but I'm quite concerned by the responsiveness of the touchscreen. It was a major flaw in the current gen version and the facelift's touchscreen seems to have been improved only slightly based on some of the videos I'm seeing. And if it's like this in the beginning, how will it be say after 5 - 6 years of usage I wonder.

Any current users of Hector can comment on how the touchscreen response became after 2 - 3 years of ownership?
Ya it's improved very slightly, but I have seen a couple of videos and seems Apple carplay and Android Auto is wireless now, that should be a boon, as major day to day functions you will use them, once you have done the initial settings.

Last edited by AtheK : 8th January 2023 at 11:40.
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Old 8th January 2023, 11:47   #7
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

Great preview as always And boy oh boy – that 14 inch screen is simply massive! Good to know that the interface is better, but I think that too many functions are chucked into the screen; not that they did have a choice, but still. All in all, seems like a good refresh, just that the front looks weird now IMO. Pricing is key - the Hector facelift shouldn't cost more than 22 lakh ex-showroom.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Omkar View Post
Tail-lamps are by an LED strip.
Isn't it "are connected by an LED strip"?
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Old 8th January 2023, 11:52   #8
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

Seems they are dropping the mild hybrid as per autocar

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Old 8th January 2023, 11:59   #9
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

If only they improved the petrol engine option, would have put a serious dent in XUV 700 sales for people who don't want diesel cars.
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Old 8th January 2023, 12:08   #10
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

Gagan's walkaround



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Old 8th January 2023, 12:25   #11
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

TBH, I personally like the Hector. I havent read any major niggles or issues with it. Unlike harrier and xuv700, hector is a far more sorted product. Harrier has too many horror stories and xuv700 has minor niggles too. No such reports about MG so far.
Ofcourse any company would require some time and feedback to work on little improvements. And MG has done it. The screen was laggy, they solved it.
The only con is high speed ride quality, but that's not a manufacturing defect, thats the choice MG made to calibrate the suspension. The low speed ride is amazing.
The only reason it doesn't sell well is the Chinese image. Remember the best electronic gadgets and other products we currently use are made in China. They are masters of manufacturing. Globally, this product is sold by MG, Baojun and Chevrolet so it has to be a niggle free product.
If people can get past the 'chinese product' image, they'll see the car for what it is.
Innova hycross is Japanese, why no hatred towards that even when they're looting in the name of reliability.
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Old 8th January 2023, 12:52   #12
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

It was worth waiting for almost a year for facelift! Had booked Hector in Jan 22 and cancelled in expectation of facelift. Rebooked in May in wait of facelift.

I'm in love with all the thoughtful changes made, be it exterior or interior or plethora of features. Only wish was they could have given their new 1.5L turbo petrol engine which generates 186hp power. Maybe they want it to tested in other markets first and then bring to India. Though I am a sedate driver who enjoys driving in limits and find current engine good fit.

Can't wait to take delivery of this car and share my experience here!

New brown shade is good, red is bold but i will be going with high on maintenance starry black.
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Old 8th January 2023, 13:49   #13
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

Some omissions that I have observed-

1) No more ambient lighting in the rear and Cup holders at front
2) No mild hybrid now
3) No window roll up using key

While the feature list has extensively increased, not happy with the above. Infact, I expecting them to pair the hybrid with the CVT.
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Old 8th January 2023, 14:59   #14
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

This car so desperately needs either a better petrol engine or the option of a Diesel Automatic. The current 1.5+CVT combo is just inadequate for a car this size. It neither delivers exciting performance nor does it return decent efficiency. Such a big missed opportunity for MG not to give an autobox with that sweet FCA diesel. It is a shame because the rest of the package is very enticing.
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Old 8th January 2023, 15:08   #15
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Re: 2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

Are there no memory seat controls. For the driver side?
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