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2023 MG Hector Facelift : A Close Look

8th January 2023, 11:00 by Aditya Nadkarni

The Hector gets level 2 ADAS with 11 features. MG has worked with Bosch to develop this system.

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 wireles 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’ lettering 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:

[CENTER][h2]So, what's new on the inside?[/h2][/CENTER]

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: