As a relative newcomer to the series myself, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has been a mind-opening experience. Stealth isn’t normally my kind of thing, but I found myself completely engrossed by…
Wait, what? Oh, *that* MGS5. Whoops, sorry, I did wonder why I’d been asked to review a game published in 2015. And one that isn’t to do with cars.
Anyway, meet the MGS5. Yes, it’s all one long name, apparently – according to one of my industry colleagues, that’s to avoid Audi kicking up a fuss about possibly confusing this electric SUV with a quick German coupe. We’re not sure Konami was considered, though.
MGS5, front
Is it indeed an electric crossover, the type we don’t normally even register on our radar but are probably quite important to make a note of on a professional level, as no doubt someone with zero interest in cars will indeed ask us about them (and this will likely to extend to you, our audience, as the car people amongst your families we’re sure). It’s cheap, and it’s got loads of kit on it, and that’s enough for most people to care.
Which is probably the line when someone asks you directly about buying one because, as we know, people just want you to validate their already made up mind when directly asking about ‘X family crossover’. But what if someone throws a curveball and asks for a subjective comparison? You’re welcome in advance.
Let’s start with its design. Which err, doesn’t leave us with much to talk about. The MGS5 may as well be invisible, quite frankly, looking like someone fed every crossover on the market through ChatGPT and fed us with this. Inoffensive, completely uninspired.
MGS5, rear
Same goes for the interior, really. It’s nicely enough put together, and materials are of a surprisingly decent quality for an MG, but it’s hardly exciting. The 12.8-inch central infotainment display works well enough, and its Apple CarPlay/Android Auto integration is smoothly handled.
You sit in a relatively nice position with plenty of visibility out the front, and not as much as you’d like out the rear, as is the case with so many of these jacked-up masses of steel, plastic and electronics. That’s rectified with the inclusion of a decent quality reversing camera, though.
Head- and legroom is good in the back by the standards of the class, so rear passengers shouldn’t fall out too much with the driver for choosing this over, say, a Ford Puma Gen-E or Skoda Elroq.
MGS5, interior
To drive? Completely and utterly anonymous. Not a single profound feeling of excitement, originality, or any attempt at making the experience memorable. The wheel steers the car, the throttle makes it go at a respectable rate, and the brakes work. There’s really very little more to say about it than that. We could tell you about power, 0-60, all that stuff but frankly… none of that is going to be relevant to 99.999% of buyers.
Some gripes do unravel when you have time to think about it at motorway speeds. Wind noise is a bit persistent around the A-pillar for a start, and then there’s the absurdly intrusive ADAS systems.
The speed warning bong which can’t be turned off, for a start, which is fine when the traffic sign recognition works – which isn’t often, having on many occasions throughout our week picked up the signs of slip roads adjacent to the motorway to the side of us, and getting very, very angry about us doing the speed limit. Its adaptive cruise control is irritatingly jerky under braking, although its inclusion as standard does at least make up for that slight discomfort, we guess.
MGS5, side
Anything else we need to tell you about? Oh, the battery. You can have it with two options, ours being the longer-range 62.1kWh usable capacity car. MG quotes 298 miles on a full charge, but really, that’s going to be about 220 at best from our experience.
List prices for the MGS5 start at £28,745 and top out at £33,745, although MG dealers are well-known for slapping gigantic discounts on cars, so you’d probably find a very good deal on one quite easily.
Given it’s already undercutting pretty much every key rival while also offering adaptive cruise, a reversing camera and wireless smartphone mirroring support (which, honestly, are the things most normal people only really care for), it’s hard to be upset at that. Conclusion?
The MGS5 is completely invisible, but also solid for what it is. You can sleep easy knowing whichever relative has decided to buy one will have done completely fine. Oh, and MGSV is worth playing too, while you’re still here.
#MGS5 #Review #Invisible #Solid