What is it?
You have to be pretty old to remember an MG Magnette. Any MG Magnette, in fact, because there have been several pre-war cars (some of them legendary), while post-war there were the fine 1953-58 ZA and ZB saloons, and after that the inferior Austin Cambridge-based, badge-engineered Farina-styled model. The last of those was built in 1968, but it’s the Z Magnettes that MG would like you to think of with this latest version.
Credible or not, what the two do have in common, besides a decent chassis, is that they’re four-door sports saloons, although the ZA would have been a little upmarket of today’s Magnette and an equivalent to today’s sporty BMW 3-series.
And yet it’s 3-series buyers that MG Motor would like to see considering this booted version of the MG 6 GT hatchback. But before you start sniggering, the plan is to snare buyers of used 3-series searching websites in the MG’s price range – which starts at £15,995 – when a cheeky banner ad hoves into view. That’s £400 more than you’ll pay for the hatch, for no good reason beyond MG’s BMW dreams, it would seem.
What's it like?
What you get for your money is quite a big car, both inside and out, that’s identical to the hatch bar its rearranged rear. So that means slightly vague throttle response from the turbocharged 1.8-litre motor until it starts to rev, with decently lively thrust emerging after that. However, at 5800rpm the gearlever in our car started to zizz, and the shift itself felt like you were snapping saplings.
Better, then, to think about the truly excellent suspension. The ride is supple and quiet, the car is keenly agile in curves, and if the feelsome straight-ahead promise of its steering isn’t quite matched by the quality of its mid-bend weighting, this is nevertheless an accomplished chassis.
Should I buy one?
Keen pricing and fairly generous equipment – though you wouldn’t call it plush – are further attractions, but running costs will be high because there’s no diesel. Which makes this four-door as uneven as its five-door sibling. But unlike many value-brand buys, the Magnette has a few strong attractions to counter those flaws.
Richard Bremner
MG6 Magnette TSE
Price: £19,995; Top speed: 120mph; 0-62mph: 8.4sec; Economy: 35.6mpg; CO2: 184g/km; Kerb weight: na; Engine: 4 cyls, 1796cc, petrol; Power: 158bhp at 5500rpm; Torque: 159lb ft at 1750-4500rpm; Gearbox: 5-spd manual
Join the debate
Re: MG6 Magnette TSE
Well because i think as they said it's only as good as a three year old 3 series, i know which i'd have.
Peter Cavellini.
Re: MG6 Magnette TSE
[IMG]http://i1093.photobucket.com/albums/i439/kash0613/images5.jpg[/IMG]
Re: MG6 Magnette TSE
...the MG6 is a drivers car that has been engineered in Britain by Brits, with a chassis to suit us Brits too. One can criticise the looks, as looks are all down to personal taste. But to criticise the car without driving it is just bashing MG for no reason.
Nobody can argue against that last point, however there's much that's been written that we can question. Take for example your first statement, engineered in Britain by Brits with a chassis to suit us Brits, I've read many similar comments.
Let's just think on that for a second. This is a car from a Chinese manufacturer which in global terms the UK will play a very minor role in it's sales / success. So why on earth would they engineer a chassis to suit us Brits? To suit the North American market, yes. To suit the Chinese market, yes. But to suit us Brits! Why? I may well be wrong but that sounds too much like a sales pitch to met. I'm sure the Chinese marketing dept will have a car that was engineered in China by Chinese, built in China by Chinese with a chassis to suit the Chinese. Same goes for North America.
It also reminds me of certain products which once fell foul of advertising standards. For example a label which said 100% British chicken didn't actually mean the chicken was British, the chicken could have spent it's last 6 months in Britain, it could have come from anywhere in the world but by playing the rules, the seller could advertise their product as 100% British. So I'm wondering if when they say the car was designed in Britain, was it actually designed in Britain or was designed by an English speaking Chinaman?
Re: MG6 Magnette TSE
...And another thing that troubles me with this model in particular. I know it's all personal choice and there are those on here who much prefer the 4 door to the hatchback - fine. But can anyone think of a modern era car which is/was sold in both 4dr and 5dr versions where the 4dr had any success?
I can think of only one - the model year 2000(ish) Honda Accord. They brought out a hatchback version but it never really sold in numbers, people stuck to the 4dr and Honda dropped the 5dr when the next Accord came along.
So I'm being told MG go to the lengths of engineering a car in the UK and a chassis which is suited for the UK, and then discover MG launch an uncompetitive 1.8T petrol 4dr saloon which is about as far away from the UK market as you can get! It just doesn't add up, I'm finding it difficult to believe this car has had any British input at all. Perhaps I'm just being over sceptical in my old age.
Re: MG6 Magnette TSE
.......why are they knocking down a car that outhandles and rides a focus when this used to be the deciding factor for the mag?.........
It doesn't outhandle and outride the Focus or for that matter, the Golf, the Astra, the Giulietta etc, unless you know of any head to head tests, which state that it does.
Re: MG6 Magnette TSE
in view of the fact that when autocar bench tested an early mg against the previous focus and found it to be a better drive then its simple to deduce that the current focus( which has been found to be inferior to the last gen in that respect by every mag ive read) is bettered by the mg!!!
the golf and guiletta will,by the same argument be superior to the focus as a drivers car too so quite how autocar describe it as a class leader is beyond me(esp as it looks terrible inside and out too).....
i suppose its the classic autocar method called ''changing the goalposts' to suit...
Re: MG6 Magnette TSE
A link or source to this test against the Focus? Besides, while the new Focus might be regarded as sharp as the previous generations, overall it has a more competent chassis, certainly in terms of ride and refinement.
Re: MG6 Magnette TSE
your first statement, engineered in Britain by Brits with a chassis to suit us Brits, I've read many similar comments.
Let's just think on that for a second. This is a car from a Chinese manufacturer which in global terms the UK will play a very minor role in it's sales / success. So why on earth would they engineer a chassis to suit us Brits? To suit the North American market, yes. To suit the Chinese market, yes. But to suit us Brits! Why? I may well be wrong but that sounds too much like a sales pitch to met. I'm sure the Chinese marketing dept will have a car that was engineered in China by Chinese, built in China by Chinese with a chassis to suit the Chinese. Same goes for North America......
....So I'm wondering if when they say the car was designed in Britain, was it actually designed in Britain or was designed by an English speaking Chinaman
Your first point.. I don't buy this whole 'Chinese manufacturer' lark. Do you class Jaguar as an indian company? Nissan as a French company? Or maybe as Nissan build cars in Britain, maybe a British company? See my point? Fair enough, SAIC/NAC bought out the remains of the old MGR company and shifted most of the production lines to China. However the heart of the company is still British. And yes, it has been engineered by Brits.. I have spoke to the head engineer both at Prodrive and Longbridge, a great chap called Ian.. and I can assure you that Ian has no Chinese blood in him whatsoever. And yes, because it is a British head engineer, I do believe that the cars are set up for us.. show me any Chinese domestic market car with a chassis as good as the MG's.... it won't happen, you won't be able to!!
As for designers...
I can't say for sure who exactly designed the MG6, though I do know that the 6 (nee Roewe550) is heavily based on a MGR designed proposal for RDX60 (what would have been the 2005/6 45/ZS).
However this article should prove that all future MGs (and indeed SAIC cars) will have a British designer at the helm...
Owen Ready of Car Design News reports that SAIC Motor UK Technical Centre Limited’s (SMTC UK’s) Design Director, Tony Williams-Kenny has recently been appointed as immediate parent company SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Company Limited’s new Design Director – he replaces Ken Ma who has joined one of China’s other leading OEMs, Chang’an Automobile (Group) Company Limited, as Head of Design.
Williams-Kenny, who has a BA (Hons) in Transport Design and an MA in Automotive Design from Coventry University, worked as a Designer for Mitsubishi Europe Design in Germany before joining MG Rover Group Limited as Design Manager in 2000. However, since moving to SMTC UK, he has worked on the Roewe 550 and, more recently, overseen the design of the MG6, the MG ZERO Concept and the production version of the latter, the MG3.
AROnline believes that the appointment of Tony Williams-Kenny may well be the first time that a European Designer has been given such a senior design role at one of the major Chinese OEMs – a role in which he will be responsible for overseeing the development of the next generation of MG and Roewe models including the upcoming MG7/Roewe 750 replacement
...And another thing that troubles me with this model in particular. I know it's all personal choice and there are those on here who much prefer the 4 door to the hatchback - fine. But can anyone think of a modern era car which is/was sold in both 4dr and 5dr versions where the 4dr had any success?
I can think of only one - the model year 2000(ish) Honda Accord. They brought out a hatchback version but it never really sold in numbers, people stuck to the 4dr and Honda dropped the 5dr when the next Accord came along.
So I'm being told MG go to the lengths of engineering a car in the UK and a chassis which is suited for the UK, and then discover MG launch an uncompetitive 1.8T petrol 4dr saloon which is about as far away from the UK market as you can get! It just doesn't add up, I'm finding it difficult to believe this car has had any British input at all. Perhaps I'm just being over sceptical in my old age.
The Accord example is not a good one really as the Accord is one class/segment higher (although the MG6 is close to the Mondeo class in size). A better example is the Bora/Jetta and Subaru Impreza. The Bora was a strong seller, not so sure about the Jetta.
Yes you are right, Hatchbacks tend to fare better.. unless it's a sporty car. The ZS sold more in saloon guise whereas the 45 did better as a hatch.
The only fault with the MG6 is an engine that isn't a new-school eco friendly low carbon blah blah e.t.c... BIG mistake I admit. It is a British engineered engine.. it is the old 1.8 turbo K series from the ZT with a new ECU, new head gasket, and many other new bits which Ian was keen to point out but have slipped my mind (I'm more interested in design than engine tech)
Prodigy,
Just read two road tests on your fav car,and BOTH have simular reservations about them,on the other hand they did say it weren't far away from being acceptable, my other thing i noticed about this Magnette was...why not fit a diffuser at the back because they exhaust looks like an after thought?
Depends what you look for in a car doesn't it really? Correct me if I am wrong, but I remember you saying you drive a BMW. Therefore you appreciate a good chassis I take it? So seeing as Tiff Needal once described the ZS as the best handling fwd car ever, and seeing as the MG6 handles just as well, I find your comments laughable. If you drove a Prius, or something like a Lexus and valued comfort, emissions or whatever else as priorities then I could understand your criticisms, however you drive an enthusiasts car, so why are you not speaking like an enthusiast?
How does the exhaust look like an afterthought? You are looking for faults and nit picking my friend!!
Re: MG6 Magnette TSE
http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/248727/
Re: MG6 Magnette TSE
LINKIE,MR OVERDRIVE;
http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/248727/
What the MG6 does do, though, is drive well. And I mean really well. MG's head of chassis, Andy Kitson, admits the Focus has been the firm's benchmark for ride and handling. The MG6 has a rare blend of suppleness and poise.
The steering is still hydraulic rather than electric, and apparently it's slower than the Focus's, but it doesn't feel it. Kitson says there's still a little work to do on the valves to alter the feel at straight ahead but it's not bad now. And once there's a little lock wound on, it's excellent.
Then there's the ride. Hopping to and from a Focus reveals that the Ford's cabin suffers less vertical intrusion over bumps, but it's obvious this is the car MG has benchmarked. In its poise and agility I'd even say the MG6 is superior. It feels more neutral than the Focus, with a pivot point further forward; the Ford in comparison feels led more by its front.
The MG grips tenaciously before eventually letting slip from the front first, and it changes direction superbly. It is comfortable, tool greater vertical inputs into the cabin aside, there's no crash, even over bad bumps.
Fact is, the MG6 is already (and there's still tweaking to do) borderline best in class to drive.
