Supermini gets 192bhp, 64mpg, fancier interior, refined chassis – and £6k price rise
FELIX PAGE
The MG 3 has been reinvented for a second generation, adopting a bold new look and switching to full hybrid power in a bid for supermini sales supremacy.
Set to be priced higher than today’s £14k model, at around £20k, the new 3 is due in the UK in the coming months as a rival to the Honda Jazz, Renault Clio and Toyota Yaris, majoring on practicality, efficiency and compelling performance.
The new-look 3 was designed at MG’s Shanghai studio, taking stylistic influence from the Chinese brand’s current crop of crossovers and hatchbacks, and is slightly longer and wider than its pure-ICE forebear.
MG’s new Hybrid Plus powertrain (its first non-plugin hybrid offering) combines a 101bhp 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a 107bhp electric motor for a combined 192bhp and 313lb ft of torque, making the 3 markedly more potent than the Clio and Yaris hybrids – and quicker too, with a 0-62mph time of 8.0sec.
Whereas the old 3 was offered variously with a five-speed manual, five-speed automated manual or four-speed automatic gearbox, the new car drives its front wheels exclusively through a three-speed auto.
MG touted the performance benefits of this unit “over the commonly used CVT often found in hybrids”, claiming its three-speeder avoids lag to give the car more responsive acceleration.
For reference, the CVT-equipped Yaris Hybrid needs 9.2sec to complete the 0-62mph sprint.
The extra poke doesn’t come at the great expense of efficiency. MG has claimed the 3 will offer a combined 64mpg (almost 20mpg up on its predecessor) and have vastly reduced CO2 emissions, at 100g/km – both figures that stack it up neatly against its French and Japanese rivals.
A 1.83kWh battery gives the 3 enough juice to cover short distances at speeds of up to 50mph with the engine off, but it can also be driven in Series mode – with the engine functioning as a generator – or as a parallel hybrid, where the two power sources work in tandem to give the full 192bhp output.
MG said its engineers in China and Europe have collaborated to ensure the 3’s dynamics are fine-t
