http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-2014726/MG6-It-start-new-era--end-love-affair-says-JAMES-MARTIN.html
JamesMartin not impressed...oh dear!
JamesMartin not impressed...oh dear!
You know you’re going to have a good weekend when it starts at 9am on the Saturday with a Hollywood actress sashaying into your workplace.
Julia Stiles was in the brilliant Bourne trilogy, my favourite films in years, so when she hit the Saturday Kitchen set in a traffic-stopping dress better suited to a premiere, well let’s just say the freshly caught sea trout I was working on didn’t get the attention it deserved.
The design of the MG6 GT from the outside is all right, if a few years out of date - but on the inside it just feels cheap
After that came a blast down the M3 on my new toy, a BMW GS1200 motorbike, straight to the airfield where a plane was waiting for me to take the controls.
Yes, I’m now a pilot, and I was off to one of the summer’s best events, avoiding the traffic by flying myself. I wouldn’t exactly call it the stress-free option but I cut my travel time by three quarters, and the view on the way was amazing.
So where was I going? The Isle Of Wight? Glastonbury? Glyndebourne?
No, no, no. If I’m going to stand in a field for a weekend, it’s not going to be for music. I was going to something three times bigger than Glastonbury: the 24 Hours Of Le Mans, which each year draws a staggering half a million people to a small town in France and its eight-mile race circuit.
Thousands of Britons dash across the Channel and down Autoroute 28 to watch, and I’m amazed it’s not more.
There are major fit and finish issues and the switches and dash are a hard plastic that feels like it would fall apart in a few years
The atmosphere as the sun goes down is incredible: smoke drifting from campfires, the smell of cooking, people wandering around in a happy beer haze and the incredible sight and sound of 50 cars blasting around a twisting circuit at an average speed of 140mph with only their headlights to keep them out of trouble – or not.
One of Audi’s three cars smashed into tiny pieces an hour in, followed by a second eleven hours in (both drivers were OK) and with half the race to go it seemed that deadly rivals Peugeot couldn’t lose.
But after 24 solid hours of close combat, the remaining Audi came in a few seconds ahead of the lead Peugeot. I’ve never seen anything like it. I flew home on a petrol high.
I was still thinking of Le Mans as I touched down in Hampshire, because I had an MG waiting for me at home.
The body-roll was well-controlled, the suspension handles potholes well and the turbo 1.8-litre was very smooth and quiet at cruising speed
I used to own a 1931 MG C-Type, the model that once held the 24-hour speed record. They did well at Le Mans in the Thirties and again in the Fifties with the MGA, but most people know them from the cheap, fun post-war sports cars like the MG Midget. I had one of those, too.
MG died along with Rover in 2005, only to be resurrected by the Chinese. (We were way ahead of the Swedes in that regard.)
I'm sorry MG, but there wasn't one thing I liked about this car
Now it’s part of the state-owned Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation and this MG6 GT is the first result. I thought there was a good chance I’d like it, since it was designed and assembled by highly skilled Brummies at Longbridge – albeit from Chinese parts.
My first hint that all was not well came as soon as I stepped off the runway and turned my phone back on, to a dozen voicemails telling me a car alarm had been going off in my drive for seven hours.
Arriving home I couldn’t stop the MG’s noise by opening the door or even by starting the car – as it wouldn’t start. This being Sunday, I couldn’t raise a mechanic or an MG dealer so it was up to the AA to deactivate it. At 10pm. Sorry, neighbours.
Still, I put that down to bad luck and reminded myself that MG used to build cars that could drive at the limit for 24 hours straight. Maybe this new saloon would improve once I hit the road.
Then again, maybe not. In actual fact, it broke down twice more in the week I had it. No other car I’ve tested in four years of doing this has been as unreliable. And I hope the Shanghai bosses don’t shoot their marketing guys for bad reviews, because there’s more.
The design from the outside is all right, if a few years out of date – but on the inside it just feels cheap.
This TSE model is extremely well-specced for the price, with colour sat-nav, reversing camera and leather seats, but it doesn’t feel like the bargain it should.
There are major fit and finish issues and the switches and dash are a hard plastic that feels like it would fall apart in a few years – by which time its resale value would be about £3.50.
Driving it, between the breakdowns, wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t good either, but body-roll was well-controlled, the suspension handles potholes well and the turbo 1.8-litre was very smooth and quiet at cruising speed.
The boot is truly massive and there was more room in the back seats than I’ve seen in ages. They say most Chinese car buyers have chauffeurs (or aspire to have them), so maybe the bosses didn’t think the view from the driver’s seat was so important.
But apart from that there’s not much to say. It had five seats, a steering wheel and a stereo that was stuck on Radio 4.
I’m sorry Live readers, I’m sorry MG, but there wasn’t one thing I liked about this car. It’s such a shame, as I’ve a lot of fondness for the badge and its history.
Around 6,000 people were made redundant when MG Rover went bust six years ago and I’d love for the 400 now employed at Longbridge to do well, grow the business and restore the balance. The advert says, ‘It’s time to fall in love again.’
But if this is the best MG can do, I’m afraid it’s only going to be a one-night stand.
The boot is truly massive and there was more room in the back seats than I've seen in ages
TECH SPEC£18,995, mg.co.uk
Engine 1.8-litre four cylinder, turbocharged
Power 158hp
0-60mph 8.4 seconds
Top speed 120mph (electronically limited)
Fuel consumption 35.6mpg
CO2 emissions 184g/km (£210/year tax band)
Transmission Five-speed manual
Standard features 18in alloys, ABS with EBD and slip control, radio/CD player with USB input, sat-nav, cruise control, leather sports seats, reversing camera, all-round electric windows with one-touch operation, electric dual-zone climate control, Bluetooth
Optional extras Metallic paint, solid paint
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