MG Gloster Review 2020

The Gloster comes from the Maxus brand, owned by SAIC (the same parent as MG), and is essentially the Maxus D90 in China and the LDV D90 in Australia. It’s been rebranded for India and sold as the flagship of the Morris Garages (MG) range, with a suitably British-sounding name – Gloster.

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But can the Gloster’s spec advantage on paper translate into superior performance, practicality and comfort, compared to the Mahindra Alturas G4, Ford Endeavour and the king of the segment, the Toyota Fortuner?

Exterior

One of the pre-requisites in a vehicle of this class in India is the ever-so-important road presence, and the MG Gloster delivers a healthy dose of it. Its gargantuan dimensions of 4,985mm length, 1,867mm height and 2,950mm wheelbase are all best-in-class, with only the 1,926mm width being slightly less than the Mahindra Alturas G4.

 

The 19-inch wheels are the largest in this segment, but still look a little dwarfed in the cavernous wheel arches. Certain elements, like the dummy quad exhausts, are nicely integrated into the design and lend it a sporty look.

 

Despite its imposing size, however, what the MG Gloster lacks is a distinctive design. There’s no visual link to the other MG models on sale in India (there wouldn’t be, as each car is sourced from a different SAIC-owned brand), and some of the details look a bit derivative of other brands too. The chrome lining around the window surrounds and front grille add a bit of flash but it’s all too generic, and the Gloster, though too huge to go unnoticed, doesn’t wow you with its design.

 

There’s nothing subtle about the way the Gloster flaunts its identity. You’ll find an overdose of badges – as many as five at the rear – a large MG logo, a 4WD badge, an ‘ADAS’ badge denoting the advanced driver aids, and the one that adorns all MGs – ‘Internet Inside’. You’ll also find the word ‘Gloster’ spelled large across the width of the tailgate. And like with the Hector, MG is at pains to shout out the brand’s origin – there’s a pair of Union Jack badges on the front flanks that say ‘Brit Dynamic.’

Interior

There’s nothing subtle about the way the Gloster flaunts its identity. You’ll find an overdose of badges – as many as five at the rear – a large MG logo, a 4WD badge, an ‘ADAS’ badge denoting the advanced driver aids, and the one that adorns all MGs – ‘Internet Inside’. You’ll also find the word ‘Gloster’ spelled large across the width of the tailgate. And like with the Hector, MG is at pains to shout out the brand’s origin – there’s a pair of Union Jack badges on the front flanks that say ‘Brit Dynamic.’

 

While perceived quality is generally pretty good, when you take a closer look you realise that some of the materials and plastics used don’t feel premium enough for a car of this price. Even the switchgear on and around the button-heavy steering wheel feels a bit low-rent and you’ll find yourself accidentally hitting the one with the * on it regularly, resulting in a call back from MG’s prompt and patient helpline. Attention to detail is missing in the key fob too – it has no proper markings, which makes pressing the right button a bit of guesswork, especially in the dark.

The front seats are wide and generous, offering a plethora of adjustments, with the driver’s side being powered with memory functions, as well as heating/cooling and massage function, while the passenger’s seat has to make-do with only a heating function.

But as you try to settle in for a long drive, you’ll notice the lumbar support, even at its lowest setting, is a bit excessive, and the cushioning all round is stiff and hard. The massage, as a result, feels more like physiotherapy than relaxation.

Still, even with the seat motored down to its lowest setting, forward visibility is great, thanks to upright A-pillars and a relatively low-set dash. Even the giant wing mirrors have enough of a gap from the Gloster’s body so as to not cause a huge blind spot. Rear visibility, however, is hampered by the big head restraints on the rear seats.

 

This top-spec Savvy variant is equipped with a pair of captain’s chairs in the second row, which are almost as generous in size as the ones in front. They can be reclined a fair bit and have a long range of fore-and-aft sliding travel, allowing for limousine legroom. For those who are largely chauffeur-driven, the combination of captain’s seats and overall space on offer makes the Gloster’s middle row very comfortable. But again, like the front seats, the second-row pair feel noticeably hard and you don’t quite sink into them. Some lower variants offer a bench seat in the middle row.

In terms of practicality, hidden in the seat bases are cupholders and storage for tablet computers; you get a third climate zone for the rear cabin, and of course, some charging provisions, as well as storage in the door bins and front seatback pockets. Window sunshades, however, are sorely missed.

Tilting and sliding the second row forward does allow you decent access to the last row, but it’s perhaps easier to just walk between the middle-row seats. When it comes to outright space, just like with the middle row, this is easily the best third row among SUVs in this segment, and perhaps even among larger, full-size luxury SUVs. You sit a bit low, thigh support isn’t great, and there’s no place to tuck your feet (which is all par for the course), but headroom is decent and knee room – with the second row in its mid-way position – is so good, you’ll forgive it for its shortcomings. The large (fixed) glass area here, too, allows a lot of light through, further adding to the sense of space.

 

You get cupholders, USB and 12V charging, and dedicated AC vents back here, and though it’s comfortably wide enough for three kids, MG has given it just two seatbelts and head restraints.

With all that cabin room, it’s understandable that there’s not a lot of space for luggage with all rows up; but again, it’s more than what the competition offers, and you can fit a couple of strollers and soft bags. Flip the third row down, though, and space is vast. You even get a powered tailgate with hands-free opening, and a retractable luggage cover that stows away under the boot floor.

 Features

The ADAS or Advanced Driver Assistance Systems in the Gloster have some features that we’re more familiar with, like driver fatigue detection, which suggests the driver take a break via a prompt on the MID after it senses the car has been on the move for a long time, or it detects erratic driving behaviour. The next feature is the auto parking assist, which is essentially a hands-free park-in or park-out function for parallel or perpendicular spaces, where the driver merely controls the vehicle speed and forward/reverse gears, and the car steers itself.

 

It also gets a blind-spot warning function, which flashes a light in the wing mirror to make you aware of a vehicle in your rear three-quarter view, and if you are indicating, you won’t hear the ticking sound if there is an object in your blind spot. Then there’s lane-departure warning, which alerts you with a graphic on the MID as well as an audible warning when it detects you are straying out of your lane without indicating. What’s nice is that this system even detects washed off or faint lane markers.

There’s a self-explanatory frontal collision warning, which throws up a prompt on the MID accompanied by an audible warning, if it senses that the car could possibly have a head-on collision. And finally, adaptive cruise control, which maintains a set distance from the car in front of you and adjusts your speed to match, even down to a complete halt. This works brilliantly for the most part and will even slam the brakes if an errant driver suddenly cuts in front of you. But if the traffic in front is a bit slower than your set speed, the Gloster’s system, while maintaining a safe distance, will remain at a lower gear than usual, in an attempt to immediately reach the preset speed when the traffic clears. This on-guard behaviour takes away from a relaxed cruise control experience to an extent. The autonomous emergency braking function works extremely well while using adaptive cruise control, but we still wouldn’t advise that you rely on this system a hundred percent.