MG5 aka MGZS to be resurrected?
MG seem to have been going through their portfolio of old cars that they bought from MG-Rover during the unpleasantness which ended with the death of Britains last mass car producer. The MGZS, aka, the MG5 was shown off a couple of years ago at the Beijing Auto Show, from what we heard it was only put there to gauge public interest to see if people really were interested in having the Honda Civic-Rover mash up in production.
Now according to one Chinese language media report late yesterday, MG are about ready to put the MG5, aka MGZS into production, which means that there might actually be a demand for this car in China.
We cant deny it, the MG5 does look good, but it is basically a 2000 Honda Civic underneath. From reports, it appears that the MG5 will be getting a rather basic 1.5l and 1.5l CVVT engine, or possibly the 1.8l and 1.8T from the Roewe 550, a far cry from the MGR days when the MG5 got a whopping 2.5 V6 (as well as a 2.0l, 1.8l and a 1.6l) but we expect that Chinese consumers will be happy with a 1.5, especially if a turbo is bolted on, which might just happen.
Apparently, SAIC are also keen to use the MG5 platform for their own upcoming Roewe 350 which is also set to see the light of dayat the Shanghai Auto Show.
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This is an interesting development. I thought though the consensus was that the MG5 would never exist, well at least not as something based on the Rover 45/MG ZS, due to IPR issues with Honda? Also doesn’t that then leave the question of why have the MG6? Surely the cars are about the same size? As far as I know the RDX60 project, from which the 550/MG6 was devloped, was supposed to design a replacement for the 45.
Heh, this isn’t an April Fool’s article is it? I’m guessing that one of the ones you’ve posted today is. I think the BYD supplying batteries to other manufacturers is more likely to be true!
I thought it was a joke, but MGUK had the story yesterday. The article stated that the reason for delaying the launch of the MG5 was due to the reverse engineering that NAC had to do.
http://auto.hexun.com/2009-03-31/116224393.html
I love the MGZS, a modern classic, but with a 1.5? Hopefully it will be a 1.5T that SAIC have been talking about.
http://www.autohome.com.cn/news/200810/48462.html
I’m expecting it to get the 1.6T as soon as that engine is available, the 1.6T has more power than the old 2.5V6!
Windy, tell us more about this T?
Im not really a T fan, I’d rather hear the roar of a 6 shooter than the whistle of a 4 cylinder with a turbo.
Apologies for not giving you credit. A SHABBY trick.
Putting a fan in the way is always going to ruin the sound of an engine however many cylinders it has, but if you’ve got to have a small engine then some of the modern T engines can produce the power while still being reasonably entertaining.
I think this story is basicaly a rewrite of this one from may last year which does mention the new NSE engines:
http://www.autohome.com.cn/news/200805/38079.html
How accurate the updated story is, we will have to wait for the Shanghai Auto Show to find out…
Well, actually this car first hit the market in 1995. So I doubt there is a 2000 civic underneath. In fact it’s the 1995 euro model of the civic, they don’t have it in asia/us as far as i know.
Good car though, especially as an MG as there really did there homework suspension wise, the Rover 400/45 is a bit on the softside. And both where better then the Civic(unless you have a white one offcourse)
ADAC’s test of the Brilliance BS4 had a 3-star equivalent of last year’s Euro NCAP standard, which they said is on par with most Western cars in the late 90s. If NAC is reverse-engineering a ’95 EG civic chassis, can you imagine how horrible the (modern) crash ratings would be? I shudder at the thought of the bad publicity. The car does look good though…
Is the Brilliance BC3 out in China already?
The Brilliance BC3 has been on sale for around a year.
Well if this isn’t a wheeze I’d love a new ZS. Noise/Vibration/Harshness needs to be at top of the fix list, as does some proper dashboard display and refined centre console.
The car is a really good looker but even I think it might be a bit difficult to market at this stage in Europe unless it’s extremely competitive.
I own a 1.8 facelift ZS with the bling bling arches and wheels and I love it to bits -grips corners like glue- but it would be perfect with a turbo. Still a bit hard not to spot that it’s a product of the 1990′s fixture and fitting wise but for Chinese domestic consumption it might be just the ticket at the right price.
Post me one!
Mark
if it gets the double wish bone suspension of the pre 2000 civic era that’s a plus
I am a bit surprised that MG (Nanjing SAIC) havent already had these cars on the market all around the world, to be honest the Infrastructure and the market is already there. My personal oppinion is that the conservative style of the MG – rover cars is a good thing, some people like that, they dont want a car that looks out of date in 5 minutes. the Rover cars style alays age well, event he rover 800 mk i n ii still look good. I really liekthe 800 vitesse. If i could have another one I would. I drive a Jag now because the are are no Rovers. alex
another good point is the Audi range, while Im not a great Audi fan, BUT, all of their cars look reasonably good with simple clean lines and not over the top. As for Mazda Toyota and so no, most of their cars look out of date in 5 minutes. i really dont like the current Mazda 6 with the front wings that look like they have been taken off some other car.
I am a huge MG Lover and i really hope they do re-release the Zs or MG5. Because they are stunning. The K series V6 engines did have a lot of faults. But they were very quick. Also the Mg’s are pretty heavy too. Correct me if i am wrong, but the Zr weighed one and a half tonnes, and the Zs weighed a tonne and three quarters. But if they did have the turbo on them, that would do them the world of good.
All the Mg’s look good and it pisses me off when people slag them off saying that they are shit. so i do hope they get released again to proove a point. I had two Mg’s and i sold them because of the problems. 
The Zr had electrical faults, and the Zs had ongoing problems with the Inlet Manifold on the K V6. I am thinking about getting a Zr 160 again because i miss that car. But i really hope Nanjing can bring them back to life!!!!!!