MG Comet

MG Comet is the little thing that’s big right now. Everyone is curious as to knowing what it is and nearly everyone we know is interested in buying or at least test-driving one. So, what’s the big deal?

We drove it last month in Delhi where MG had organized their media drive. It was quite a sight as a swarm of nearly forty tiny little cars rolled onto the Gurgaon highway towards Delhi. We felt like a bunch of kids with new toys and soon were racing against one another. The Comet was unlike anything else we have driven in a long time, being very narrow and chuckable. We were darting between startled drivers in other cars and sprinting from one traffic signal to the next.

The initial excitement of being in something so different soon wore off, as we hit the faster, more open sections of the highway. It could do a respectable top speed of 105kmph but, with its ultralight steering, tiny wheels and diminutive footprint, it wasn’t quite at home, next to big trucks and buses. But as soon as we entered the crowded city of Delhi, it began to make so much sense.

For one thing, I was so happy that I am in something so compact. At 2.9m long and 1.5m wide, the Comet is considerably smaller than a Tata Nano and you know how easy those are to drive around and park. There is no bonnet stretching in front, there are virtually no overhangs and the small turning circle coupled with the short 2010mm wheelbase meant, it was more maneuverable than anything else on the road. Forward visibility is great with big glass windows all around, it’s like being a gold fish in a glass bowl.

While it’s small, the MG Comet doesn’t look cheap. Throughout the exteriors, there are suitable chrome elements, long LED strips front and rear, gloss black chrome, etc. that look classy. The paint quality is great and the wheel caps look smart. It is quite a tall car at 1.6 metres and that makes it easy to get in and out of. You also sit high in those nice grey fabric seats which aren’t the most padded, but are still comfortable for the urban grind. The narrowness of the cabin is obvious when you sit next to a fellow passenger but the overall cabin feels quite roomy. The doors are huge, the dashboard is set far away and takes up only minimal space, and there is no center console near the footwell. Rear seats are accessed by flipping the front seats, and there is a surprising amount of space at the back for two. The ungainly, porthole windows on the sides which drop a level down below the shoulder line of the car, provide much relief here, making the rear passengers feel less claustrophobic.

Forward visibility is great with big glass windows all around, it’s like being a gold fish in a glass bowl.

The overall cabin ambience is that of an upmarket lifestyle product than a cheap city car. The key is very cool and shaped like a diamond but if you don’t want to use it, you can also use your smartphone to lock or unlock the car. To start the car, you press the brake pedal for two seconds and to shut it down normally, you get out and lock the doors. There are two Mercedes-style 10.25inch screens. The center screen has a clean UI, customizable widgets and the usual Apple CarPlay and Android Auto The steering wheel is well-made with perforated leather and has buttons that look inspired by the ones on the original Apple iPod. The centre console has a rotary gear selector and there are plenty of storage spaces in the cabin. The boot isn't very usable, you might use it for an office bag or storing the charging cable, but the seats fold down 50:50 adding to the practicality.

It is quite a tall car at 1.6 metres and that makes it easy to get in and out of.

Powering the MG Comet is a 17.3kWh battery pack that can realistically do around 200kms on a full charge. There is no provision for DC fast charging, so you will need about 5 hours to charge it from 10-80 percent and almost 7 hours to do a full charge on a 3.3kw wall-box charger. The 41bhp motor is mounted at the rear and powers the rear wheels. That may not sound like much and sure there is no urgency like you'd expect in an EV, but with 110Nm and only 800kilos to move, the Comet gets off the line smartly. There is ample power to keep up with everyday traffic and you'd never feel out of pace in the city. There are driving modes, but the ones in our test car weren't properly calibrated so we'll reserve comments till we drive another example at a later date.

This Comet is an easy car to drive around. The 8.4m turning circle and the compact dimensions make it perfect for the city. The light steering, the lack of noise, and good visibility will be appreciated by everyone. However, highspeed handling isn't great and you have to be careful with your steering inputs as it picks up speed. The ride is also quite bad because of the small wheels and the rigid axle suspension at the rear. You can feel the bumps much more than you’d in most small cars, it crashes into pot- holes and the lightly padded seats don’t really help either. On good city roads, and over short distances, the Comet is in a class of its own.

It all comes down to the price too. We were stunned when MG announced the Comet’s price at Rs.7.98 lakhs. Later they disclosed the price of the entire range and we realized that this figure was for a base model and the higher trims are Rs.9.30 lakhs and the one we tested was Rs. 9.98 lakhs, ex. showroom. The Comet EV will, at best, be a second or third car in the household and will be confined to limited use in the city, such as commuting to work, or shopping, or dropping the kids off to school. And that makes it expensive especially when you consider that you can get a proper four-door, four-seater family hatch like a Tiago EV for similar money. But if you want the style, tech, and most importantly the compact size, upmarket feel and the cool factor, there is nothing like it

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Author : Kate Morton Price : `1,821 (Hardcover)