• Just one powertrain option…
• …but it’s all you need
• Powerful, efficient and easy to drive

Hybrid engine

With only one option on offer, choosing an MG3 Hybrid should be straightforward. It’s the first self-charging hybrid offered by the company, and is an unconventional set-up, combining a four-cylinder 1.5-litre petrol engine that produces 102hp with a 136hp electric motor.

The engine is connected to a three-speed automatic transmission. Before you cry that the last time you saw one of those was on your dad’s Ford Cortina, bear in mind that any gaps in the gear ratios will be more than filled by the huge amount of pulling power from standing start generated by that electric motor. I certainly didn’t find that it affected the driving experience in any significant way.

The car runs in a variety of ways’ EV is only for short distances, depending on how much charge is in the larger-than-average 1.83kWh battery pack. Beyond that, there’s ‘Series’ mode, where the engine powers the electric motor for drive, ‘Series and Charge’, where the engine also tops-up the battery, ‘Drive and Charge, where the engine drives the wheels and charges the battery, and ‘Parallel’, where both engine and electric motor power the wheels.

All of this happens automatically, and most of the time I was unaware of it shuffling between modes – and unlike Toyota’s hybrid systems, there’s no manual ‘EV’ button to select electric drive only. There’s effective regenerative braking, which can be adjusted via the infotainment screen – I chose the highest level, which significantly lessens the time needed on the brakes.

When it’s running in Parallel mode is most interesting, because the combined power is a hot-hatch rivalling 194hp. This makes the MG3 Hybrid easily the fastest car of its type with a 0-62mph time of 8.0 seconds. Overtaking punch is as impressive, with 50-70mph runs dispatched most effortlessly, and overall other than a bit of lag between flooring the accelerator and all the power being available, I found it good fun to drive quickly. However, it’s at its best being driven more gently, with an almost electric car feel to its power delivery around town.

What’s it like to drive?

• Excellent ride quality
• Light and precise steering
• Just enough fun to be interesting

The MG3 Hybrid again puts in a good performance here, coming across as a grown-up effort quite capable of covering long distances with relative ease, as well as being perfect for around town. Noise levels aren’t bad, with a bit of wind noise at speed, and the engine sometimes revving annoyingly on motorway inclines where I’d not expect it to be doing so.

As for driving, I’ll start with the ride quality, which is genuinely excellent. It’s quite soft, thanks to the relatively small wheels and chunky tyres, but the damping is excellent, too, which means although it absorbs potholes and surface imperfections well, it also does so without a loss of precision and agility in bends.

Yes, it really is good fun to drive. The steering is light and precise, and in corners, it’s agile and has oodles of grip when you need it. It might not have you grinning as much as a Suzuki Swift on B-roads, but you’ll be going considerably more quickly, especially is you have it in Sport drive mode, which firms up the steering and has it running in Parallel mode more readily.

Overall an impressive and grown-up showing.