MG has been selling the Hector in India for more than a year now and it has been a pretty successful model. Creta & Seltos, by offering a larger car with a lot of features at a similar price point. Their second launch was the MG ZS EV and even there, the execution was satisfactory. The ZS EV consistently outsells the Hyundai Kona.

MG now thinks they can go even higher and against the big T with a full-sized SUV. Enter the MG Gloster. The Gloster follows the same recipe and in comparison with the Fortuner and Endeavour, is massive in size and has some extra features. However, this segment is a different ball game altogether with the Fortuner ruling for more than a decade. Many have come and gone, but the Fortuner remains. The closest anyone has come to the Toyota is the Ford Endeavour, and it’s lying in a distant yet strong second place.

Dimensions:

Parameters	Values (mm)
Length	4985
Width	1926
Height	1867
Wheelbase	2950
Ground Clearance	210

The Gloster is essentially a rebadged SUV from MG’s parent firm, SAIC, which sells it under its sub brand Maxus as the D90 in countries like China and Australia. It was first introduced in 2017, based on a pickup truck chassis also sold by Maxus. India is the first country to get it with an MG badge as well as a diesel engine. MG’s strategy with the Gloster is to load it with features and tech that differentiate it from the Toyota and Ford. The biggest USP that MG is banking on, as can be seen from their marketing campaign, is the ADAS (Advanced driver-assistance systems) tech. The Gloster is classified as an autonomous Level-1 SUV which means that it has some driver assist systems that can help when needed but the car doesn’t drive itself.

ADAS:

– Adaptive cruise control : This applies the brakes and accelerates the car according to the speed of the vehicle in front. You can set a speed and distance to be maintained to the vehicle in front and the car will maintain the set speed or slow down and maintain the same speed as the vehicle in front.
– Forward collision warning : This warns you if you are too close to a vehicle, object or pedestrian in the front.
– Automatic Emergency Braking : If the driver doesn’t take any action based on the collision alert, the system will apply the brakes on its own.
– Blind Spot Detection : The cameras and sensors monitor the blind spots on both sides and keep giving you a notification when there’s a vehicle in your blind spot.
– Lane Departure Warning : When changing lanes without using the turn-indicators, it warns you that you are moving between lanes.

The Gloster is available in 4 trims: Super, Smart, Sharp and Savvy (quite silly variant names IMHO). The lower 2 trims are available only in 2WD and get a 2.0L diesel engine with a single turbocharger and an output of 161 BHP and 375 Nm. The Sharp and Savvy get a 4WD system from Borg Warner with 7 terrain modes. They also gets an additional turbocharger increasing the output to 215 BHP and 480 Nm. Only the top-end Savvy variant gets the ADAS autonomous features. Looking at the price, the lower 3 trims are priced below the Fortuner and Endeavour, but the top end Savvy trim with the autonomous driving aids is close to a lakh more than the Fortuner and Rs. 30,000 more than the Endeavour. Of course, neither of the two are as well equipped as the Gloster.

Engine Specifications:

Parameters	4 x 2 Model	4 x 4 Model
Engine Size (L)	2.0	2.0
Power (bhp @ rpm)	161 @ 4000	215 @ 4000
Torque (Nm @ rpm)	375 @ 2000	480 @ 2000

Exterior:

This is truly a massive SUV with loads of all-important road presence, to the point that its 19-inch alloy wheels (themselves a size larger than the competition) almost look a little dwarfed in the cavernous wheel arches.

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.

Viewed from the front, the styling doesn’t really stand out, even with the large grill and slim headlights on either side. The front is imposing, but nowhere as butch as the Endeavour with its chiseled beefy grille and lights. Rear styling has a hint of BMW to it. Tail-lights look almost exactly like those on the X1. Viewed from the side, the Gloster has a typical old school SUV design. In fact, it looks a lot like the old Mercedes GLS. The car looks large in length when viewed from the sides.

The Build quality of the Gloster is quite good with the rigid exterior body but not impressive and the paint quality is average. As like the many SUV’s in the current generation, Gloster also contains the fake exhausts at the rear. The Dual projector LED headlamps offer confidence for the driver during night travel. The Gloster also comes with the fully packed parking assistance with 360 degree camera, Front & Rear parking cameras with sensors on all sides of the car.

Interior:

The Gloster impresses when it comes to the interiors. MG have done well when it comes to conveying a feeling of luxury when you sit inside. The overall interior design bears resemblance to BMW cabins with the large trapezoidal screen on top and the slim vents below, as well as other elements. The interior has a mix of black and tan leather which looks very nice. There are quite a lot of soft touch materials used and everything feels premium, with diamond stitching on the door pads as well as the seats. Even the fit and finish of the interior is pretty good. However, it’s not all positive. When you look closely and start poking around, you find that, while the materials feel good and the design is attractive, the quality is not the best. The buttons feel plasticky, hard plastics lower down feel cheap and the dials feel cheap and out of place in a 40 lakh rupee SUV. You get the feeling that things are good, but may not weather abuse over time. The Dual Tone Interiors resemble the typical BMW’s Dual tone Interior, which also gives the driver a premium feel.

The Steering gets a tilt and telescopic adjustment with a sporty flat bottom styling which is very nice to hold. The buttons on the steering wheel also gives a premium feel and are easily accessible while driving.

Instrument cluster has a massive 8″ MID in the center with digital temperature and fuel gauges. The tacho and speedo are analogue and you guessed it, very similar to the ones in the new BMW 3-Series. Rev counter running the opposite way is really hard to understand. MID tells you when the electronic differential is switched on / off by using the button next to the gear lever. MID also shows you the battery voltage – nifty (again, like the BMWs)! You can see the icon at the bottom showing that the lane keep function is active.

12.3″ touchscreen head-unit is massive and has a host of features including Android Auto and Apple Carplay. It has smart connectivity via a mobile app and Apple watch as well. Music is played through a 12-speaker system with an amplifier and subwoofer in the boot. Sound quality is very good but not as good as in Hector.

The Gloster is a very high SUV. So ingress & egress are very challenging, particularly for elder folks. Even with the side steps, it is a 2-step climb to get in. The Gloster is the only SUV in its segment that’s available with rear captain seats for the top 3 variants. You can get a bench seat in the Super (base) and Sharp (one below the top) variants. The seats are comfortable, but as with all ladder frame SUVs, they are low set and offer less under-thigh support. The seats slide back and forth, providing decent legroom. You also get a foldaway armrest for each seat. The headrests are like the business class seats of an airplane with adjustable side support which you pull towards yourself.

Ride & Handling

The Gloster gets an independent suspension at the front and a 5-link at the rear. For a gargantuan SUV, the car is surprisingly easy to manoeuver inside town with a light steering. You are still aware that you are driving a long SUV, but it’s not daunting to drive. The ride quality is brilliant. Out on the highway, things remain positive as well. On the expressway, the Gloster is effortless. As mentioned earlier, it is a terrific mile muncher with great straight line stability. This – along with the ADAS tech like adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and blind spot assist – makes the Gloster a relaxed and comfortable car for long distance highway drives. The steering is light in the city and weighs up well as speed builds up, though it is quite vague and when driving enthusiastically, you do need to apply corrections mid-corner as you are not always sure about the steering input. The braking is good with disc brakes all round. The brakes are a bit soft initially and need a firmer press of the pedal at slow speeds, but as speeds build up, they are quick to shed speed. MG has used a 4WD transfer case from Borg Warner in the Gloster. It has 7 drive modes – Auto, Eco, Sport, Snow, Mud, Sand and Rock. The SUV also gets an electronic differential lock for getting out of difficult situations, and hill descent control.

Comparison

The comparison chart between the MG Gloster and its competitors like Fortuner, Endeavour and Alturas are listed below