MG Marvel R Performance driving impressions and summary

[@fsb6406]

After considering different options (new car, 250-300kms real winter range, AWD, and less than 550.000 NOK) here in Norway, we went for the Marvel R Performance. We were hesitant to buy this car but after the test drive of the demo car all our negative thoughts disappeared. We have the car since June and after 3000 Kms we are still happy with the car. We previously owned 2 Nissan leaf (40 and 62kwh) and in comparison this car feels way way way better in all areas including range (despite having an official shorter range 370km MGMarvel R Performance vs Leaf 62kwh 385km). The first time I drove the car with 100% SOC (20 degrees Celsius outside and climate control on) and a mix of motorway, city and county roads driving , I managed 335km with 7% SOC remaining. I didn't drive carefully but not aggressive either and I was testing all driving modes including Sport and Sport + which locks the awd. I never managed more than 300kms with the leaf not even on hot summer days. The boot is officially smaller than the Leaf , however since the Leaf has a huge subwoofer in the trunk ,therefore the floor is not flat , and you cannot utilise all the liters available The one in the Marvel R can handle pretty much the same stuff (we have a toddler and so far we did not have problems to fit everything in the trunk even in longer trips for holidays. The screen works well for us. In July the dealership called us for a software update. We don't feel anything different after the update but we never had a problem with the screen before either (yes it is not the fastest in the market but for us 0,5 or so seconds reaction time after we click is not a problem at all. The screen is bright even in the lower level but you can turn it off (still working in the background) when is really dark at night and have all the ev related data, multimedia and navigation in the dashboard. Build quality outside and inside is fantastic for the price range. Performance and noise levels are outstanding. So far the only things that are not working properly are the air quality sensor which does not indicate any values and the demo car was showing values all the time. Also the colour of the car in the , 360 camera does not match the real colour of the car , when the demo car had it and it was the same colour as ours. Another thing to consider is the foggy windscreen, for some reason is a little bit more foggy regardless the weather and takes more time to clean it than other cars we owned before. And the last one is the easy entry.The seat is supposed to move to your memorized position automatically and it does most of the time, but not always (I would say 80% of the time). Maybe is something related with keeping the 12v at certain level of just a bug in the software...Overall a pretty good car for the price but sure it is not perfect and nobody knows how it will work after 3-5 years.... but at least 7 years warranty give us some peace of mind if something start to deteriorate/break. Hopefully the few small things I mentioned will get better with software updates/ different settings at the workshop. Fingers crossed 🤞🏻

[@ultimahora07]

Hola @fernandosanchezbetrian6406, gracias por tú extensa explicación. Abusando de tú amabilidad nos podrías decir, ahora que ya han pasado varios meses, que tal va? Autonomía, problemas con las recargas, fiabilidad en general? Gracias de antemano y saludos desde España.

[@fsb6406]

​​​@@ultimahora07Hola, pues ya llevamos 5000km y seguimos igual de contentos. El problema del asiento que no se mueve a tu posición al entrar no era un problema sino que no había leído el manual , y explica claramente que se mueve en la posición de encendido pero no en modo "ready" (pulsar el botón de encendido sin pisar el freno) entonces siempre funciona. El tema del parabrisas empañado igual, si activas modo auto funciona perfectamente. Por lo demás ningún problema con las cargas ni en AC ni en DC (aunque al parecer no funciona en TESLA superchargers yo no lo he intentado porque aquí tenemos cargadores no Tesla en todas partes). Ahora estas últimas semanas tenemos y hemos tenido temperaturas de -15 grados y asfalto con nieve , hielo etc. Tracción sin problema tanto en modos automáticos que enciende el motor delantero casi al instante cuando el ABS de las ruedas traseras detecta que empiezan a patinar (eco, normal y sport) como en modos 4x4 permanente siempre que no circules marcha atrás que solo usa trasera (winter supuestamente también auto según el manual pero en el cuadro de instrumentos siempre veo que usa los 3 motores todo el tiempo aunque imagino que con entrega de par variable / automática y sport + que bloquea la tracción total imagino que para tener 50% de par en cada eje). Las otras cosillas de software supongo que me lo mirarán en la revisión a finales de mes. El consumo con estas temperaturas de -10/-15 es lógicamente muy alto y no sabes realmente cuál es porque el máximo que marca el cuadro de instrumentos es 30kw aunque consumas 35 por decir algo (típico de coches chinos), especialmente si no pre-acondicionas la batería bien desde el coche bien desde la aplicación. Si pre-acondicionas la batería y activas la calefacción antes de conducir sigue siendo alto pero no consume tanto % en los primeros kilómetros (se nota mucha mucha diferencia en este coche). Aquí con estas temperaturas unos 250-270km de autonomía en uso mixto es totalmente factible si pre-acondiciono la batería. En temperatura de -7 todo por autopista a 100-110km que es límite aquí hice 210km y sobró 30% de batería cuando llegué a casa. Una cosa buena es que los kms estimados por el coche son sorprendentemente realistas pues son bastante pesimistas (debe tomar la media de consumo más elevado antes de cargar y la temperatura ambiente de cuando está cargando el coche) en verano pero sobre todo en invierno (100% batería a -15 grados marca 250-300 pero los puedes hacer si no vas únicamente por autopista lógicamente. Es decir que aunque veas 300 lo más probable es que los hagas no como en otros coches que pone 500 de autonomía y luego llegas a 350 de milagro. No obstante si reseteas el consumo medio antes de cargar y pre-condicionas la batería me ha llegado a marcar 370 en invierno y 415 o así en verano (mejor no resetearlo si quieres ver la autonomía real restante más "real"). En cuanto a problemas o cosas rotas de momento nada, todo funciona perfectamente y no hay ruidos ni crujidos raros. Mi pareja me comentó el otro día que iba conduciendo y se repente la calefacción empezó a echar aire frío cuando estaba a -10 fuera... Nunca ha vuelto a pasar ni a mí me ha pasado pero no sabemos si tocó algo en el aire acondicionado o el modo auto decidió enviar aire a la batería en vez de al habitáculo. En cualquier caso lo comentaré en la revisión porque en España igual no pasa nada pero aquí en un viaje en carretera secundaria puede suponer un problema muy serio quedarse sin calefacción... Otra cosa curiosa que el manual indica es que si la carga es menor a 30% y temperatura muy baja la tracción total puede no funcionar o verse limitada, pues bien he probado a 17% de batería a temperaturas bajo cero y sigue permitiendo bloquear la tracción en los dos ejes en modo sport + aunque es verdad que en modo winter ya no usa 4x4 . En cualquier caso limita la entrega de potencia bastante por debajo de 30% al menos a -10/15) , cosa que no noté en absoluto en verano /otoño a pesar de ver la reducción de entrega de potencia igualmente en el gráfico del cuadro de instrumentos...

[@ultimahora07]

@@fsb6406 Gracias por tomarte tiempo para responder. Yo estoy mirando el RWD de 180 cv supongo que algo más de autonomia tendrá, que es la única pega que le veo. Disfruta de tu nuevo coche! Un saludo!!

[@AzizIzgin]

@@fsb6406wow extremely thorough and detailed review of this car. We live in Sweden and are thinking of buying this car. We own an ioniq electric 2018 today and when trying to win my wife over to buying the car I told her that during winter the range will be approximately 20-25 km (luxury model). Then she answered “well that is not very much since the ioniq has a range between 15-18 at 100 soc with a battery of 28kwh 😅 She is hard to persuade. Of course the car is bigger etc but when only comparing the range the difference isn’t double even if the battery is over double the size. Thanks for sharing. I still hope we will buy it. It has gone down in price here. Wonder if an update in the future would make fast charging at higher speeds? How is the range on this compared to other cars with similar size in battery and car? This this thirstier than id4 or enyaq? Lastly, can one start the heater on the car from distance with an app so it is heated at a certain time? I was leaning towards the luxury model due to range but if you have a good argument for buying performance you’re welcome to share :)

[@bobby_hmm]

@@AzizIzgin did you make a decision? I'm in Sweden as well and debating whether to start promoting this one to my wife :)

[@DragonBone_]

hi Bjørn, the reason the ac resets is because u have it in auto(top left corner) so it tries to go back to the setting it thinks is best for you. Have one myself and it does not do that. Not trying to be a hater just telling u how it is also next to the screen brightnes bar there is auto brightnes button wich fixes the issue u had 😀

[@SweViver]

Many thanks for this and all the other Marvel videos the previous days! Being a Marvel R Performance owner myself for the past 4+ months, its been very interesting to hear you thoughs about it and I agree with most of what you say. Really a great car for the price!

[@jameel3031]

You have the best way to give your valuable review about a car. Spending alit of time with the vehicle. And then pointing out pros/cons than rushing through things before time. Really appreciable man!👍

[@MortenB0]

My best idea to improve this is to fire MG's CEO private driver and give him a MG Marvel R and force him to drive it for a year. And the same with his wife, but she will get a MG ZS EV. MG's software then will get better, let's just hope they still are married after a year...

[@MajidGorbani]

I had same wishes for Audis CEO

[@triggertits]

I think this should be the gold standard for all vehicle development. 🤣

[@mark-zd9tk]

I tried the car yesterday with new updates for the car. The Screen was a lot better, it was respones 99 procent of the time. all the issue you are talking about the screen is for the most fixed.

[@schunkelndedschunke6914]

MG is one of the few with V2load adapter. Well done.

[@anaconda6147]

Great camera angle. No face, only about the car! 👍

[@aleksandarsrdjenovic2487]

I ordered a Polestar 2, but yesterday I had the opportunity to look at the Marvel R, in any case it gave a premium feeling in the cabin, which was not the case with the Polestar 2. The starting price is similar here in Norway (about 40k euros), with that difference because the Marvel R has a lot more equipment at the start, and you can't even get some things from the Polestar (for example, the panorama-roof that opens)...

[@snabbis]

The marvel is so premium that it has no awd in reverse 😂

[@aleksandarsrdjenovic2487]

@@snabbis I haven't driven it, and I can't comment on that, I'm talking about the impression of the quality of the cabin...

[@egil-andrenessmortensen3037]

For the price its really lovely. It was useless in the snow though. at least in reverse. So you have to drive carefully utilizing the awd before you get stuck. Because once your stuck you cant get anywhere 🤭

[@aleksandarsrdjenovic2487]

@@egil-andrenessmortensen3037 I wouldn't even consider AWD, RWD is the best option. For 400k NOK you get a lot, 180hp is more than enough, the car is a bit lighter, consumption is lower and you get a front trunk (I think the biggest one on the market - 150l)...

[@JanHenrik541]

@@aleksandarsrdjenovic2487 I agree. It seems like there’s a lot of AWD Marvel R going around but it’s the RWD version that seems to make most sense. More room, more cargo weight, not half baked forward AWD.

[@jonathancullen1337]

We are getting the MG4 in the UK and Ireland but no sign of the Marvel any time soon in right wheel drive. I want the 4 but wifey wants an SUV so guess I will be the loser... Apart from the bugs this cars ticks most boxes for us! Great review Bjorn 👍

[@shaun159]

I love this car but sadly not released in Ireland until its next gen in 2024. So I have ordered the ZS EV for now. Hopefully MG will sort out the bugs in the Marvel R's software by then. Good video thanks!

[@evaddicted3224]

Hello Bjorn, I thought you would do 1000 km challenge? Is there any specific reason you have not done it. I am just curious. Thank you for your reply.

[@nakfan]

Time I would guess. As Bjørn recently said: ABC - Always Baby Caring 😊 Besides, he only does 1000 km challenge now there is some extra reason for doing it (as he can actually nail a time based on his range test, charging test, etc within 5-10 minutes)

[@paal.skodjevaag]

MG has on previous models come with an update that fixes software problems. I'm guessing they fix things on this model too 😉

[@paulgruber02]

Great Video! Can you Rangetest the rear wheel drive one please?

[@moukarimies]

The reason why this car has bigger measures outside but smaller inside than Skoda Enyaq is also the same reason why this car is so quiet; doors etc. are thicker. Building a car is always a compromise between noise and space.

[@DooDicky]

Is this more quiet on the inside than Skoda Enyaq?

[@jboomhauer]

What kind of miles per kwh do you get?

[@johnminshall242]

Hopefully they’ll improve the software for 🇬🇧 spec release and ‘24 model, as there’s a lot to like about this. Keen to see the better-range RWD version on test!

[@gregchristie2763]

I wonder if they'll improve the screen response & software anoyances on an OTA update? By the way Bjorn take the ventilation system out of auto setting and it won't keep resetting..like Krystian said below.

[@Domus9391]

After having driven the car for around 120k i can wholeheartedly say this was a great purchase on our part. 340km range on highways/ Norwegian country roads in summer. Yes the screen is quite buggy but it has been updated a fair bit and is now actually usable. Great comfort for such a cheap car. Very happy

[@AzizIzgin]

Is that range with performance?

[@AzizIzgin]

How is your consumption/ 10km?

[@snabbis]

For the price, super car!

[@_kj2]

1:32 - that 3D view should always be visible :D Looks damn cool!

[@angelv8414]

You can activate it whenever you want. For the time you want

[@JoséGamboa-y2o]

Como puedo activar mi audio en mi mg Marvel r en Costa Rica no tiene Internet ni multimedia y no puedo entrar al menú

[@MajidGorbani]

You have hold your finger a little bit longer on home and volume buttons, it's by design!

[@egil-andrenessmortensen3037]

I tried this, m3p and m50. (Plus y, ev6, honqi, p7) Ended ditching this, buying m3p and ordered m50. However i actually really liked the marvel. Huge sunroof that opens, and very comfortable and nice finish. In the end I felt the 370 km range (although the car even reported mediocre 270 km range @100%) was too little, the range of the model 3 just felt much more attainable combined with supercharging and blistering performance. However looking at these videos part of me actually wants to cancel the m50, sell the m3p and just cruise around in the mg and save some money as t the same time 🤭

[@nakfan]

Afaik the Marvel is based on an ice / hybrid car, right? The MG4 will be the first EV built on the new Modular Scalable Platform from SAIC Motors. Looking forward to Bjørn testing the MG4 and in 2023 a hot Hatch version with 440 (!) Bhp and 3.8 seconds to 100 km/h 😲

[@cenk82]

Any update for the software after 8 months later? :-) I am considering purchasing one of these.

[@Turte_Performance_Balancing]

Is a great car...we have ours since a few days...unfortunately, none of the testers noticed that the speed display is tiny if you show on the right part of the display's something else...but the display shows permament giant right the radio station...even when it´s shown in the center display. And MG does not manage to activate the sound contro...no Bass Middle Treble...and the connectivity to the cell phone does not work...although we have tried it with 4 different...The navi does not find our company which is on Google Maps...also there are very few options to change the map display. The display brightness does not work on automatic and the two functions side strip detection (almost tears the steering wheel out of your hand if you do not have it firmly in your hand) and the constant warning front collision (they already know that you drive in the city towards cars that are at the traffic lights in front of you) are a pain in the ass and have to be reset before each journey...as well as driving mode and recuperation because the box forgets this after each stop. This is extremely poor of MG and will remain despite new software (which by the way does not work OverTheAir.... although promised). Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[@jordyandresgonzalezmendibu3607]

Hello do you know if the sceen get same new update and got fix the lag ???

[@tokepanduro7302]

you should also test mg 4 and mg5

[@JJTMARQUES]

🎉 Happy New Year 2023, I completely agree MG Marvel needs to improve the software so that it flows faster and responds between menus and the touchscreen with enough touch sensitivity for it to respond promptly. The adaptive and pneumatic suspension would be a welcome upgrade, for a more sporty environment and this is my opinion of the roof in black. Excellent test drive, congratulations, I liked your honesty.

[@lucianpheonix4721]

Software fixed

[@fortza11]

Great video as always, love to watch them. I would not buy that Marvel R do to the software response, sad to say.

[@nedalrabadi1]

How does this MG pilot compare to the MG4 MG pilot ?

[@aviator1861]

Nice video, keep it up

[@luisaraujo104]

Bjorn, thank you for your reviews. What can you comment about the consumption, driving around the city and villages. We don’t drive faster that 70-90km/h. And we don’t use highways. All owners I have asked they do 180wh/k. So we are afraid to buy. We are used to i3 and m3 that very efficient at low speeds. So we are maixed up between this car Ariya 63kwh and Y RWD. Can someone help with this?

[@egil-andrenessmortensen3037]

I think if you use voice commands, maybe you could avoid using the screen most of the time. At least i tried that myself when i tested it, but i was not that familiar with the voice commands or electric vehicles in general ☺️

[@kevinwalton4538]

Is the ride as bad as the camera shakes make out. Every time you go over a bump I can feel the pain!

[@egil-andrenessmortensen3037]

I found it quite comfortable and Bjørn mentioned that as well so probably just the way the camera is mounted

[@bjornnyland]

Camera is mounted on rear side glass. If that glass shakes then the camera will also shake.

[@tryanderror6627]

To all MG Marvel owners, has anything been done to the software in the meantime, has the response time from the display improved ?? That would be for me an exclusion criterion to buy the car, if I always have to hammer on the display so that something happens.

[@TheDanishSpaceman]

I love these ASMRs haha... What is the squeeking noise when you go into the roundabout at low speed, is just the wheel in your hands squeeking?

[@raph84]

From other reviews and my test drive, I'd say it's the leather seats squeaking.

[@triathleteover5030]

Dude use “Hi MG” command when driving instead of touching the screen 😀

[@Sbrillo43]

You should have steel balls to do that move at 6:00 with an unknown car with Chinese software imperfect.

[@ram64man]

At last an Asian car with decent headlights the last mgs ev’s were terrible

[@bjornnyland]

*EVs (plural)

[@obiskeyone]

the suspension is Chinese sheeet.

[@fmsantoscar]

That infoitament is scandalously bad!

[@JoClaro]

like it ...

[@angelolasconi5993]

Hello great video thanks ! What is the color name? this grey is beautiful with night lights !

[@FillYourHeadSwe]

Tested it and its rubbish!

[@gledatelj1979]

One downside of quiet EV's is that people can talk all the time without any natural stop. He just talks endlessly where I lose it and I have no idea if anything is important or not.

[@Sbrillo43]

Too much noise inside.