Introduction

A common fallacy nowadays is that more electronics in a car mean more things that can go wrong with it, especially after a few months or years, or once it has racked up sufficient kilometres.

That said, the newest entrant to our CarWale long-term garage is the MG Astor. It still is the most technologically advanced C-SUV today. But we first drove this Astor back in December 2021. Moreover, this particular Astor has close to 30,000 kilometres on the odometer – ticking both the aforementioned boxes of electronics and driven kilometres. Mind you, these kilometres have not been kind ones for sure. Having passed many hands with varied driving styles, this Astor has been through the worst any new car could possibly undergo, and then some more.

Secondly, it’s loaded with many electronically controlled features which are bound to get affected in the long run, if not well-taken care off. The most important of them is the Level 2 ADAS. For it, the Astor has employed a surfeit amount of sensors, receptors, radars, and software functions — all of which need a separate computerization power on their own. Ours is a country which is still not ready for autonomous driving, so I am not sure how many of those 30,000 kilometres had the ADAS on. But I am keen to know how well it performs and whether or not there are any glitches/bugs or irregularities that show up on our regular usage. Then there’s the hot summer followed by the Mumbai monsoon to deal with. This should tell us how well the AC works and what problems the rain brings with it to Astor’s electronics. Plus, being driven over so many kilometres also reveal the quality of fit and finish inside the cabin.

Long Term Plan

While the Astor is with us for the next few months, we will be putting on our MythBusters hat and debunking the aforementioned misconception. The regular usage will include many miles of driving to and fro our shoot locations carrying tired crew who are usually up well before the crack of dawn. It will also be making regular city commutes, along with long-distance inter-city drives. Thus, we'll get a chance to test out the ADAS on various conditions, road scenarios, and at varied times of the day.

Variant and Features

But before that, let us take a look at the Astor in finer detail. This one retails at Rs. 20.88 lakh (on-road, Mumbai). Finished in a shining ‘Glaze Red’ paint scheme, it’s the range-topping Savvy 220Turbo. This means powering it is the new 1.3-litre (1,349cc) three-pot turbocharged petrol engine with a six-speed torque converter. It puts out a healthy 140bhp and 220Nm. There’s also a naturally aspirated 1.5-petrol engine on offer in the Astor which can be opted either with a three-pedal setup or the new CVT automatic. This engine was meant to be an alternative for diesel buyers because there’s no diesel powertrain for the Astor and there won’t be.

Feature-wise, there’s little to complain about. The Astor gets a massive panoramic sunroof, large touchscreen, smartphone integration, digital driver’s display, leather upholstery, and electronic driver’s seat adjustment, along with the party piece in the form of an AI bot sitting snuggly on top of the dashboard. However, the AI bot needs internet connectivity or smartphone integration through MG’s connectivity app perhaps, which we’ll need to look into. And we could hear some unwarranted squeak here and a rattle there — all around the cabin. Most notably, the electric driver seats are screeching upon operation and one can feel its gears turning. But that’s not something that oiling/lubrication can’t fix, I think. Otherwise, there have been no other complaints on our 30k kilometre done Astor, so far. More on it in the next report.

Product Details

Make: MG

Model: Astor

Variant: Savvy 1.3 220Turbo

Kilometres this month: 1,800km

Odometer: 29,968 kilometres

Price: Rs. 20.88 Lakh (when tested, OTR, Mumbai)

Pictures by Kaustubh Gandhi