The MG 3 has gained a pure-petrol engine that drops its starting price by £2000, making one of the UK's cheapest cars yet more affordable.
The new naturally aspirated 1.5-litre four-cylinder unit puts out 114bhp and 109lb ft of torque and is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox.
This combination allows the supermini to complete the 0-62mph sprint in 10.8sec, which is 2.8sec slower than the existing 192bhp hybrid.
The petrol 3 officially gets 46.3mpg while emitting 137g/km of CO2, compared with 64.2mpg and 100g/km for the hybrid 3.
Initially, it will be sold exclusively in the entry-level SE trim, bringing features such as a 10.25in infotainment touchscreen, a rear parking camera and USB ports in the front and rear of the cabin.
MG has also added the pure-petrol unit to the new ZS crossover, dropping its starting price from £21,995 down to £19,495.
In this larger and heavier model, it yields a 62mph sprint time of 12.5sec, plus 43.5mpg.
MG said the introduction of the new pure-petrol models “underlines [its] commitment to delivering market-leading value”.
The move means there are now 11 pure-petrol superminis on the UK market, including the Dacia Sandero (the nation’s cheapest car outright), Volkswagen Polo and Peugeot 208.
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Given its manual only, this option will of course get around the 'odd behaviour' particularly when going up hills of the HYBRID version, where the three speed auto box changes down to second to help provide sufficient energy in the battery to power the drive motor. A pity as in the nine months I've had my MG3 HYBRID, at other times the drive train is quite refined.
However the biggest issue, as far as MG UK are concerned, are not with the products; the Trophy version beats the competition in terms of equipment by thousands of pounds, and whilst the cabin may be a little plain, the materials used and the build quality are for the most part as good as you would find on any of the competition. The problem is the abysmal customer service, and total lack of customer satisfaction!
In brief, the OEM tyres fitted (Khumo Solus HS63 195......) were only generally available in Australia(!), and are now obsolete! So when I got an irreparable puncture - for safety it's important not to mix tyre makes, models etc on the same axle; I was required to buy TWO new tyres.
The sales manager for my selling dealer agreed that it was ridiculous, but offered absolutely no assistance in anyway shape or form, and confirmed he would carry on selling this model without mentioning the issue to futures customers, and MG UK, my guess for potential cost reasons, and because legally they weren't obliged to assist, whilst also confirming it would be advisable to purchase TWO tyres, confirmed they would also do absolutely nothing to assist.
I am left with distinct feeling that if there is no obligation to help, they don't give a damn after they've got your money.
Maybe when they were just selling budget only cars, expectations from the buyers were low, and that allowed for a 'couldn't care less' attitude to customer care, but with more expensive products like the Cyberster they could end up getting seriously unstuck!
Thats nonsense, as long the tyre is the same size, load and speed rating, its perfectly safe to have different brand tyres on the same axle, the only ever concern was not mixing crossply and radial tyres on the same axle, and crossply tyres havent been fitted for decades.
Its not advisable, but its safe, youre driving an MG3 not a Ferrari