Test Drive Model: 2022 1.5T Trophy Sport Ultimate
Pre-price: 117,900 yuan
Driver Index: 85%
After Shadow Leopard "revitalized" the entire sports car market, more and more car companies have joined this team, which is undoubtedly very happy for young people now. In fact, MG, a brand full of sports genes, has been working the sports car market, so how is its latest MG5 Scorpio performing? At the very least, it didn't disappoint me.
First, let's take a brief look back at the appearance. Since it is a sports car positioning, the Scorpio has a standard sporty "Black Samurai" style component, a 17-inch five-inch black wheels and a high-temperature red caliper spray paint that best indicates the identity of the "sports car", but I personally think that the 18-inch wheels like the Shadow Leopard will look fuller.
In terms of tires, Scorpio uses the 215 tire-wide Michelin Haoyue 3ST - a tire that combines daily use experience and grip performance, and the comprehensive strength is outstanding.
Of course, Scorpio did not forget to deal with the details in creating the "Black Samurai" sports style. Places like rearview mirrors and window frames have been blackened, coupled with all-black panoramic sunroofs, MG is well aware of how young consumers want the effect, especially the new "Passion Lemon" exclusive paint, and the combination of blackening effects is unforgettable.
Young people, not only want to be different, it is best to make a fuss.
Scorpio also has a series of exclusive configurations to emphasize the difference between themselves and the ordinary MG5, a more three-dimensional black spoiler to make up for the visual defects of the MG5 tail is too rounded, it is not clear whether this spoiler has a practical improvement in aerodynamics, but from the details of the design, it is obvious that it has gotten to the heart of young people - who does not want to install a "tail wing" on their car when they are young?
In addition, from the perspective of its "true four exhaust" sound and sound performance, Scorpio is obviously higher than the exhaust sound of the shadow leopard, and whether it is the throttle in situ or the rapid acceleration, you can hear the obvious sound of the cannon.
Overall, Scorpio is created through a series of sporty styling elements – the blackening elements of the Black Samurai, the spoiler with more detail, the blackened wheels and the red painted brake calipers – MG MG knows exactly what kind of compact sports sedan young consumers want. Coupled with the original mid-net design, split headlights and other elements, Scorpio from the ordinary version of the MG5 from the appearance of the obvious visual difference, it can be said to be as an independent model to build.
Regarding the dynamic experience section, let's first look at Scorpio's performance on the mountain road. This time we chose a mountain road that is not in good condition, and the height difference is also quite large, which puts forward relatively high requirements for the suspension response and power response of a car.
After running a few round-trips, we found that the Scorpio's 7-speed wet dual clutch has been completely optimized compared to the MG5 ordinary version of the model, there is no sign of hesitation in the gear position before, its upshift is very decisive and resolute, and the entire power connection is smooth, and the transmission has no obvious delay in the instruction of the shift paddle.
From this point alone, I feel that Scorpio has found its own positioning - this is the style that the sports car transmission should have, and young people do not like to hesitate.
In addition, in sport mode, this 1.8T engine will also emit a crisp tempering when changing gears around 4000 rpm, and the exhaust sound of this cannon is very similar to the feeling of the Volkswagen DSG gearbox and the EA888, rather than the muffled sound of exhaust when the Shadow Leopard shifts gears.
From the chassis structure point of view, Scorpio adopts the same front McPherson independent suspension and rear torque beam non-independent structure as mg5, but it is also equipped with XDS curve dynamic control system, which feels completely different from the previous somewhat soft MG5, and the support performance of the suspension in the middle section is good, and the slightly intense cornering will not feel insufficient, and the fault tolerance rate of the chassis is relatively high.
In addition, the Scorpio chassis retains a certain sense of road while also considering comfort, and the fine vibration is filtered very thoroughly. In short, the various performances of this set of suspensions reflect the skills of mg chassis tuning engineers.
In essence, Scorpio is based on the MG5's comfort-oriented home car, which has evolved into a tighter and more communicative sports car.
Scorpio also has a very flattering point - the steering wheel will pass you enough information to perceive the grip limit and margin of the four tires at all times, and the tires and the ground are very close. There is a certain sense of road coupled with a good follow-up at the rear, the rear axle is more active, very willing to assist the front of the car into the corner, the driver can also clearly perceive the shift in the center of gravity of the whole car. I think the MG brand will still show two brushes in its own models that really emphasize sports.
One Easter egg is that mg5 Scorpio offers a "Super Sport" mode similar to the Alpha Romeo ignition button, which is very creative in the 100,000 yuan sports car, of course, this is also a configuration delegated from the MG6 Pro, which can be simply understood as "one-click overtaking".
After opening, not only the gearbox logic becomes more aggressive, but the steering power is also adjusted to the most stable mode, at which time the central control screen will also display exclusive "turbine pressure", "oil pressure", "intake temperature" and "cooling night temperature" information, which is quite ritualistic.
The same is the 1.5T engine, Scorpio only added 8 Ps, 10Nm on the basis of the MG5 ordinary version, the book data does not seem to improve significantly, but the Scorpio throttle response is more sensitive, and the speed climb is more positive.
The maximum power output of 181Ps is full of "keyboard value" in a group of 1.5T engines. The pulling sensation after more than 2000rpm is more obvious, and the 1.5T of Scorpio that is far from the real "2.0T steel cannon" will still appear a bit underwhelmed, of course, the shadow leopard also has the same problem.
Driver's Summary
From the four valve exhaust, spoiler, black samurai style, high temperature resistant red spray paint calipers, to the passionate green coating of the riot, MG understands how young people want a sports car, different personality style, bringing people a strong sense of atmosphere, so that the driver can perceive MG's enthusiasm for sports car, which is valuable, Scorpio in the limited cost range to achieve a completely different effect from mg5.
In addition, I personally feel that the direct competitor of mg5 Scorpio is not necessarily a shadow leopard as many people think, in fact, Scorpio is half a gear lower than the shadow leopard in terms of body size and hardware configuration.
For example, the top-equipped sports flagship version we test drove currently gives a pre-sale price of 117,900 yuan, and this price can completely buy the J15 version of Shadow Leopard.
If MG MG can lower the price when it is officially launched - the top model is sold for less than 110,000 yuan, and the gap in price is opened with the shadow leopard, then the MG5 Scorpio is "the first sports car for more young people".
Text| John 117
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