/ Featured Article

Sporty on a budget: The MG GT is an underpriced steal of a compact sedan

The MG GT is a very competent car that ticks all the boxes. It then becomes a great car once you see the price.

Earl Lee
MG GT Philippines

Sedans are a dying breed, but the MG GT may just change that. With many features, a powerful turbocharged engine, and a look that will make your heart race, it is perhaps the coolest car in the MG lineup today, and it should be able to give other brands a run for their money. 

Before we confirmed the price, a bunch of us actually spent some time guessing just how much the model cost. After we rounded up all of our guesses, we still got it wrong, with some of our estimates missing the mark by about P100,000. MG priced this car so affordably, that it’s actually valid to ask “how does MG make any money off a sale?” 

2023 MG GT Rear

Gone are the days when you would have had to pay tons of money just to get a car that has looks that will inspire you to drive. The moment that we got the keys to the MG GT, we immediately wanted to check it out and then take it out on the road. Now, granted, we see a few things that are a little “inspired” by other designs, but somehow everything comes together well. 

Couple the handsome good looks and the cohesive styling with the gorgeous Nuclear Yellow color, and you have yourself a definite head-turner of a sedan, and that’s a fact. We actually received tons of stares from other motorists and pedestrians while out on the road. Perhaps their first question was “what car is that?” The only really questionable design choice that MG took with the GT was the faux exhaust finishers. There is a dual exit system in actuality, but we wished that they just connected the pipes to the actual tips. Also, maybe a slightly lower stance would have been a better look for the GT, especially since we already get the gorgeous 17-inch wheels from the factory. 

2023 MG GT Gauge Cluster

Aside from the obvious “sporty sedan” looks, you also get a ton of driving features that really hammer the sport sedan point home. For starters, there is a sport mode with paddle shifters. Essentially, this sharpens things up for a more dynamic drive, and the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission is no slouch either. Paired with a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine, the MG GT makes 159 hp and 250 Nm of torque that sends power to the front wheels. 

2023 MG GT 1.5-liter turbocharged motor

Other features that help the driver out are an automatic high-beam function, a g-force sensor, an accelerator, and a brake pedal pressure display among others. On top of that, there is a 0 to 100km/h timer that we were able to achieve a 0 to 100 km/h time of just 8.6 seconds, which is pretty fast for a compact sedan nowadays. You can also change how heavy the steering wheel feels in the infotainment system, and on top of that, the transmission also has a sport mode that allows the accelerator to be a wee bit more sensitive and ready to go. 

2023 MG GT
2023 MG GT
2023 MG GT

Without a doubt, the interior of the MG GT is that of a diver-focused car. Pretty much everything is faced or angled to the driver. The infotainment screen is the prime example, as the driver is pretty much the only one in the car that won’t see the screen with a weird skew. 

After we stepped into the car’s cabin, we felt fast even if we were just staying still. The way that the gauge cluster and the infotainment screen display their start-up sequence also feels like an invitation to drive and to enjoy driving. 

2023 MG GT Front Clip

At the end of the day, we still cannot forget that this is an MG. Yes, it may be a bit sportier than the other models in the lineup, but it’s also packed to the gills with tech features as far as the eye can see. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are available to you, as is a 360-degree camera, which is a feature that we just love seeing all the time.

2023 MG GT

Can you believe that this thing costs P1,195,888? Yeah, at first we didn’t either. How could a turbocharged and feature-pack sedan like this cost just that much? It’s ridiculous. How will MG make money from this car? The GT has definitely given MG some much-needed attention once again, at least in our eyes. 

Reverse sticker shock aside, we’re glad that MG now offers such a feature-rich car for so little money. In fact, we’re also happy to report that it’s actually a rather fun car to drive with all of its amenities and its turbocharged engine. If you have the chance to test drive one, take it. I’m sure that for the price, you might even be worried that MG isn’t making money. 

Get the best deal - Choose multiple dealerships to compare offers!

  • Select up to 5 dealerships and compare their offers
  • Over 70% of dealers reply within 1 hour
  • 100% hassle-free with no obligation to purchase

Latest Features

View More Articles

Popular Articles