Another month passes by with the MG Comet. With more time spent with the car, I can for sure say that the concept of ‘range anxiety’ does not exist anymore for me. I have gained more and more confidence in the car battery and have started taking it beyond office commute drives. Click here to read more about our first month with the car.
With traffic in Mumbai reaching new heights, the Comet feels to be the best car to have for a midnight drive. Starting from Kandivali, I take the car to the lovely Bandra-Worli sea link. Sometimes stopping by the airport for some plane spotting. The huge windscreen makes it easier to spot those metal birds in the sky. The Sea Link has been the go-to spot for me to be able to pick up some speed and yet remain within the legal speed limit. That said, the shape of the comet along with the rather tiny 12-inch wheels did have me worried about going near the limit, not anymore. Once on the bridge, however, It was interesting to note that, the car limits itself to 6,000 rpm in eco mode. This translates to roughly 80 to 84 kmph. In normal or sport mode, the electric motor redlines at 7400 rpm.
The tiny Comet honestly did surprise me with the way it held itself on the road. I believe it’s the short wheelbase along with the great stopping power of the regenerative brakes that gives the driver confidence even at high speeds. Further ahead, the Comet easily carried on through the busy streets of Worli. Making my way through Peddar Road, I would finally reach the queen’s necklace. The Comet does a rather good job of masking the road noise through this busy stretch of road. The lack of an engine always comes as an advantage.
While returning home, I take another route, through the freeway, and I am back onto the western express highway at Bandra Kurla Complex. If the car starts its journey at 80% juice, I can reach home with around 35% battery left. In terms of distance, the journey involves a total of 85 km, covered by 45% battery. Agreed it is a little less than what MG claims but not quite far off. With roads wide open and your foot far away from the B pedal, I am pretty sure the MG Comet can go beyond its claimed 200km range shown on the dash. However, during days of regular commute, I manage to get a modest 70 to 80 km in around 50% of the charge of the car. With bumper-to-bumper traffic, taking around 40 minutes to cover 16 km, I find it quite an understandable drop in the claimed range.
With a rather huge glass area around the car, one would think that the Comet would melt you in the Mumbai summer but I am glad to say that is not the case. The AC is quite a chiller, give it a few minutes and you will find yourself reducing the fan speed. The reduction in fan speed is not because I get too cold, but rather to stop that weird vibration you feel on the pedals with the AC system running on extra power. Another shortcoming of the Comet is the steering-mounted buttons. They seem to have a mind of their own and may or may not work when you want them to. I am not sure if this problem is specific to the car we have been loaned or present in every Comet. The music system also has been quite okay to live with, it is neither too good, nor too bad. I have noticed that the audio quality is slightly better when using wired Android Auto instead of wireless. The storage space in front of the passenger seats is wide enough for your phone to rest while being connected.
Overall, the more time I spend with the MG Comet, the more it makes sense to me as a product. It is a well-rounded car, offering tons of practicality for your daily commute while keeping the cost of ownership as low as possible. If I may say so, the MG Comet has become a normal car for me now. To put things into perspective, I felt like I was climbing onto a first-floor balcony while getting into the Jeep Wrangler we had in our garage a few days back.
That is all for the second report on this car, stay tuned for more about this quirky hatch in our next report.
Written by: Videh Vora
