MG Astor Interior

On the inside, the Astor feels very European. The soft touch dash and door pads give a very plush feeling. The dash are available in three options – black, two tone beige and red-black. Our car the Sangria Red interiors and it really complimented the car well. The flat bottom steering wheel feels good to hold and houses the usual telephony buttons.  There is a 7 inch digital instrument cluster with a lots of graphics built in. It also displays inputs from the ADAS. The 10.1 inch touch screen has a good interface and graphics are crisp. The panoramic sunroof makes the cabin airy and well lit. Surprisingly there is no auto dimming mirror.

The front seats are comfortable and excellent bolstering. The driver seat gets a 6-way adjustable power seat with a good range.  Things are good at the rear too. The backrest of the rear bench has a good recline angle. Legroom and under thigh support is sufficient and so is the headroom. There are three adjustable headrests and the seat falls down in a 60:40 split.

The air con is very effective; it was very hot on our testing day and practically no shade. The cooling was quick, but on those very hot days you do miss ventilated seats. The rear passengers get AC vents too. There is an in-built air filter to keep the air healthy within the cabin. The boot can hold airport luggage with ease. The spare wheel is a 16-inch steel rim and not a full sized wheel.

We can confidently say, MG raises the tech bar with each launch. The Hector came with tons of features and in a way made MG popular especially with kids. They were left in awe when voice commands were executed by the Hector’s tech. This time MG has gone one step ahead and installed a real time tangible personal AI Assistant on the dashboard. A scary moment for some yet cool for others, the Personal AI turns its head to the direction of the voice. Apart from 35+ commands, it can tell you jokes, latest news, weather forecast and increase your general knowledge on the move. The voice to the AI robot is lent by athlete Deepa Malik. While the system works well most of the time, there are times when it fails to understand the commands you give it.

The iSmart Next Gen Technology provides another set of features that are available on mobile app as well as smart watches. The Astor comes with a digital smart key. Next time you forget your key, no need to rush back. Connect your cellphone with the MG smartphone app and you can not only unlock, but also drive with the digital key.

Jio powers the Astor’s connected features. Jio Saavn Premium is part of the package to take care of your music needs. MapMyIndia guides the navigation system. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is standard on the 10.1” infotainment screen. There are 5 USB Charging Ports in Astor with one Power Outlet. The only feature missing was wireless charging, its not a deal breaker though.