2026 MG U9 Explore Pro review

The template for dual-cab utes is largely set in stone. You know it by heart: bulletproof diesel engine, no-frills cabin and the ability to soak up a heap of punishment while riding on elliptical leaf spring rear suspension, the design of which dates back to 1804. Sophisticated? No. Able to mop up the worst of Aussie conditions? You bet.

Latterly, we’ve gone a bit off-script. We now have electrified light-duty utes, Baja-spec fire-breathers and super-sized US imports. This diversified ute market has become a gold mine, and it’s one that manufacturers like MG have eyed jealously. Its latest U9 dual-cab brings an intriguing blend of attributes, both old and new.

It aims to marry mechanical ruggedness and all-round capability of a traditional dual-cab with the sort of interior space and road presence that approaches that of the American leviathans.

What’s more, the MG U9 aims to deliver best-in-class ride quality with unconventional coil springs, and bring that tantalising combo to market at a price that would net you something from the basement of the Ford Ranger or Toyota HiLux line-up.

This flagship U9 Explore Pro retails at $60,990 drive-away and features a 2.5-litre turbo-diesel powerplant that easily outmuscles anything equivalently priced from Ford or Toyota. 

It all sounds intriguing on paper, but does the U9 Explore Pro have the on- and off-road chops to mix it with the best in class? That would require MG getting this ute absolutely right first time, straight out of the crate. And that is one heck of a tall order.

In short, yes. The MG U9 Explore Pro offers a heck of a lot of ute for $60,990 drive-away.

The thing that really drives home the value proposition of this vehicle is that you’d need to spend almost $10K more in order to get into the lowliest Ford Ranger V6; a physically smaller and significantly less well-appointed dual-cab.

Yes, the Ford scores on power and torque, and is a known quantity off-road, but the MG has every variant of the diesel-powered Toyota HiLux covered for power and torque, and its underpinnings are a good deal more modern than those of even the newly updated HiLux.

It’s not as in-your-face impressive as the slightly cheaper BYD Shark 6, but the U9 is playing to a subtly different market niche; one that wants the same, easy driveability, but also values 3500kg towing capability.

There’s even a convincing case for this flagship Explore Pro being the pick of the U9 range. While all three versions on offer feature the same engine, the Explore Pro is the only one that gets the clever two-piece rear step, the conversation-starter Smart Hatch, as well as nice-to-haves like the JBL stereo and leather trim. It’s also the only one to get the full diff suite, so it’s the most off-road capable too.

Alternatively, jump onto MG's dealer locator if you'd prefer to have a no-obligation look over the U9 in the metal.

If you're looking for more pricing, specifications and offers on the latest MG U9, then keep checking back here.

“This is an MG?” That's the question most of my passengers ask when they clock the badge on the steering wheel’s boss. If you still associate MG with budget runarounds, the U9 might well come as a bit of a shock.

It feels reassuringly well-built inside, with almost everything feeling a few per cent larger than normal. The low window line, relatively low scuttle and big, twin-pane sunroof flood the cabin with light, and the strong horizontal design elements of the dashboard give an impression of breadth, space and rigidity.

A huge centre armrest reinforces the impression of width, and this lifts to reveal a deep rubber-lined storage bin, with a pair of big cupholders ahead of it, and ahead of these quite the oddest gear selector I’ve seen in a while.

Everyone seems to have their own idea of what the chunky grab handle reminds them of. MG claims that it resembles an aircraft throttle, but to me it looks like the sort of lever you’d pull to switch off the electricity supply in Jurassic Park. Some reviewers complained that this lever seemed a bit wobbly and insubstantial-feeling in early cars, but this one feels agreeably solid. 

The unconventional design cues continue with the flat-bottomed steering wheel; something you’d expect to find in a Lamborghini but which isn’t a fixture in the diesel dual-cab sector.

Twin 12.3-inch displays seem to be becoming a bit of an industry trope of late, but you can see why it’s a favoured layout. These two screens join with quite a chunky border between the displays, and the driver’s display seems to prioritise flash-looking advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) representations over more useful data. Nevertheless, there’s enough screen real estate that you don’t feel you’re particularly missing out by not having a head-up display.

The driver’s seat features a slick massage function that runs through a whole suite of programs, which helps alleviate stiffness over long journeys. Unfortunately, the front passenger seat doesn’t get the benefit, so expect the side-eye from your partner every time you switch it on.

Both seats do get heating and ventilation, operated through a fairly well-buried menu within the infotainment. There’s also a heated steering wheel that is easily operable via a physical steering-wheel-mounted button. That’s more like it.

There’s stacks of oddments space including large door bins, a handy slot for a second mobile phone next to the gear selector, a single glove box, and that huge centre bin with a removable tray for items that you don’t want to be rummaging around for.

Charging is via a USB-C, a USB-A or a 12V outlet up front, and there's a generously sized and rubberised wireless phone charger fitted that also keeps your phone visible so that you’re unlikely to forget it when leaving the vehicle.

This top-spec Explore Pro also features the eight-speaker JBL stereo, 64-colour interior ambient lighting, blacked-out exterior trim, a suede headliner, and leather upholstery.

Move into the back and it feels a bit tighter than I expected. That’s because the rear seats sit above that 80-litre fuel tank and then seem to run out of height. It's a problem exacerbated by the fitment of the glass sunroof, which further robs head room.

Anyone over six-feet tall (183cm) will feel the pinch back there, which is a shame because leg room is otherwise very good. It’ll be no issue for kids or most teens, though. 

The back seats also get a USB-A and a USB-C outlet, with shin-level air vents, chunky grab handles and seatback pockets. Pop down the centre armrest and there’s a couple of cupholders available.

Entry and egress are easier than in many such vehicles, with side steps and both front and rear doorways getting those substantial grab handles to help swing you into the cabin.

The U9 Explore Pro has a party trick up its sleeve, and it’s one that you likely won't see coming. Fold and tumble the rear seats, press a button to glide the rear window down, and you can then hinge the entire bulkhead forward so that you have an entirely open bulkhead through to the cabin, which you could conceivably load items too long for the standard tub.

MG calls it the Smart Hatch, it's a $5490 option, and it’s not a one-touch job as you’ll need to walk around the vehicle to tumble and drop both seats. This involves pulling on two separate fabric loops. You’ll also probably want to do it with the engine running, as the accessory mode can time out, leaving you with no power to drop the rear electric window. 

Also, a word of warning. Because of the aerodynamic properties of a ute, should you drive with the bulkhead dropped, air will come forward from the tub into the cabin. So if you’re driving on a dirt road and/or have a tray that’s full of dirt and dead leaves, they’ll likely end up in the cabin with you.

Because you don’t have a rigid rear bulkhead, there are some occasional creaks and squeaks from the Smart Hatch and also from the driver’s seat mountings when driving. 

The U9 benefits from a nicely detailed tub. There’s an inbuilt tub liner, bed lighting, two lashing points on each side and a slick rail system. The tie-down points sit low at the rear and high adjacent to the cab, which provides a bit of versatility but also makes physically securing something like a flat-pack box quite tricky.

This flagship Explore Pro model has another party piece. Press a rubberised touch pad at the rear-left corner and the tailgate motors down. Press the right-hand side of the pad and a section of the tailgate drops down again, allowing you to manually click a step out of it, providing easy access to the tub. 

At first it seems a ridiculous piece of overengineering to achieve what most utes accomplish with a small step recessed into the bumper, but if you’re not quite as limber as you once were, it’s a boon.

The infotainment system in the U9 Explore Pro is, for the most part, a competent installation. The dual screens are bright and the system latches on to its wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto connections quickly and reliably. The eight-speaker JBL stereo isn’t outstanding, though, and lacks power and depth.

Buyers get native Google-based satellite navigation, which is good enough to make you think twice about mirroring your phone.

The operating system of the U9 takes a little bit of getting used to, largely because there’s a lot in there. Thankfully, MG has put some hotkeys on the right of the display to ease navigation. These vanish once you’ve engaged phone mirroring.

A customisable star button on the steering wheel takes you to almost any preferred element of the infotainment menu structure.

Yes, there is a physical volume control, which is mounted on the rather crammed steering wheel. It’s a toggle that, if pressed, also mutes the volume.

As well as AM/FM radio, there’s DAB and the MG U9 also comes with the Amazon Music app preinstalled.

New car buyers also receive a 12-month MG iSMART subscription, an app-based system that allows you to remotely monitor vehicle status, control key functions, and access connected features like navigation and entertainment.

The MG U9 ute carries an ANCAP five-star safety rating. This scoring isn’t as straightforward as it first seems, though.

For a start, it was achieved by the Maxus eTerron 9, a cousin of the MG U9. During testing in 2024, technical data was supplied to ANCAP that successfully argued the case for the Maxus’s score to be carried across to the U9. To further muddy those waters, the Terron version that netted the five-star score was a fully-electric variant.

It’s hard to see how a vehicle with no engine in front of the driver can achieve a representative frontal crash score when compared to one that does. But the manufacturer was able to win that particular argument. So make what you will of that safety score.

ANCAP breaks down the score to a 91 per cent rating for vehicle occupants, 81 per cent for child occupants, 84 per cent for vulnerable road users, and 85 per cent for its safety assistance features.

The MG U9 is in no way short of safety equipment. In fact, there’s almost too much of it, the MG afflicted by the same insistent chiming as many modern Chinese cars, to the extent where you begin to ignore them after a while. The signal-to-noise ratio, in the default setting at least, seems awry.

An example? The U9 has speed sign recognition, but can’t parse conditional limits, such as 40km/h limits in school zones at certain times. So when you drive past at 60km/h in the middle of the night, the vehicle assails you with a series of rapid-fire chimes every time.

The default setting for the ADAS sensitivity is high, which can make it feel neurotic, especially with driver monitoring and lane-keeping. Dialling these back to low will make your life far more serene.

MG does allow a certain amount of personalisation of the system, but certain functions default to ‘on’ every time you start the car and require a fairly lengthy input sequence to switch out. Even activating the shortcut key to activate your ADAS personalisations requires a few on-screen confirmations.

There are other occasions when fairly simple tasks require an extended interaction with the touchscreen. If you’re mirroring your phone on the central screen and want to put your seat warmers on, it requires at least five menu selections on the touchscreen to perform this relatively simple task. 

The rear-view mirror on this Explore Pro variant features a camera. This is a permanent camera with no way to switch it back to a conventional mirror.

It’s beautifully bright and crisp in daylight, but it can appear a bit too bright during twilight hours. Here, the software attempts to amp up the brightness in low-light conditions, affecting your night vision on country roads.

Another anomaly with the U9 is that it won’t allow you to even engage a gear if your seatbelt isn’t fastened. If you need to nudge forward a bit to inch it into your garage, your belt has to go on. 

On the plus side, the 1080p high-definition reversing cameras are truly excellent and the parking sensors sensibly calibrated. 

The stability-control system is effective. If you accelerate hard out of a wet junction, power is bled away by the unweighted inside rear tyre.

All-round visibility is excellent and the headlights inspire confidence on dark country roads. They’re really punchy LED units with an effective self-dipping function when the sensors detect another vehicle ahead.

MG understands that the majority of ute buyers keep a flinty eye on ongoing running costs.

After the initial 12-month/10,000km check over, servicing occurs annually, or every 15,000km, whichever arrives first. That’s on par with most of the U9’s key rivals, with only a couple extending that interval out to 20,000km. The merits of that can certainly be debated.

One consolation is that the U9’s servicing is not exorbitant. The average cost per service over the first 70,000km of the vehicle’s life works out at $471. 

The standard warranty arrangement covers you for five years, with no kilometre stipulation. As long as the car is serviced at an MG authorised dealer, that warranty can be extended to seven years/200,000km.

The MG U9’s residual value will probably represent the biggest question mark in terms of running costs. We have years of data to show how much a Ford Ranger or a Toyota HiLux will be worth after any period of ownership. Buyers may feel less reassured with this new entrant.

MG has claimed to be looking at a Guaranteed Future Value financial product, which would take the guesswork out of retained values. However, the details of this scheme have yet to be finalised.

Insurance costs $4112 for a year of comprehensive cover. That’s a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

MG claims 7.9 litres per 100 kilometres for the U9, but in testing, we weren’t able to get anywhere near that. On a mix of freeway, country roads, we managed 10.2L/100km in the U9. That's almost 30 per cent worse than the quoted figure.

While that’s quite a departure from what customers are led to expect, some might contend that it’s not unreasonable for a vehicle of this size and weight, which packs 520Nm and presents a huge frontal area.

That said, extended use in the still more powerful Ranger V6 turbo diesel netted around 9.5L/100km and even the larger F-150 SWB with its petrol V6 averages around 11.5L/100km, so the U9 is on the thirstier side for a diesel-powered ute. 

The U9’s fuel tank is a respectable 80 litres, which affords it useful cruising range. At 10L/100km, that would equate to 800km. Matching the factory claim of 7.9L/100km would put its range at 1013km.

It seems as if many of the newcomer Chinese brands in our ute market didn’t get the memo that dual-cabs ought to ride like a gout-stricken camel.

The MG U9 feels SUV-plush in the way it goes up the road. That’s largely due to the fact that it rides on coil-sprung rear suspension, rather than the heavy-duty leaf springs of many of its rivals. This helps give a polish to its ride quality.

The electrically assisted steering feels a little low-geared but it’s linear and low-effort, and the pedal weighting is well judged. The Sport drive mode sharpens the throttle map considerably. In the default eco mode, it feels a bit reluctant through the first third of its travel. 

There’s a muted gruffness to the diesel powerplant that feels acceptably isolated, thanks in part to good soundproofing, which includes acoustic glass. 

Refinement is a U9 strong point. The only issue of note in this department was an infrequent harmonic frequency at some speeds and on some road surfaces that caused the plastic mirror casings to vibrate.

We saw a 10.2-second 0–100km/h time from the U9. That’s a fair bit slower than the 8.4 seconds you can expect from a Ranger V6, with the simple physics of less power and more weight speaking volumes here.

Because of the fairly elastic, boosty nature of its engine, the U9 is one of those vehicles that can feel a good deal faster than it is. That impression is helped by smart transmission programming.

The speedometer reads 104km/h at a true 100km/h; something to bear in mind when setting the cruise control for a long-distance trip.

Peak torque arrives at just 1500rpm and begins to tail off at 2500rpm. You won’t need to work too hard to get the best from this muscular and broadly satisfying powerplant.

Drive is deployed via the eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox, which is not completely immune to the odd low-speed hiccup as it attempts to figure out the driver’s intent. 

For the most part it’s an extremely composed transmission, with the option of manual override through the gears via wheel-mounted paddles.

This particular U9 is riding on knobbly 275/55 R20 Falken all-terrain tyres, clearly fitted to demonstrate its off-road ability. The standard cars get a more tarmac-oriented Continental tyre.

Even with the chunky rubber, the U9 isn’t uncivilised through corners, with encouraging front-end grip and impressive composure on corner exit, even with what seems fairly optimistic throttle applications. It’s clearly a chassis that has undergone extensive development for on-road use.

It always feels a big unit to direct, largely because it is. It’s bigger than a BYD Shark 6, itself a hefty chunk of ute, in every key dimension bar overall height. The 13.3-metre turning circle means that a cheeky U-turn requires a bit of forward planning. 

It’s also capable of holding its own off-road. The U9 is fitted with both a low-range transfer case and Borg Warner locking diffs. Combine that with the non-standard A/T tyres (which aren’t selectable on the U9 online configurator) and the U9 seizes every advantage when grip gets low.

The combination of a very long 3300mm wheelbase and fairly modest ride height is the U9’s most obvious limiting factor when venturing off the beaten track.  

We said earlier that the suspension of the U9 is not like that of the usual dual-cab ute. It reaps the benefits on-road and when the vehicle is unladen. 

There’s a price to be paid for that, however, and it comes when you stack the tub with gear. Here, the available suspension travel becomes quite limited and it’s possible to run out of rear travel without too much provocation. Rough off-road tracks only exacerbate this issue.

That's exactly the reason why the latest Nissan Navara ditched a coil-sprung rear end and has gone back to leaf springs. Load it up and the rear sags, limiting available suspension travel.

MG has done its best to build in some clever off-road functionality. As well as the normal Eco, Normal, Sport and Snow modes, there are Mud, Sand, Tow and custom settings in the U9’s drive modes.

There’s also Wade Sensing, Off-Road Crawl Control and Hill Descent Control. There’s also a view that allows you to see a transparent surround view and what the front camera’s seeing, helping you negotiate sharp crests when all you’d otherwise see is the long bonnet and the sky.

The U9 also gets an Expert View off-road mode that displays details like altitude, pitch angle and roll angle. It even stores data, showing records, which could easily encourage the unwise.

Otherwise, the 28-degree approach and 25-degree departure angles are fairly good, although the 20-degree breakover angle is naturally less than you’d expect in a shorter wheelbase dual-cab.

Facing a river crossing? You’ll want to make sure the water’s no more than 550mm deep. Ground clearance drops from 220mm when unladen to 180mm when at maximum payload. 

More than anything else, it’s the U9’s sheer width that might act as a disincentive to explore some gnarlier off-road routes. It’s 2265mm from mirror to mirror, and as a result feels more suited on open trails.

Anything any more claustrophobic and you’re likely to be sporting some pinstripes from scratches unless you’ve made the investment in some self-healing paint protection film. 

The MG U9 fronts up with a beefy 3500kg braked towing rating, which many Aussies see as a prerequisite for a serious ute.

Should you need to tow an unbraked trailer, a more modest 750kg towing rating applies, which is typical for the class.

Buyers get a Tow mode in the drive-mode selector. Unfortunately, you won't get the sort of deeply considered towing tech that you might expect to find on a Ford Ranger. You won't find a lane-departure system that accounts for the combined length of your vehicle and trailer or a remote trailer lighting program.

So there are areas for MG to work on in order to be up there with the class best.

The payload is 770kg, which could be a limiting factor in a vehicle of this size.

Start towing a three-tonne caravan, for example, and you'd have 470kg left to play with. Factor in four adults and that's another, say, 350kg accounted for, leaving you 120kg. If you've fitted a bull bar and a couple of accessories, that could bring your remaining allowance down to around 75kg, which means that you'd probably need to pack fairly light.

This vehicle didn't come with a tow bar fitted, so there was no opportunity to test its towing chops. That's something we'll be looking to explore at a later date, so we'll reserve judgment on how competent it is when hauling a heavy load.

The MG U9 deserves to be taken seriously. It lands in a packed sector yet still manages to elbow its way into a clear and understandable niche.

You want a ute that feels like a plush SUV but which can still tow, and you don’t want to break the bank? You’re looking at it here.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt the MG U9’s chances that it’s a handsome thing, it’s well equipped, it wears a (slightly debatable) ANCAP five-star rating, and it’s backed with a decent warranty.

MG’s biggest challenge will be convincing buyers that the U9, while oozing showroom appeal, is up to the rigours of Aussie ute life. 

It gets the fundamentals right, with a torquey turbo-diesel engine, a solid ZF transmission, and tried and trusted Borg Warner differentials. It's a tougher thing than we expected.

Yet there’s a reason vehicles like the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger and Isuzu D-Max do so well in Australia. They have established a bond of trust with Australian buyers.

It will take more than the work of a moment for MG to break into that club. As a foot in the door, however, the U9 Explore Pro has much to commend it. 

Andy brings almost 30 years automotive writing experience to his role at Drive. When he wasn’t showing people which way the Nürburgring went, he freelanced for outlets such as Car, Autocar, and The Times. After contributing to Top Gear Australia, Andy subsequently moved Down Under, serving as editor at MOTOR and Wheels. As Drive’s Road Test Editor, he’s at the heart of our vehicle testing, but also loves to spin a long-form yarn.

Read more about Andy Enright