MG Comet

MG Comet is the little thing that’s big right now

- Vivek Venugopal

Everyone is curious as to knowing what it is and nearly everyone we know is interested in buying or at least test-driving one. So, what’s the big deal?

We drove it last month in Delhi where MG had organized their media drive. It was quite a sight as a swarm of nearly forty tiny little cars rolled onto the Gurgaon highway towards Delhi. We felt like a bunch of kids with new toys and soon were racing against one another. The Comet was unlike anything else we have driven in a long time, being very narrow and chuckable. We were darting between startled drivers in other cars and sprinting from one traffic signal to the next.

The initial excitement of being in something so different soon wore off, as we hit the faster, more open sections of the highway. It could do a respectable top speed of 105kmph but, with its ultralight steering, tiny wheels and diminutive footprint, it wasn’t quite at home, next to big trucks and buses. But as soon as we entered the crowded city of Delhi, it began to make so much sense.

For one thing, I was so happy that I am in something so compact. At 2.9m long and 1.5m wide, the Comet is considerably smaller than a Tata Nano and you know how easy those are to drive around and park. There is no bonnet stretching in front, there are virtually no overhangs and the small turning circle coupled with the short 2010mm wheelbase meant, it was more maneuverable than anything else on the road. Forward visibility is great with big glass windows all around, it’s like being a gold fish in a glass bowl.