MG Motor Cyberster review

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Chinese-owned MG celebrates the marque's centenary with a hard-hitting, multifaceted electric roadster

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MG was established, all the way back in 1924, specifically for the production of sports cars - yet the last time it made one wasn't even in our current century. As such, the MG Cyberster is very significant indeed.

Further to that, MG under Chinese ownership has been totally transformed as a brand into a maker of budget-conscious family cars, with until recently little even of a pretence of sportiness. So this isn't just a car; it may even represent a bit of a strategic change of tack.

MG is launching the Cyberster in celebration of its 100th anniversary. The idea actually dates back to 2017, when a group of designers at the SAIC studio in London sketched a modern vision of the iconic MG B. They weren’t told to do this by the high-ups; it was a passion project. Indeed, the project was nearly cancelled several times as it progressed, especially during the trying pandemic years. But when SAIC chairman Chen Hong saw the enthusiastic reaction to the dramatic concept at the 2021 Shanghai motor show, he approved it for production instantly.

The car comes in both single- and twin-motor forms; and, so far, we've tested both on MG's UK press launch event in Scotland, and borrowed a single-motor Trophy-spec car for further assessment over greater mileage on more familiar roads.

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DESIGN & STYLING

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Carl Gotham’s design is intended to convey a more ‘distinctly electric message’ than previous MG EVs have, perhaps counter-intuitively through the medium of classic sports car proportions. And despite it being more than 0.5m longer than the modern roadster archetype that is the Mazda MX-5, we would argue that it has succeeded. This really is a fine-looking, and suitably eye-catching car, of the kind that'll make people wonder if it really is from the same brand that brings you the HS, ZS and 3.

The Cyberster avoids the slightly too-high side profile that makes many EVs look a bit awkward, thanks to SAIC’s ‘ultra-thin’ battery cell design (at 110mm, pack is less than the height of a Coke can), which sits within an extra-long wheelbase to avoid displeasingly long overhangs. Does it look like a modern MG B? No. Instead it looks convincingly like a modern supercar (an impression furthered by the powered scissor doors and black masks on the rear end that mimic air tunnels); a little too much in some ways, considering how derivative some of its features seem (the Alfa Romeo-style nose, Aston Martin-apeing pinched waistline, Lotus-like aero features, and Maserati Spyder-homage rear end.

I really like the way the Cyberster looks, but couldn't really defend the originality of its design. The model name on the bootlid could have been made up from chrome lettering recovered from old Maseratis.
Matt Saunders
Road test editor

And calling this something of a baby supercar is not such a stretch considering that the Cyberster shares its headline 0-62mph acceleration time with the deified McLaren F1. Even in top-of-the-range form, remember, this is a £60k car. The use of proven parts has certainly helped to keep it affordable: the car's platform is shared with the smaller 4 EV, and the permanent magnet synchronous motors are of a familiar type - and you can have either one of those, producing 335bhp for the rear axle, or one per axle producing a combined 503bhp. The configurable steering was co-developed with Bosch, the brakes are from Brembo and Continental, and the EV-specific tyres are Pirelli P Zeros.

However you might feel about MG’s new Chinese identity, it’s gratifying to know that a not insignificant amount of the proper work on this trad-not-trad roadster was done in the UK, at Longbridge. Engineers contributed to the tuning of the ride, handling, steering, springs, dampers, roll bars, powertrain and ADAS, refinement, lights and charging system.

Both single- and twin-motor versions of the car use a nickel-manganese-cobalt drive battery of a little under 75kWh of usable capacity; and the former weighs just under 1.9-tonnes - which is nearly 400kg more than an equivalent, similarly sized BMW Z4 sDrive M40i.

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INTERIOR

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One of the things that MG Motor's Longbridge engineering team fought hard for on this car, they say, was a low driving position. Would they have fought that little bit harder.

The car's driving position is otherwise good, and its standard for material quality is surprisingly high for something competing with Alpines and lower-end Porsche Boxsters. But driver tallers will feel like they're sitting two or three inches higher at the steering wheel than they'd ideally like to, and are therefore left more exposed to wind buffeting with the roof down than they really ought to be. 

Those UK-based engineers did succeed in adding an adjustable lumbar support for the driver's seat, however; in creating a one-pedal driving mode for the car; in fitting a rear wind deflector; and in carving out a few more valuable litres in the boot such that golf clubs could fit inside.

Better still, they adapted UK-market cars for British tastes, making the digital screens ‘less animated’ and distracting than they were, improving their usability, creating a more ‘sophisticated’ pedestrian warning noise (Chinese cars sound like they’re playing a song), and adding in a surprisingly likeable fake engine noise that seems to combine a distant four-pot with a space laser (only when you floor it; otherwise you’re free to indulge in your music through the banging Bose stereo, or enjoy the singing of the birds).

You can't help wishing the car's several digital display screens were less important, however. On the centre console is a smartphone-esque touchscreen for adjusting the many, many vehicle settings and the climate (there are also haptic icons for adjusting the fan speed and heat above it), while the digital instrument display is flanked by two small touchscreens, the left-hand one for your media and sat-nav, and the right-hand one for various other things.

Quite apart from wondering why anyone needs to see next week’s weather forecast while driving, or a pie chart of what exactly has been consuming energy within the car, and being alarmed that the system won’t prevent you from typing in your email to log into MG’s website while doing 70mph, there’s the issue that the steering wheel, no matter how high or low you position it, can block significant portions of the flanking screens. The severity of the problem depends a little on the height of the driver - but having to crane your neck at least a little on a dismayingly frequent number of occasions just to see your navigation map or trip computer data is annoying however tall you are.

Praise must go to the comfort and support of the car's faux-leather bucket seats, which keep you comfortable over distance rather well. But sitting just another few inches lower would make things much better all round, as there’s still the feeling of being perched atop the battery, rather than cocooned within the car.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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MG Cyberster review 2024 16 front tracking

The standard Cyberster Trophy must live alongside the brilliant Porsche 718 Boxster, being priced from £55k – but its rear-mounted electric motor is a bit up on that flat-six engine, at 335bhp and 350lb ft. Then, for just £5000 more, there’s the Cyberster GT, which gains a second motor at the front for 503bhp and 535lb ft, as well as four-wheel drive.

Pleasingly, you don’t get the full brutal peak power production of the GT-spec car in Comfort mode; there's some more of it in Sport; and the whole lot becomes available in Super Sport. These are selectable via the right-hand ‘shift paddle’, to MG’s credit, while the left one adjusts the regenerative braking (here styled after Formula 1 as KERS) through three levels of strength.

One unexpected tug of the steering wheel while on a mountain road was enough for me to pull over and disable all the mandated active ‘safety’ systems; though the lane keeping assistance worked fine on the motorway. I couldn’t find the adaptive cruise controls anywhere on the steering wheel, though.
Kris Culmer
Chief sub-editor

The lesser Trophy-spec car feels like it has plenty of smooth, accessible performance in Sport mode, and is quick up to about 50mph; thereafter falling away from the sort of performance muscle you might expect of a top-order sports car, but remaining swift enough for easy motorway work and A-road overtaking.

 

RIDE & HANDLING

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MG Cyberster review 2024 18 front cornering

This is where the Cyberster was always likely to suffer for its weight, and where - if anywhere - MG Motor's recent inexperience with class standards in the sports car segment was most likely to betray itself.

So it proves - in a sense, at least. The single-motor Trophy and twin-motor GT models have noticably different dynamic characters, the former feeling notably softly sprung on country roads, and suffering a little with under-damped body control. The twin-motor GT, by contrast, is better contained and more steady in its body movements, though fairly inert: more like a surefooted fast Audi than a lively sports car.

In both models, the car's ride – its suspension made up of double wishbones at the front, and a five-link arrangement at the rear, with passive dampers all round – always feels supple, never too firm, and never harsh. In the GT model, body roll is contained when you’re cornering hard and fast. Mid-corner bumps at speed aren’t problematic, and any unwanted body movement that does result is very quickly remedied. Even potholes don’t cause issues. On one dual carriageway that resembled an elongated QR code, the car genuinely wafted.

With so much weight so low down, four driven wheels and serious rubber, the GT feels impossible to confound. No matter how early or hard you pour on the power through a corner, it will just nonchalantly shrug, dig in and surge out through the exit. In this regard, it feels like… well, a GT, rather than a sports car. There’s something of a fiery Audi in the way that it’s so sure-footed and neutrally balanced (indeed, the weight distribution is a perfect 50:50).

In the Trophy model, however, the car's soft suspension rates can begin to present a problem as you approach a quicker stride on a country road. The Cyberster develops unchecked pitching movements in its body, and while they're not allowed to affect its stability, they do upset the comfort of the cabin, and undermine the car's sporting appeal somewhat. Even as a gentler-tuned cruiser convertible, body movements like this should be better controlled.

The Cyberster's steering is medium-paced and weighted, and quite numb in feel, giving little information about grip level. The car also suffers with grabby regen braking if you deactivate its 'one-pedal' driving mode, which is suggestive of a company not yet used to taking as much care about fine control tuning as some sports car regulars would like.

MG Motor Cyberster news

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MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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MG Cyberster review 2024 01 front tracking

Efficiency during our test drive was around 2.5mpkWh; pretty poor compared with some new EVs, but subject, perhaps, to more intensive driving than others we've tested.

At its most efficient, the Cyberster suggested it might be capable of more than 300 miles to a charge, after which most drivers would probably want a 30-minute break anyway. Real-world cruising range is more likely to be somewhere between 250- and 275 miles, and DC rapid charging is possible at up to 150kW.

VERDICT

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The MG Cyberster is heartening evidence that the company that now owns one of Britain's once-beloved sports car brands may have ambitions to take it back towards a sporting agenda; and besides a statement of ambition, it's an arresting and handsome design, and an appealingly alternative prospect.

It offers decent usable range, plenty of cabriolet-class usability, and big twin-motor performance for those that want to keep up with the Tesla crowd. And, just as we're used to from MG Motor, it's surprisingly reasonably priced.

It's a shame, though not a particular surprise, that the car has some apparent dynamic shortcomings. While the GT model is better, the Trophy is short on sporting body control and dynamic composure at speed, and doesn't entice its driver through its controls; and since it's already at a disadvantage on driver involvement because it has such a smooth electric power delivery, it's unlikely to convince anyone to sell their Porsche Boxster, Mazda MX5 or BMW Z4. 

The bigger shame is that, if the entry-level Cyberster were only five- or ten-per cent more dynamically competent, it would probably be good enough for people broadly uninterested in the sophistication of its ride and handling not to notice its weakness. That, at least, is not a big leap for it to take yet.

As regards the quicker Cyberster GT; you could say that, though it doesn't set new standards for the sports car class, nor is it significantly outclassed. Considering that MG hasn’t designed a new sports car of any kind since 1995 and China has never made a roadster at all, this is quite an achievement.

Matt Saunders

Matt Saunders Autocar
Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Tesla Roadster, Ariel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren Senna, Renault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.