MG Cyberster Review (2024)

Introduction

MG is on a roll at the moment. From its lowest ebb of liquidation following Rover's demise in the mid-noughties, the iconic British brand rose from the ashes following a takeover by China’s Nanjing Automobile Corporation, which revived the brand.

Nanjing later merged into the Shanghai-based state-owned SAIC.

While the first few Chinese-backed MGs were underwhelming, it struck gold when it introduced electrification to the range.

In particular, the MG4 EV stunned critics with its funky looks, gorgeous interior, excellent practicality and impressive driving dynamics – despite being just about the cheapest electric car on the market at the time.

A couple more all-electric models have followed since, but none more hotly anticipated than the Cyberster.

You see, you’d be forgiven for not knowing that MG is historically a sports car brand – indeed, sportiness was at MG’s heart when it was founded in 1924.

Even during the ill-fated MG Rover years at the start of this century, it made the XPower SV and even stuck muscles and MG badges on the Rover 25 and 75, selling them as the ZR and ZT.

But the marque is best remembered for iconic sports cars from the 1960s to the 90s, including the MGB GT and RV8.

Ask any classic car dealer to name some iconic British sports cars, and MG will be near the top of the list.

The new Cyberster draws inspiration from the MGB - its designers pictured it as a modern-day successor.

So, the Cyberster has big shoes to fill – especially with 2024 being the brand’s centennial.

Does it fill them?

Well, MG’s used the platform and motors from the excellent MG4 EV and worked alongside the likes of Pirelli (it has P-Zero tyres) and braking experts, Brembo.

Its handling has been extensively developed in the UK at MG's traditional home of Longbridge, Birmingham - and first impressions are positive.

So, let’s take it for a spin and find out.

At a Glance

The Cyberster looks terrific.

Part of the front end seems somewhat McLaren-inspired, particularly with the shape of the bonnet cut-out and, especially with its scissor doors open. If you squint at the rear, you can almost see a sprinkling of Lamborghini madness there, too.

Mind you, others at the media launch in Scotland likened it to a rounded Corvette from acute angles, while some even felt Porsche and Lotus had had an influence.

However genuine any resemblance is, MG won’t appreciate the likenesses - it hasn’t used tracing paper and copied everyone else, after all. Instead, it has used features that have worked well for others but only as a starting point before carving out a unique identity.

The front features pointed headlights, with the bodywork carved out of the low-hanging grille, with air intakes out to the sides, and a front splitter featuring two vertical struts. A luminous MG badge acts as the centrepiece.

Around the sides, creases, indentations, a large side skirt, and bulging rear shoulders above the back wheel arches add definition and character. The quiff in the boot lid creates an in-built spoiler, which helps.

A horizontal rear light bar runs across the boot lid beneath the spoiler before dropping vertically at the sides.

The indicators are two literal arrows pointing outwards, while a curved, piano-black indentation houses the number plate. This allows the bottom to rise up, revealing the rear diffuser arrangement.

The canvas roof can be opened and closed in around 15 seconds at up to 30mph.

While the Cyberster bears little resemblance to the MGB that inspired it, it looks stunning and is a design that fits just about any sports car manufacturer.

It is also a fitting tribute to MG's 100th anniversary.

We hope it goes as well as it looks.

Key Features

The Cyberster comes in two trim levels.

Trophy gets 19-inch alloys, red brake callipers, a wraparound triple-display cockpit with a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and two seven-inch screens, a DAB radio, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and navigation. Voice recognition is also part of the package, as is an eight-speaker Bose audio system and another seven-inch colour touchscreen in the middle of the dashboard.

You also get LED lights (including automatic headlights), electrically adjustable folding door mirrors, scissor doors, front and rear parking sensors, and six-way electrically adjustable heated leather-style sports seats with Alcantara inserts and a memory function. The Cyberster also boasts a heated steering wheel, electric lumbar support, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry, metal sports pedals, and rain-sensing wipers.

The top-of-the-range GT model gets all the above but with 20-inch ‘Jetstream design’ alloys - and that's about it - yet it costs about five grand more if bought rather than leased.

If that sounds pricey for a set of wheels, that’s because the real difference between the two models is how they’re powered.

The Trophy gets a single electric motor producing a not-unreasonable 335PS, driving the rear wheels, while the GT receives dual motors, all-wheel drive and 496PS.

Range & Batteries

Both Cyberster versions get a 77kWh (74.4kWh usable) battery.

The GT’s dual motors and superior performance mean the range on the top model isn’t quite as impressive.

Nevertheless, while the GT has a claimed range of 276 miles, the Trophy can manage 316 miles.

Performance & Drive

We are testing the GT model, though. If you prefer the rear-wheel drive version, you'll want to know that it does 0-62mph in 5.0 seconds flat and tops out at 121mph.

The GT’s top speed is only slightly higher at 125mph, but it does 0-62mph in just 3.2 seconds. It isn't a supercar, but boy, it goes like one.

While the maximum speed might be underwhelming to some, only a few all-electric cars have flat-out performance as high as combustion-engined cars.

Full power is only available in the top driving mode, one of four on the Cyberster (Comfort, Custom, Sport, and Track), which can be toggled by pulling the right-hand flappy-paddled lever behind the steering wheel.

In Comfort mode, the clout is reigned in, while Sport offers a nice middle ground between the two. As the name suggests, Custom enables you to use the central touchscreen to pick the throttle sensitivity, steering weight, and, on the GT model, whether you want rear or all-wheel drive.

Even in the lower-powered Trophy, the pace feels brisk. As soon as you push the throttle pedal, you experience a surge of acceleration, which is typical of many electric cars.

In the GT, even in Comfort mode, it feels lightning-quick. Dialling up to Track mode, the acceleration feels brutal, pinning you back in your seat, with Launch Control helping it get its power down.

It is not just about straight-line speed, though – the Cyberster is decent in the corners.

Around bends, it feels well planted, with the suspension ticking every box, retaining decent comfort levels, rarely feeling too firm and never too soft, and eliminating the car’s lean.

However, there is a downside: it’s weighty – an almost unavoidable issue with electric cars.

The king of the affordable sportscars, the Mazda MX-5, weighs as little as 961kg and, even in its heaviest configuration, is under 1,110kg.

The Cyberster, by comparison, tips the scales at 2,110kg in Trophy trim, while the GT is 2,210kg.

This makes a noticeable difference, with the nimbleness and playfulness of the MX-5 wholly lost on the MG.

The steering is accurate, and the wheel weights up nicely, but it lacks feedback, meaning testing it to its limits is harder than in, say, a Porsche 718 Boxster.

Push things close to its limits, and the MG Cyberster can feel a little wallowy, as if the body can’t quite keep up with the direction the chassis is trying to go in as you hurl it into the next bend.

Perhaps we’re being harsh, though.

Until technology improves to the point that batteries weigh considerably less than they do now, this was an inevitable problem. Mind you, we were driving the Cyberster at its limits in the Scottish Highlands, beyond what anyone other than a track-day aficionado is usually likely to do.

We would say that if you're used to the refinement of a Boxster and the agility of the MX-5, you may be disappointed.

In isolation, though, the Cyberster more than lives up to its billing as an excellent driver’s car, considering the batteries' inevitable weight penalty.

What’s more, the clue is in the GT name - the Cyberster is a Grand Tourer, not a pure sports car, so it's designed to waft down motorways and shouldn’t be expected to have the sprightliness of Mazda’s MX-5.

Charging

The batteries can recharge at a maximum rate of 144kW.

A 10-80% top-up takes under 40 minutes, while a 10-100% charge from a 7kW home wall box takes around ten and a half hours.

Running Costs & Emissions

The Cyberster won’t need to call at petrol stations, so running costs will be cheaper than a combustion-engined car.

Zero emissions mean the MG Cyberster could be the ultimate sports car to have as a company vehicle, as it’ll be in the lowest band for Benefit In Kind tax.

Servicing is every 12 months or 15,000 miles, whichever comes first.

MG isn’t renowned for reliability, although it doesn’t do badly, and this all-new generation of electric cars may create an upturn, but it’s too early to tell.

Interior & Technology

When the MG Cyberster was first previewed, it featured a ‘yoke’ steering wheel, better resembling something you’d see in an aircraft cockpit.

Some Teslas offer a yoke-style wheel, but despite looking very cool, it has several practical disadvantages, so we’re pleased to discover that MG is supplying a regular wheel after all.

Its chunky and flat-bottomed, features indentations to rest your thumbs, and has an inviting red engine start button and brushed aluminium spokes.

The dashboard is shaped so that you are cocooned in a cockpit-like environment. The infotainment screen, digital instrument display, and auxiliary screen are all housed in one ultra-widescreen unit.

In most cars, these all-in-one units contain two screens and are offset to the left. But in the Cyberster, the three-screen setup means the centre of the unit is positioned in the middle of the wheel, so there’s as much screen space to the driver’s right as there is to the left.

Another unusual feature is that the infotainment system is divided into three screens.

The digital instrument display sits in the middle, while the information you’d expect to find on the infotainment screen is split between the left-hand screen, the right-hand screen, and the separate fourth screen in the middle of the dashboard.

The latter screen primarily handles settings related to the car itself, such as programming the Custom driving mode, while everything else, such as media information, weather forecasts, and a summary of battery and range statistics, is shared between the left and right displays.

While it’s lovely to look at, what we really want to do in a car like this is drive it – and focus on the pleasure of driving it. But the amount of screen space, some of which displays information that isn’t immediately relevant, is a distraction.

It also means that, despite the steering wheel adjustment, having some of the screen obscured by the wheel is unavoidable. It seems it was designed with the yoke in mind but not rethought after the yoke was withdrawn.

Nevertheless, the systems are nice to use, and at least everything is laid out in front of you, which limits the extent to which you need to sift through sub-menus to find information.

The climate control is adjusted via the separate touchscreen, which can be fiddly to use on the move. However, haptic feedback buttons above the screen change the rate of airflow and temperature.

Boot Space & Practicality

It is easy to find a comfortable driving position in the Cyberster thanks to the six-way electrically adjustable seats. At the same time, the amount of steering wheel adjustment adds to the convenience.

Once you’ve found a decent position, you can save it using the memory function in both front bucket seats, which are heated and very comfortable.

A 114-mile test drive - with the roof down and occasionally up when the wet Scottish weather kicked in - didn’t leave us feeling windswept or like we needed a back massage.

While you’re positioned relatively low down compared with most cars, for a sports car, it doesn’t feel like you’re sat inches above the road as you do in a Mazda MX-5.

This is despite MG saying it’s made the battery pack as thin as possible, partly to avoid a high driving position and partly to keep the weight as close to the ground for a low centre of gravity.

There is plenty of headroom and legroom in the front, so even taller drivers should be fine.

Given that the Cyberster is a two-seater, there are no rear seats, and obviously, practicality is not going to be a strong point of any sports car.

That said, boot space measures in at 249 litres in both the Trophy and GT models, which, MG is keen to point out, is big enough for your golf clubs (laid diagonally!). It is also a generous amount, as the Porsche 718 Boxster and Mazda MX-5 get around half that. However, the BMW Z4 boasts a 281-litre boot.

Safety

There is no Euro NCAP safety rating for the MG Cyberster yet, but it’s based on the same platform as the excellent MG 4 EV, which earned a five-star score in 2022.

The MG HS and MG ZS EV also achieved five stars when crash-tested in 2019.

The MG4 EV is rated at 83% for adult occupants, 80% for children and 78% for safety assists.

In the Cyberster, active emergency braking with pedestrian and bicycle detection, blind spot detection, rear cross-traffic alert, lane change assist, front collision warning, and traffic jam assist are standard on the Trophy and GT models.

Both also get intelligent speed assist, intelligent headlight control, lane keep assist, pedestrian warning and adaptive cruise control.

Options

There is no extensive options list for the Cyberster.

The default body colour is 'New English White' (it's actually a beige-grey), while metallic dark grey or silver can be specified for a few hundred pounds extra.

These three paint jobs also allow you to have a red canvas roof instead of the standard black, although this costs almost as much as the dark grey and silver body colours.

If you are willing to spend a little bit more, a racey red is also available, while a tempting bright yellow premium paint job is available for the same price.

Inside, there are two colour schemes to choose from: a mixture of light and dark grey or a dark red and black scheme, which includes the former colour on the steering wheel for extra showiness.

Rival Cars

Finding an exact rival for the MG Cyberster is difficult.

There isn't a direct comparison as an all-electric car, with the Porsche Taycan,Audi RS E-tron GT, and Tesla Roadster being much more expensive.

The Mazda MX-5 is for you if price and handling are priorities, as it’s lighter, nimbler and much cheaper, but the most electrification it can offer is a sprinkling of mild-hybrid assistance.

The Porsche 718 Boxster and the Alpine A110 are the most comparable, although the MG's electric motor provides more oomph - and the Porsche and Alpine run on petrol.

However, apart from the MX-5, a BMW Z4 is cheaper than the above competition.

Verdict & Next Steps

The MG Cyberster is a very tempting car to lease. It offers superb looks, a gorgeous interior, lots of tech, and plenty of grunt.

Alas, it’s hamstrung by the unavoidable weight penalty of electric cars. If you're a track-day aficionado, you may feel let down by the handling, which is still great but not as on point as the more refined 718 Boxster or lightweight Mazda MX-5.

Nevertheless, the MG could be an absolute hoot if you can look past that – and don't mind the lack of a true engine note.

Yes, its key rivals can beat it in the areas where a sports car is traditionally judged, but electric vehicles are a new form of motoring – and there’s little room for tradition here.

And, with electric cars rewriting what we expect from our vehicles, the Cyberster delivers on these new expectations in spades.

Where to next?

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Call us on 0118 3048 688 or hit the green 'Enquire' button for more details.

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the MG Cyberster.

**Correct as of 23/07/2024. Based on 9 months initial payment, 5,000 miles annually, over a 48 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 9 monthly payments, or £7,133.04 (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.