MG Cyberster: Highly Anticipated Electric Sports Car – First Impressions

Unveiled to the world in September 2024, the MG Cyberster sees the Chinese marque produce their first ever fully electric sports car. With breathtaking styling and competitive battery technology, is this still a proper convertible sports car? George Loveridge finds out…

Well, let us address that straight away. It’s certainly a convertible! We get the choice of either a black or red folding roof. The red will set you back an additional £500. Is it a sports car then? Yes, absolutely. This single-motor RWD version sends 355 bhp to the rear wheels. Which is plenty. However, should you want to go for additional performance, you could opt for the 502 bhp dual-motor AWD model.

Aside from performance, the Cyberster represents a gap in the market, and is the first new MG sports car since the early 2000s. MG claims that the Cyberster combines their heritage with modern innovation. And do you know what, I’m all for it! After a quick drive and some time with the car, it left a fantastic impression on me.

On The Road

Operating the swanky scissor doors via the key fob, you have to hop in dodging the wide door sills. From the driver’s seat, you’re greeted with a driver-focused cockpit, complete with three displays housing GPS, road speed and vehicle settings. I found that the steering wheel obstructed the view of the GPS and infotainment screen that was situated to the left. However, as a result of the driver benefiting from individual screens, the dashboard doesn’t have a screen stuck on looking like it was an afterthought. In fact, the rest of the cabin is pretty sparse, especially from the passenger’s perspective. The infotainment and climate controls are situated within the central divide, or what would have been the transmission tunnel on an ICE car. Overall, the layout is appealing.

Being rear-wheel-drive, the Cyberster handles exactly as you’d hope. With enough power to unstick the back end with ease, it also corners very flat and reflects the perfect exterior proportions. Moreover, MG has been able to keep weight down to 1.8 tonnes. Now, this is about 1,000 kgs heavier than an MGB, but then again we’ve got considerably more tech and power in 2024.

Despite the low kerb weight, you still get heated seats, an effective heating system and additional creature comforts that I sadly didn’t have time to investigate. I love the ‘SUPER SPORT’ button on the steering wheel which sharpens the steering, suspension and power delivery. Furthermore, we’ve still got twin paddles behind the leather-wrapped steering wheel. The left paddle switches between Eco, Comfort and Sport drive modes, whereas the right paddle allows three different levels of regenerative stopping power. So, just like any other EV then? Yes. Except for the fact that this car drives like any other two-door sports car. I’ll go as far to say that they’ve nailed the driving characteristics.

All four wheels benefit from some huge Brembo brakes that stop the car fantastically well. They allow for proper point and squirt fun on some British B-roads. Plus, with the roof down, you could easily have a conversation with your passenger thanks to a very effective wind deflector.

The range is about 316 miles if you’re frugal. In reality, it’s probably around 250 miles. But as this is a sports car, it really doesn’t matter. Most sports car owners only drive in short intervals anyway. Although, these seats felt supportive enough for longer stints of driving.

Verdict

Even after a short drive, I was sold on the Cyberster. The aforementioned balance is what really impresses me most. 335 bhp to the rear wheels is also plenty, I believe that we’ve lost touch with how much power is really enough.

The scissor doors are visually impressive. However, you would feel a bit silly operating them when getting out at the shops to buy a pint of milk and a loaf of bread. Annoyingly, the doors are just a bit slower than I find comfortable, therefore speedy exits and entries to the car aren’t really possible.

Despite having a folding roof, the boot is rather long and wide, so you could house plenty of items at the rear. Being an EV, you would also expect a frunk of some description. Unfortunately, there aren’t any storage opportunities under the bonnet. Pity, but then again, an ICE car wouldn’t either.

MG are asking £54,995 for the Cybester. Okay, so I don’t have that in my back pocket, but it is a very agreeable price. Considering that a brand new Mazda MX5 is now £35,000. And I know which one looks better.