Introduction

MG and its octagonal logo have been part of the British motoring scene for over 100 years. Originally using Morris chassis, Cecil Kimber started developing sports bodies to make cars under the MG (Morris Garages) moniker. Despite some changes to ownership over the years (involving BMC, British Motor Holdings, British Leyland, Austin Rover, Rover Group, and Nanjing Automobile Group), the current owner of the brand (SAIC Automotive) has for the past 13 years made massive strides forward in rising the MG phoenix from the ashes, developing a range of vehicles which are not only affordable but leading the way in new-energy technologies such as EV.

It’s in the spirit of making sporty, affordable, and innovative cars, that MG continues today. However, this new Cyberster does represent rather a gear-shift in terms of the products they’ve been selling thus far.

Born out of a 2017 sketch by Carl Gotham’s team at the MG SAIC London Design Studio in Marylebone, where the initial reaction was kind of “well, it’s lovely, but nobody really buys two-seater sportscars any more!”, the project was almost dropped several times during the COVID pandemic as all OEM’s felt the pressure of a global shutdown. However, they persevered and it led to the unveiling of a driving prototype (complete with working scissor doors) at Shanghai Motor Show in 2021. MG finalised the design in 2023, showing it off to crowds at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the July. It’s been a long gestation for the cars to make it into the hands of the public in September 2024. Has it been worth the wait?

Styling

MG has done a great job with the exterior of the Cyberster. It pays homage to some of the great British sportscars, without becoming a pastiche. The long bonnet, and indeed most of the side profile, owes much to the Jaguar F-Type. The rear haunches are similar to the Aston Martin DB9. There’s a whiff of McLaren about the headlights. Perhaps a tickle of Maserati here and there. And the scissor doors are reminiscent of Lamborghini. But yet, there’s a sense of individuality here. The wide lightbar stretching over the Kammback rear gives echoes of the movie TRON, due to over 500 LEDS making up the beam of red. The “arrow” lights are designed to mimic the Union Jack flag (don’t worry, they don’t light up as indicators all the way along like a Highways Agency wagon!). The gloss-black detailing along the top of the doors, and continuing around the rear of the hood helps to visually lower the car’s silhouette and make it look even more crouched than it already is. Overall, it’s rather a triumph.

Sitting on 20” staggered-width alloy wheels on the range-topping GT version (275/35R20 on the rear, 245/40R20 on the front), it looks very purposeful indeed (the Trophy has 275/40R19 and 245/45R19). The soft top, whether up or down, follows the lines of the car well – looking perfectly integrated into the design and not a Silver Cross pram-like canopy as you might have found on convertible models of yesteryear. In fact, the top is manufactured by Magna (who also make the roof for the BMW Z4, amongst many others). It can be operated up to 30mph, and takes around 10 seconds to fully lower or raise the roof by holding a button on the centre console.

The Trophy model has to make do with 19” alloy wheels. But visually, that’s the only difference between the two. All Cyberster models come with Brembo 4-pot calipers up front, as well as Pirelli P-Zero PZ4 tyres. MG hasn’t skimped on the equipment, despite having a price point which marks the entry-level for many ICE competitors.

MG Cyberster Interior and Practicality

The eye for design, and quality of materials used on the interior continues to impress. Swathes of Alcantara (suede) and “I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-leather” wrap the interior surfaces. Three LCD screens (2x 7” touchscreens, one 10.25” driver’s display) curve around the driver’s “cockpit”, with a further 7” vertical touchscreen located in the centre console. Haptic buttons for commonly used shortcuts (demister, heated rear window, hazard lights, temperature up/down, AC on/off, 360 cameras etc) are placed under the central air vent.

Both seats adjust for height, lumbar support, as well as recline and forwards/backwards. Both seats have two memory settings each (handy if you and your partner are mis-matched height-wise), and both have “easy access” mode to move the seat fully backward to aid entry/egress.

The boot is capacious (well, as far as they can be in a 2-seat drop-top), with enough room for a set off golfing sticks or a few cabin bags. It’s rated at 249 litres, which is almost double the F-Type’s 132 litres, and coincidentally exactly the same as a Volvo XC90 (when all 7 seats are up). The BMW Z4 manages to pip it slightly – that one has 281 litres of boot space. The MG’s boot does have the advantage of not being impinged by the roof stowage though, so it does mean that you can have the roof up or down without wondering if you’re about to squash something expensive in the luggage compartment.

Those scissor doors are actually more practical than you might think. Because they move upwards more than they move outwards, you can actually get in and out of the car easier in tight spaces than a normal car. The doors open out by less than 50cm (compared to about 1 metre for standard doors), and they have sensors on the sides, top, and bottom to ensure that they won’t hit obstacles whist moving electrically. They can be adjusted to open in a range of 30° to 76° (default opening height is 61°). They also look really cool – passers-by will always be stopping you to chat if they see the doors going up in a car park.

Performance and Driving

By default, the Cyberster launches up in “Comfort” mode. This means that the accelerator pedal mapping is more gentle, the steering is lighter, and in the GT it also means that it is rear-wheel drive (unless extra control is required for ESC/Traction Control purposes). If you pull the right hand steering wheel paddle towards you, it engages “Sport” mode. This alters the pedal map to “Sport” (basically, it’s more responsive), whilst also changing the steering feel to heavy. If you pull the paddle again, then it enters “Custom” mode, which can be adjusted in the centre screen to be either Comfort/Sport/Sport+ pedal mapping and Light/Comfort/Heavy steering (so you can either make it a track mode or an Eco mode depending on your preference). If you press the red “Super Sport” button on the steering wheel, then it basically makes it track-mode ready – Pedal set to Sport+, Steering to Heavy, All Wheel Drive, and it also turns the HVAC to Eco mode – to allow more power to be used for acceleration compared to normal.

If you’re in Sport or Super Sport mode, you can engage Launch Control simply by pressing the brake with your left foot, and accelerator with right foot. Once triggered, the dashboard displays a launch animation, and the vehicle will accelerate rapidly when you release the brake pedal. There’s no need for a specific launch button, or complicated sequence of events as you might have found with other performance cars. There’s also no limit to the number of times you can do this within the car’s lifetime (compared to say the BMW fitted with ZF 8-speed auto box, which has a 50 launch limit, after which it won’t shift through the gears as quickly). This is mainly due to the fact that EVs don’t have clutches or gears – so a simple reduction drive from motor to driveshaft ensures repeated high performance.

I’ll be honest, most of my time in the Cyberster has been spent in Comfort mode. Traffic, speed limits, and a general keenness to keep my driving licence unblemished (after earlier transgressions in my youth) mean that having a slightly more laid-back acceleration, and lighter steering feel is actually preferable. Particularly on longer journeys – when the Speed Adjusting Cruise Control with Active Lane Keeping is brilliant on the motorway.

Taking the Cyberster onto a flowing A- or B-road however, does give the opportunity to test your inner helmsman. A quick pull of the right hand paddle, and you’re in Sport mode, and the character of the car changes. It goes from lovable Labrador to athletic Collie, sprinting down the road rather than jogging. This isn’t a light car (1985kg in GT-guise), but the 50:50 weight distribution, and lower centre-of-gravity than an Aston Martin Vanquish means that it clings to the road with grip levels that have to be experienced to be believed. The Brembo’s can bring you from 60mph to zero in just 33 metres (the Highway Code says that should be more like 55 metres!), so you find yourself with extra confidence in allowing for more “spirited” driving.

The double-wishbone front suspension keeps body roll in check, and the multi-link rear suspension also does well to soak up the worst of the rough road surfaces. It’s not crashy and taught like the Boxster – it has a suppleness which makes this more of a GT than a sports car. All the better for those of us wanting to have a mid-life crisis without the back pain.

With the roof up, exterior noise is remarkably well controlled – the hood has 3 layers to it, meaning it’s well insulated both for heat and noise. With the roof down, you can hear more noise (obviously), but unless you’re over 6ft tall you won’t feel particularly buffeted by the wind. The sensation of top-down motoring is something quite different, if you’ve not experienced it before. You don’t necessarily have to be driving quickly to enjoy it though – there’s a lot to be said for taking your time, taking the road less travelled, and enjoying those few days where the British weather gets its act together and sunlight dapples your face.

Range and Charging

The WLTP figure for the Trophy RWD version is 316 miles, with the GT AWD coming in at 276 miles. My own experience with the GT is that I drove 220 miles from North Yorkshire down to Wiltshire, mainly on the motorway on cruise control with the roof up, and arrived with 15% remaining (averaging 3.5 miles/kWh). So I’d say 240-250 miles is more likely in that real-world scenario.

Driving around with the roof down on a cool Autumn day, using Sport mode (the way it was intended!) and with HVAC set to 25°c to keep you warm, you’ll see the efficiency tumble to around 2 miles/kWh – translating to around 150 miles off a full charge.

When you do need to charge, it has the standard 7kW Type 2 socket for AC charging overnight at home (taking around 12 hours from flat-to-full), or 145kW CCS rapid DC charging capabilities meaning that longer journeys can be completed with a 38 minute splash-and-dash from 10-80%.

But then, this isn’t the sort of car that you’re likely to want to drive non-stop for very long distances (although it’s very comfortable, even after I spent 8 and a half hours driving cross-country in it as you can see in the video above). Certainly, it can be used as a daily driver fairly guilt-free due to the zero emissions nature of the drivetrain, and it does make every drive feel like an event. The theatre of the doors on entry, the way it just looks SO good when parked up, the stares from pedestrians as you swoop by in this near-silent cruiser… it just feels special.

Price and Equipment

£60,000 – that’s a lot of money for an MG, when the rest of their model range sits more around the £20-35k mark – but this one does feel drastically different to the other models in the showroom. When you compare it against other 2-seater convertibles from the German marques (Porsche Boxster, BMW Z4) it looks like a veritable bargain. £60k on either of those two would only just get you into their entry-level model. Think 2 litre petrol engine, less than 300bhp, 18 inch wheels and no options.

Here, MG are giving us Brembo brakes as standard, Bose sound system as standard, heated alcantara seats as standard, heated steering wheel as standard… and of course over 500bhp, 0-62mph in 3-and-a-bit seconds, and did we mention it’s also fully electric? Aren’t EVs supposed to be much more expensive than their petrol-powered rivals? MG mustn’t have got that memo.

Final Verdict

The MG Cyberster is seen by some as a return to the marque’s roots - making sportscars which are attainable by those on more modest incomes. But if you take off the rose-tinted glasses, and forget the 100 years of MG brand nostalgia, does it still make sense as a car you’re buying in the 21st century?

At the moment, it sits alone in a class of one. Nobody else is making an electric two-seater convertible, and when they do (Boxster EV due next year) they’re tipped to cost 50% more than the MG.

Sure, you can get a Tesla Model 3 Performance for similar money. But that looks identical to all the other rep-mobiles traipsing up and down the motorway. It doesn’t have the flair for design, the stunning looks, nor does it have the ability to wow people just by opening the door. It does have a couple of extra seats though, so if you’ve got kids it’s probably the smarter choice. But since when did people buy drop-tops because they’re the smart choice?

This is a car you buy with your heart. And mine is singing “Buy the Cyberster” as loud as it can. But because it happens to be fully electric, it only costs me £4 to charge overnight at home, and benefit in kind is as cheap as it gets, so it makes a sensible choice as a company car. It’s got a 7 year warranty too. So I’ve got the best of both worlds – a mid-life-crisis car for the cost conscious people who want to do their bit for the planet. Win-Win.