The MG Cyberster Isn't The Car You'd Expect – Maybe That's The Point

Forbes

6 days ago

The MG Cyberster is an electric, two-seat convertible sports car.
It was the tweeting of the birds that brought me to my senses. I was driving a gleaming red MG Cyberster from London down to the Goodwood Motor Circuit, earlier this year. The weather was perfect – sunny, clear, warm but comfortable – and although there was no major event being hosted at the circuit, I knew on a warm weekend there'd be plenty going on.
The roof was down and the wind was in my hair – but my ears were missing out. Normally such a scene would have them filled with the throaty roar of a modified vintage MG. Or, from another brand, they'd be tingling to the histrionics of a smooth V6, a baritone V8 or a frenzied V12. But today, nothing. The rush of wind and thrum of tire roar was punctuated, not by engine revs and tailpipe cackles, but by birdsong.
As I'm sure you already know, the MG Cyberster is electric. But where almost all other EVs have a design and character that sit in perfect harmony with smooth, silent, emissions-free driving, a car that looks and goes like the Cyberster seems at odds with itself.
At least, that was my first impression. Here is a car that looks fabulous, has doors that open upwards in dramatic fashion, and a folding canvas roof. The dual-motor GT version driven here is also properly quick, pushing 503 horsepower and 725 Nm of torque to all four wheels with such ferocity that 62 mph (100 km/h) is reached in 3.2 seconds. That's the same as a McLaren F1 from the 1990s, the top dog of my childhood, and actually 0.2 quicker than a brand-new Ferrari Roma.
The dramatic doors open and close electronically
It feels every bit as quick as the numbers suggest, despite weighing an awful lot more than you'd expect. It's around 4,400 lbs (2,000 kg), which is a huge amount for a two-seat roadster, let alone one with an MG badge on its nose. MG and its Chinese owner SAIC Motor Corporation clearly didn't have a feather-like kerb weight in mind, since those look-at-me doors are raised and lowered electronically, instead of using lighter gas struts.
Step inside – once the doors have heaved themselves open, which isn't the work of a moment – and the cabin is pleasant enough but lacks the wow-factor of the exterior. There's lots of plush-looking fabric, the steering wheel is nice to hold, and I quite like how the dashboard is angled towards the driver. Unfortunately though, the seating position is far too high. I am a short man, at around 5 '6, yet I was still shocked when the seat wouldn't go any lower.
Other ergonomic issues emerge when you look at the three digital displays behind the steering wheel. The central one is fine, but the outer two are almost entirely blocked by the steering wheel. During my few days with the Cyberster I had to shuffle around in the seat and peer around the wheel to see the left-hand navigation screen. The display runs Apple CarPlay, which is of course welcome, but the rest of MG's user interface is poor. Like many modern cars, it emits too many beeps and bongs, warning you as you drive along.
One repeatedly told me about nearby schools, even if I wasn't using the navigation (so presumably knew where I was going, and therefore where the schools were) and on weekends. The others – like a beep when you stray 1mph over the speed limit, or another when the car has misread a road sign and is wrong about the local limit – are common on all cars built for the European market since 2024. They can be turned off by diving into the touchscreen infotainment system, but reanimate every time the car is switched back on.
The interior looks good, but is let down by a high seating position and compromised ergonomics.
In short, the interior isn't great, but it's even more of a disappointment after the wonderful exterior. I gather Cybersters built for the Chinese market have an entirely different, and preferable, operating system. But, I imagine, since that system lacks CarPlay and Android Auto, Europe gets the lesser alternative.
The exterior also missells the way the Cyberster drives. It isn't a supercar, despite looking and accelerating like one. It actually rides quite nicely. You'll never fear scraping its chin over a speed bump, it isn't intimidatingly wide, and it's perfectly comfortable. The steering is a bit vague off-center, the creaky seats don't hold you particularly well, and the traction and stability control systems intervene abruptly.
But it flows, this car. It isn't here to rival a Porsche or lure you away from second-hand exotica – because at £59,995 ($82,000), it certainly could. Instead it exists to raise a smile without raising your heart rate. There's a clue in that birdsong earlier. Not only was there no exhaust note drowning it out, but there was no synthetic noise coming from the Cyberster either. MG could have added a bit of audible fizz to the background, or even gone all-in on a fake engine soundtrack like that of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. But instead it chose silence. It opted to build a car that looks sensational and will win almost every stop light Grand Prix, but is approachable, friendly and reasonably practical, thanks to a decent trunk.
After some lunch at Goodwood's aerodrome cafe, I got chatting to an MG aficionado. A pilot who owns several classic MGs. He was interested in the Cyberster but wanted to know if it could manage his commute up to Heathrow airport and back on a single charge. Yes, I said, MG claims the 74.4 kWh battery will do 276 miles on a good day, but you'll be looking at around 170 to 200 in the real-world. He was still interested because, to him, the MG badge on the nose of a two-seat convertible sports car was enough to keep him out of a Porsche or Alpine dealership. The idea of charging at home and slashing his commuting costs probably appealed too, of course.
Winning over a single MG enthusiast won't be enough to make the Cyberster a success. But it's probably a feat many thought would be impossible once MG went electric, yet on that sunny day at Goodwood, I was in constant conversation with potential customers.
On the drive home – sun still shining, roof firmly down – I realised this isn't a supercar to grab by the scruff of its neck. It's a cruiser. A sports car that harks back to a time when the joy of driving a stylish two-seat roadster was enough. Lap times and agility mattered far less because open-air motoring, in a car that was rare and unusual, is all that was needed to put a smile on your face. The Cyberster achieves this, and it's still one of vanishingly few convertible electric options. It isn't perfect, but MG should be applauded for trying something different. And if it gets the attention of classic MG owners? That's a win in my book.