MG Cyberster review

Introduction

In some ways the MG Cyberster represents a wistful gaze back at the brand’s glory days. That’s because this is a convertible two-seat sports car (or roadster, if you prefer) – just like the MGA, MGB and MGF.

On the other hand, the Cyberster is thoroughly modern in concept. It looks very different to anything in MG’s back catalogue (there’s no retro styling here), has a name that could have been chosen by Elon Musk and – most importantly of all – is a fully electric car.

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Available now from: £52,490

RRP from: £55,245

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What Car? indicative Personal lease example (subject to status)

77kWh Trophy Convertible 2dr Electric Auto (340 ps)

Expected annual mileage	5000
Term months	60
Deposit months	12
Monthly payment	£753.99
Initial payment	£9,047.88

Step-by-step

Leasing works a bit like a long-term rental. You drive it, but you don’t own it.

• Choose your car, pick your terms and apply for lease credit online
• Pay monthly rental payments for your chosen term length
• Drive it, enjoy it, then give it back at the end

What you get

When you lease with Autotrader you get all of this:

• Full manufacturer’s warranty
• Road tax and roadside assistance included
• No admin fees
• Free returns within 30 days*

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£9,048 initial payment, 60 month contract, 5000 miles p/a. Subject to status and conditions.

• Lower total monthly cost than PCP/HP
• No balloon payments
• Road tax included

The fact that it’s an electric vehicle (EV) makes it tricky to position, because right now there are no other battery-powered roadsters for us to compare with the Cyberster. A new electric Porsche Boxster is on the way in 2025 though, and we’re crossing fingers that the much-delayed Tesla Roadster will eventually go into production.

MG Cyberster video review

Then again, if you just want a sporty convertible car and don’t care too much whether it’s powered by electricity or petrol, indirect rivals to the Cyberster include the BMW Z4 and the existing Porsche Boxster.

Read on to find out how we rate the MG Cyberster against the best sports cars...

What’s new?
- April 2024: Cyberster now available to order. Two versions are available: the single-motor Trophy, which produces 335bhp, and the flagship dual-motor GT, which generates 496bhp and can sprint from 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds
- June 2023: MG Cyberster makes world debut at Goodwood Festival of Speed

Overview

With no direct rivals, the MG Cyberster is a genuinely unique – but far from perfect – all-electric sports car. We think the cheaper Trophy version is the most appealing, with plenty of performance without the need to go for the ridiculously rapid 503bhp GT.

Our pick

77kWh Trophy Convertible 2dr Electric Auto (340 ps) review

RRP £55,245

Pros

• Practical for a two-seater
• GT is savagely quick
• Very well equipped

Cons

• Petrol alternatives are more agile
• Clunky infotainment system
• Fidgety ride quality

Our pick

77kWh Trophy Convertible 2dr Electric Auto (340 ps) review

RRP £55,245

Trims available

---

Trophy

This trim is available only with a single electric motor driving the rear windows. There's plenty of standard kit.

GT

This trim is available only with two electric motors and a total of 503bhp. It comes with almost every conceivable luxury you can think of as standard.

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Performance & drive

What it's like to drive, and how quiet it is

The entry-level MG Cyberster is called the Trophy and has a 335bhp electric motor driving its rear wheels, giving it an official 0-62mph time of 5.0 seconds.

While a BMW Z4 M40i produces the same amount of power and is slightly quicker from 0-62mph (at 4.5 seconds), the Trophy has all the performance you need and eagerly gets up to motorway speed with little hesitation – especially when driven in its sharpest Super Sport drive mode.

The other option is the Cyberster GT, which has a second electric motor driving its front wheels and a total of 503bhp. Acceleration is properly brutal (0-62mph in 3.2 seconds) and will leave any BMW Z4 or Porsche Boxster for dead in a drag race.

Yet despite its savage performance, the Cyberster doesn’t feel like a hardcore sports car. That has a lot to do with the fact that the GT weighs almost two tonnes (the Trophy is around 100kg lighter), so it doesn’t change direction with the agility of most petrol-powered roadsters.

There’s more body lean than in the much lighter Boxster and it takes the Cyberster a bit more time to control its body movements when dealing with mid-corner bumps.

That said, you can still enjoy its relaxed demeanour and appreciate it as something more reminiscent of a grand tourer, because the Cyberster hangs on surprisingly well through fast corners and you cover ground quickly and trust the car to go where you point it.

While there’s more nose dive under braking, stopping power is strong and the brake-pedal response makes it easy to come to a halt smoothly, despite the regenerative braking system working away.

The steering doesn’t exactly stream every nuance of the road surface to your fingertips but it’s accurate and weight builds up consistently as you turn in to bends. That gives you the confidence to drive the Cyberster quickly, and you’ll have fun doing so – just not as much as you would in, say, an Alpine A110 or a Boxster.

The suspension is relatively supple and smooths over bigger bumps and undulations fairly well. In short, you won’t wince your way along every bumpy road. That said, the Cyberster does shimmy around noticeably over minor road imperfections, especially at low speeds. While it’s something you’re aware of rather than annoyed by, it does take the edge off the car’s long-distance cruising ability.

This is, of course, an electric car, so you'll want to know how far you can actually cruise for before plugging in to charge. Well, that depends which version you go for. All Cybersters have the same 74.4kWh (usable capacity) battery, but the lighter and less-powerful Trophy has an official range of 316 miles, compared with 276 miles for the GT.

We haven’t put the Cyberster through our scientific real range tests yet but electric cars usually fall about 8% to 20% short of their official ranges in mild weather, assuming you’re taking it easy. Cold weather reduces the range.

With the roof down, you’re protected pretty well from the elements thanks to a standard wind deflector between the roll hoops. That is, unless you're more than about 5ft 10in because, if so, your head will probably be poking out into the turbulent air above.

Road noise remains low and the fabric roof has plenty of insulation to filter out noises from the outside world, so when you do drive with the roof up there’s mainly just a bit of wind noise fluttering by the frameless windows.

"I like that the paddles mounted on the back of the steering wheel are used to adjust the strength of the regenerative braking and cycle through the drive modes. It's a fun nod to the gear-shift paddles in petrol-powered cars." – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

Interior

The interior layout, fit and finish

Getting into the MG Cyberster is an event in itself because it involves pushing a button and watching the whole door pivot up electrically. The "scissor doors" – similar to those on some Mclaren car models – add plenty of drama, and also make it easier to get in and out if you're parked close to another car.

They are fairly slow to open though, so it’s a good thing you can also activate them using a key fob as you’re walking up to the car. And don’t worry: there are sensors to stop them uppercutting an innocent bystander or, indeed, you if you become distracted when standing near your Cyberster.

The driving position is relatively high by two-seat sports car standards but you sit closer to the road than you would in an average hatchback. The fully electric seats offer a good range of adjustment (including adjustable lumbar support) to help you get comfortable behind the wheel, although taller occupants might wish the seat base could be longer to provide better thigh support.

There’s a good chance you’ll find it difficult to see parts of the digital driver's display behind the steering wheel too. It consists of three screens – a 10.3in one directly behind the wheel, with a 7.0in touchscreen on either side, angled slightly towards the driver.

The trouble is, the outer two screens will, for some drivers, be obscured by the steering wheel, which is a pain if you're trying to follow the sat-nav directions on the one on the left.

Both the infotainment touchscreens are often slow to react to presses, and although you can use buttons on the steering wheel to scroll through functions, we didn’t find that a particularly intuitive experience.

A fourth screen lower down is used to control the air-conditioning, the heated seats and other functions, including ambient lighting and driver assistance settings. It's quicker to respond to prods than the other two but you do have to look quite far down and take your eyes off the road to use it.

More useful is a row of touch-sensitive icons mounted above it that gives haptic feedback, allowing you to adjust the interior temperature without using the screen (although we'd still prefer proper physical controls).

Interior quality is generally very impressive, with synthetic leather and suede adorning the dashboard and the insides of the doors. Plus, depending on the paint colour, you can choose between a grey or red interior colour scheme, and a black or red roof.

Talking of the roof, it folds down electrically at the touch of a button, and takes around 10 seconds to go from closed to fully open, or vice versa.

"I love watching the doors open upwards but it took a while to get used to the fact that the button that controls them is on the dashboard, not on the door." – Neil Winn, Deputy Reviews Editor

Passenger & boot space

How it copes with people and clutter

As a two-seater, the MG Cyberster is obviously never going to be the most practical car in the world. There’s enough head and leg room for a couple of tall people inside, along with lots of storage for their odds and ends.

To that end, you’ll find a couple of cupholders between the seats, pockets for your phone and wallet, a cubby under the centre armrest and a good-sized glove compartment. The door bins are small but covered by a lid to stop everything falling out of them when you open the scissor doors.

Behind the seats you’ll find a surprising amount of space for jackets and soft bags, and there’s plenty of netting to stop everything sliding around when you’re driving the Cyberster the way a sports car is supposed to be driven.

As for the boot size, it’s a respectable 249 litres (about the same size as a Kia Picanto boot). That's big enough for a week's shopping, luggage for a weekend away or even a small bag of golf clubs.

A BMW Z4 can carry more luggage, but the difference is small. The Porsche Boxster also has fractionally more luggage space overall, but that’s only when you factor in its second boot under the bonnet. Unlike some electric cars, the Cyberster does not have a front boot.

"I thought the Cyberster would be quite small but it’s actually slightly longer than a Jaguar F-Type so there’s plenty of room for front-seat occupants." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Buying & owning

Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is

The Cyberster is by far MG's most expensive car model. Indeed, it has a higher starting price than a Porsche Boxster – let alone a BMW Z4 – which might have you raising an eyebrow. Or two.

However, it’s important to remember that the entry-level Trophy is on a par in terms of performance with a more expensive top-spec Z4 M40i. It’s also worth noting that the Cyberster is likely to massively undercut forthcoming rival electric roadsters, including the electric Boxster and the Polestar 6.

Like all EVs, the Cyberster is particularly tempting for company car drivers paying BIK tax. That’s because it requires a much lower monthly salary sacrifice than any petrol alternative – even the much smaller and cheaper Mazda MX-5.

The Cyberster has a maximum charging speed of 144kW, which means it's possible to do a 10-80% charge in 39 minutes with a fast public charger.

You get heaps of standard equipment with the entry-level Cyberster Trophy, including automatic LED headlights, adaptive cruise control, heated seats, a heated steering wheel, keyless entry, ambient lighting. a wind deflector and an eight-speaker Bose sound system. The GT adds a larger 20in alloy wheel design (the Trophy gets 19in wheels).

The Cyberster is very well-equipped on the safety front, although at the time of writing no Euro NCAP safety report was available so we can’t tell you how well it's likely to protect you and your passenger if an accident can’t be avoided.

As for reliability, it's a bit of an unknown with the Cyberster but we can tell you that MG came bottom out of 31 brands in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. That's worrying – it's fortunate you get a competitive seven-year, 80,000-mile warranty in case anything does go wrong.

"There aren’t many options to choose from on the Cyberster – you simply pick the colour of the exterior paint, roof and interior upholstery." – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

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