The only e-roadster
MG Cyberster: That’s why we’re celebrating this roadster!
Rarely has the curiosity about a car been so great: is the MG Cyberster a beautiful dazzler or at least nearly as good as it looks? In short: it is. And it's so good that it's something like the automotive surprise of the year, summarizes "Krone" motoring editor Stephan Schätzl here in the video driving report.
After all, MG - which has been owned by the Chinese SAIC Group for 17 years - has also gained a new reputation in our country in recent years as a supplier of cheap cars for not too high demands. SAIC certainly didn't buy MG to keep an automotive niche alive or to build it up, but to make money on a grand scale. Or so we thought.
And then they come up with the MG Cyberster for the 100th anniversary of the brand. And with Lamborghini-like scissor doors. It is the only electric roadster ever, and the only real electric convertible this side of the Maserati GranCabrio Folgore, which costs more than three times as much with comparable acceleration.
However, the MG is significantly smaller, although not as small as one might expect: at 4.54 meters long and 1.91 meters wide, it not only towers over the Mazda MX-5, but also the BMW Z4 and Porsche Boxster, for example.
Lots of space, top workmanship
Vegan leather comes as standard in the interior - and the materials are of an impressively high quality. Everything looks good and feels good, and the workmanship is top-notch. The driver sits in a cockpit that really embraces him. The sports seats are comfortable and offer lateral support. The Cyberster also offers plenty of space: a large glove compartment, a useful folding compartment and two cup holders between the seats, with storage space behind them.
And the trunk, which extends far below the soft-top compartment, holds 249 liters, regardless of whether the roof is open or closed. By comparison, the Maserati only has between 114 and 151 liters, depending on the position of the soft top (but it has four seats), while the Z4 has 281 liters.
A bit much display area ...
The interior takes some getting used to, despite the fine design and workmanship. The Cyberster lives up to its name here, as it is a combination of Cyber and Roadster. The driver looks at four displays. One is embedded in the center console and is responsible for the climate control and assistance systems, among other things. Behind the steering wheel is a unit consisting of a 10.25-inch speedometer display and two flanking seven-inch touchscreens. However, the side ones are almost completely covered by the steering wheel rim.
On the left, you operate the navigation system, either the standard on-board version or via Apple CarPlay/Android/Auto (both wired). The real purpose of the right-hand screen was not clear to us. It may be possible to access the functions of the left-hand screen on the right in future. This would also make Google Maps navigation easier due to the screen layout. Incidentally, the MG is not capable of route planning with automatically integrated charging stops.
Driving modes can be called up either via the display or (more practically) with the right-hand steering wheel paddle, while the left-hand paddle switches between three recuperation modes. The one-pedal drive, on the other hand, has to be set on the display.
The controls are something of a weakness of the MG Cyberster. Overall, it is not fully thought through and perhaps offers a few too many options, but it is manageable with a little familiarization. On the positive side, there are real buttons and joysticks on the center console and steering wheel that respond well.
At night, the many colorful lights are no fun - they are reflected in the side window. But not in front of the exterior mirror - the driver's feet are reflected here, illuminated by the infinitely adjustable ambient lighting.
You have to go into the menu to deactivate the obligatory forced assistants. But they remain deactivated even if you stop briefly and even get out if you don't lock the vehicle.
Drives: powerful and even more powerful
There are two drive variants: the Trophy is a 250 kW/340 hp and 475 Nm rear-wheel drive model, while the GT (called XPower in Germany) is an all-wheel drive model which, with an additional front engine, delivers a total of 375 kW/510 hp and a mighty 725 Nm. At 1885 and 1985 kg respectively (without driver), they are not quite light, but in no way cumbersome. The Trophy accelerates from 0 to 100 in 5.0 seconds, the GT we drove takes just 3.2 seconds and runs at 200 km/h (5 faster than the Trophy).
It is not quite as fast when charging. A net 74 kWh battery sits between the 2.69 meter apart axles, providing a WLTP range of 443 or 507 kilometers. At the fast charger, it draws a maximum of 144 kW and takes 38 minutes from 10 to 80 percent. It charges with 11 kW DC.
Driving experience like in the premium class
A good roadster stands and falls with its handling - and the MG Cyberster is no slouch here. However, if you're expecting a go-kart-like scurry around the corners like in a Mazda MX-5 (half the weight), you're mistaken, because the Cyberster is not a tough sports car but, according to the manufacturer, is designed as a Gran Turismo and therefore also committed to comfort.
Well, "comfortable" in most Chinese cars often means spongy, soft and tending to bounce when you take it faster. The steering is usually numb. The MG also brilliantly destroys these negative expectations.
Double wishbones at the front and a five-link rear axle do not require adaptive dampers. Despite the low ground clearance of 11.5 cm (less than the BMW Z4 and Porsche Boxster), it is comfortable, absorbs bumps cleanly, but does not sacrifice its good road holding. It is also stable in fast bends. The steering is not too light and conveys a real feel for the road and road conditions. None of this has anything to do with what we have come to expect from current MGs. This is a very high standard, even among very different (and expensive) competitors.
The brakes are from Brembo and, despite recuperation blending, they are not irritating, even when cornering at speed, as we experienced on mountain roads above Nice.
Acceleration is the fun part to sprinkle on top. To access the full power, you have to switch to S-Sport with the red button on the steering wheel, then up to 725 Nm can be applied to all four wheels, but the power is easy to control and the vehicle is easy to handle at all times. The ESP has a sport mode that allows a relatively large amount of power, including slight cooling in the event of carelessness.
The prices
The pricing scheme is simple: there is only full equipment, including adaptive cruise control, lane guidance, various assistants, 360-degree camera, etc. The Bose sound system is also always included, but cannot quite keep up with the other qualities of the roadster. The main differences between the Trophy and GT are the drive system and one inch of alloy wheels - 19 inches on the Trophy, 20 inches on the GT.
The base price is 59,990 euros, i.e. 54,590 euros minus the e-car subsidy. The all-wheel drive model is 8,000 euros more expensive and costs 67,990 and 62,590 euros respectively. The only extras: paint colors (990 euros, except ivory white), a wine-red instead of black soft top (790 euros) and there is still room for investment in the interior. Black/grey in artificial leather/fabric is standard, red/black costs 790 euros - or 1500 euros if you prefer the combination of artificial leather and Dinamica (a suede-like microfiber fabric), as in the test car shown here.
Driving citation
The MG Cyberster is not only the only electric roadster, it is also a very good electric roadster. It has a creative but not overly playful design, extremely good handling, top workmanship and a very high-quality interior. Only the operating system with the four displays is not quite as well thought out and the charging performance could be a little better.
Overall, the convertible created in MG's London design studio under Carl Gotham and produced in Shanghai offers much more than one would generally have expected. And the scissor doors also make it an "MGini"!
Wait a minute, there's more!
Last summer, MG also presented the study of a coupé version. Just as beautiful as the Cyberster, but not yet officially approved as a production model. But if SAIC is already investing in the Cyberster and it is so well-designed, it would be almost unusual if they were to pass up this opportunity to further polish their image. In times when more and more emotionless cars are coming onto the road, we long for such fun and design-oriented vehicles. Great class with style.
Why?
Wonderful design
Great workmanship
Top driving behavior
Why not?
Operation takes some getting used to
Or perhaps ...
... well, the MG Cyberster is practically unrivaled as an electric convertible, apart from the Maserati.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.