MG’s new, electric sports car is here, and it’s a chonker
Whatever your thoughts on the styling, name, or powertrain, isn’t it refreshing to read about a new car that isn’t a crossover? The MG badge means you’ll more likely than not have your opinions on this electric convertible, dubbed the Cyberster.
As expected—and indeed, as its concept version previewed last year—the MG Cyberster is an all-electric sports car with two seats and a retractable roof, and has just been officially unveiled at the Shanghai auto show.
While we might associate MG with small and nimble sports cars of the past, the Cyberster is significantly larger than that. At 14.8 feet long, 6.3 feet wide, and 4.4 feet high, the MG is longer, wider and taller than the current Mazda MX-5—in fact, it’s more like a 992-chassis Porsche 911, which is still shorter, narrower and lower than the MG.
At 4078 to 4376 pounds, depending on the specification, it’s 1600 pounds heavier than a Mazda MX-5, give or take a bag or two of sugar. That too eclipses the 911, the heaviest of which is around 3748 pounds. It is, to use the modern vernacular, a bit of a chonker, and the culprit is, as usual, that electric powertrain.
The Cyberster will be available in both single- and dual-motor guises, with outputs ranging from 309 hp to 536 hp. The top speed is 124mph, while the 0-to-62-mph time is likely to be very quick. Range, like that of other MG models, should be pretty decent, though full battery details haven’t yet been confirmed.
When the Cyberster arrives in 2024, it’ll be the company’s first new two-seater sports car since the ’90s MG F (driven here) and later TF (2002–5). Neither was sold in the States. The British-built TF re-emerged in 2008 as the LE500, with a new nose, interior tweaks, new suspension and brakes, and a 1796-cc engine configured for Euro 4 emissions standards.
While the car will likely be built in China, it’s been designed in London, at the brand’s studio in Marylebone, in London. Advanced Design Director, Carl Gotham, said the company’s intention was to “create a design that was respectful of the brand’s illustrious past and to bring back that sporting bloodline,” hinting at the disappearance of a proper MG sports car with the LE500 more than a decade ago. At the same time, the shape is “modern and forward-facing like the MG of today, completely in-tune with the rapid transition to electric vehicles.”
In an earlier teaser video, shown below, the Cyberster appeared with scissor doors, a Tesla-style steering yoke, and an electrically operated folding roof. The doors and electric folding roof are present and correct on the car in Shanghai, but while no full interior views have been shown, it looks like the steering wheel is at least conventional for now.
While the weight and size are something of a disappointment—making it more of a serious sports car than a spiritual successor to the MGF—MG’s recent products have been competitive, well-priced, and even good fun. If MG can replicate those brand characteristics in a sports car, we might be in for a treat—something we’ll discover when it arrives in the U.K. in summer 2024.
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Via Hagerty UK
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Please, could you just include the dimensions also in cm and the weight in kg, it hurts using my brain on a Sunday afternoon.
Looks good to me.
What’s a chonker???? Great , a british made Miata.
My first “New” car was an 1962 MGA, 1600. Purchased in Beaverton, Oregon. I was just starting my Career in the U.S. Coast Guard as a Seaman Recruit (E-1) and Retired in 1982 as Commander (O-5). During that period I owned (2) Austin Healey (3,000), a Porsche, Cadillac SRX, and currently an Infinity. Have never had more fonder driving Memories than the MGA, and now planning to return as my Final Drive to an MG. Glad to have the upcoming opportunity.