It takes a lot to impress the country’s juggernaut drivers, but three of them sounded their loud horns and gave me a thumbs-up as they drove the remarkable new all-electric MG Cyberster GT, a true supercar for the people.
With the roof up or down, this sleek and sporty high-tech convertible is proof that the legendary British MG brand is still loved in the UK and beyond – even though the company, currently celebrating its centenary, has been in Chinese hands for almost 20 years.
I share that weakness for MG, having run the beloved MG Midget in my early years as a journalist.
Red alert: The stylish MG Cyberster has plenty of punch on the road and accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.2 seconds
But the new Cyberster is in a different class. And fun. It may only be a two-seater, but it’s big and full of surprises.
First there are the two scissor doors that go up at the push of a button. Then there is the sparkling performance.
Boy, can that gear shift. Rolling on 20-inch alloy wheels, the flagship 503bhp dual-motor, all-wheel-drive GT model I drove around motorways and back roads sprinted from a standstill to 62mph in just 3.2 seconds – that’s supercar-level oomph and 0.2 seconds quicker than a Ferrari Roma Spider.
Top speed is 125mph and the 77kW battery gives it a good range of up to 276 miles. Prices for my flagship GT start at £59,995.
There are four driving modes: Comfort, Custom, Sport and Track (with the driver assistance features removed and this mode for track use only).
There’s even a red ‘Super Sport’ boost button on the steering wheel. By changing the brake resistance, one-pedal driving becomes a relaxing option.
The less powerful 340bhp Trophy version starts at £54,995, sprints from 0-62mph in five seconds and has an increased range of 322 miles.
The fully electric fabric hood opens in 15 seconds at speeds of up to 48 km/h.
It was lovely to sit in the sun and it was fine with the hood down when there was a huge flood on the highway. It felt like I was driving through a car wash.
There is a decent, but low, luggage space of 249 litres.
Electric cars can be a challenge for long journeys, so I took my Cyberster Grand Tourer on a 450-mile round trip test drive from Surrey to just south of Liverpool. It was a positive experience.
I set off with a fully charged battery from my home charger and stopped once at a public charging station on the way north and twice on the way back south. At each charging station it took 40 minutes to charge the battery to 80 percent. I also stopped for a cup of coffee.
The cockpit-like driver’s area has three wraparound screens – a 10.25-inch driver display flanked by two 7-inch displays – but the steering wheel covers part of the navigation screen.
The ‘MG Pilot’ package’s safety and driver assistance features include lane change and lane keeping, adaptive cruise control and blind spot detection.