MG Cyberster 2025 review

Regardless of what you think of its products, you have to admire the commitment and focus of the engineers, designers, marketers and product planners behind the contemporary MG Motor company.

Without the Chinese stepping in to salvage the embattled MG Rover Group in 2005, this formerly British sporting marque would’ve undoubtedly followed Rover, Austin, Morris, Triumph, Wolseley, Riley and Standard, among others, to an inevitable demise. But MG has survived, and indeed thrived in its current iteration.

Perhaps the best example of that is MG’s most exclusive, and most obscure, new model – the Cyberster electric roadster. Launching just in time to celebrate the brand’s 100th birthday, the Cyberster has a radically different focus from MG’s other new-gen models filling its Australian showrooms.

Where the all-new MG 3, HS and just-launched new-generation ZS have considerable ground to make up from their depressingly ordinary predecessors, the Cyberster is defiantly its own thing.

Not only is it a two-seat roadster with a six-figure price-tag, it’s also all-electric and all-wheel drive – placing it in a niche to end all niches.

While it celebrates the belated return of MG to a category it once dominated, the Cyberster isn’t a rose-tinted-glasses nod to the past. It’s a statement for what the brand is capable of, and a deliberate attempt at subverting expectations of what an MG roadster should be – kinda like what the mid-engined MGF did in 1995, though on a whole new level.

Not only is the roadster market pretty much extinct in 2024, but no manufacturer has ever attempted an AWD electric two-seater before…

Australia only gets the flagship Cyberster GT (in spec, if not in name), sporting dual electric motors, a 77kWh battery embedded in its floor, and combined power and torque figures of 375kW and 725Nm.

MG says the all-paw Cyberster is good for 0-100km/h in a searing 3.2sec, effortlessly overcoming its 1910kg mass, though that figure is clearly boosted by the Cyberster’s launch control.

However, that feature wasn’t working on our test car – the electrical system needed a control-alt-delete after having the 12-volt battery run flat several times during a car show the previous week – and the resultant pause off the line before harnessing all the electronics didn’t feel 3.2sec-to-100 quick, though still impressively rapid.

Other markets also get a 250kW/475Nm rear-drive Trophy variant, which would provide a more affordable and potentially sweeter entry point to the line-up. With a 0-100km/h claim of 5.0sec, a weight reduction to 1825kg, a range increase to 509km (WLTP), and a likely sub-$100K price-tag, it seems like a no-brainer, though I’m getting way ahead of myself.

What both variants share is a head-turning presence. I quite liked the styling in photos, but in the flesh the MG Cyberster looks suitably sleek and has great proportion.

The Union Jack-inspired tail-lights (apparently) are really striking and the neat cloth roof design makes the Cyberster appear naturally classy either lid up or topless – particularly our test car in English White (it’s light beige) with a light-burgundy roof.

Yet it’s the scissor doors that receive all the attention. There are five different ways to open them – via the keyfob, a pushbutton on the outer window sill, a pair of buttons on the lower door trim, large switches at the base of the centre console, and a pair of manual levers on the rear bulkhead in case the electronics are out to lunch.

They work smoothly and effectively, with a pair of sensors outside to prevent the door from hitting anything, though they’re also a textbook example of form over function.

If you love a bit of theatre then you’ll love what they bring, yet apart from an improvement in opening depth in tight spaces, regular doors would make getting in and out easier.

Inside, the Cyberster has personality and a classy feel. The Alcantara-clad electric seats are comfortable (though there’s no dedicated under-thigh adjustment, via Mercedes-style buttons on the doors), the colour-coded steering wheel looks and feels great.

The digital HVAC screen (which shares functionality space with all car-related functions) is easy to learn and impressively simple to operate.

As for the three upper screens creating a driver’s ‘cockpit’, the angled outer pair are blocked by the steering wheel, meaning you need to crane your head to see them properly. However, for the most part, the graphics and ease of operation show the Chinese are progressively learning that less equals more.

This is MG’s most intuitive dashboard interface yet, though the addition of the console touchpad to the already brightly coloured multi-screen format makes for an appearance that’s you hardly call minimalist.

Storage is modest but useful. There’s a little cubby at the bottom of each door that’s disguised by a flap, a pair of cupholders in the centre tunnel that can be closed off to create a flat shelf, and a larger area behind the seats with netted storage on the bulkhead.

The electrically folding cloth roof, which operates with swift smoothness, also takes up a modest amount of space, leaving a flat-floored 249 litres of boot volume, roof up or down.

Lowering the electric roof also creates unlimited space, with the windscreen positioned well ahead of the driver and plenty of roof around the pedestal side mirrors for unimpeded vision.

The Cyberster feels like a natural convertible, and provides impressive roof-down insulation when the side windows are raised, though its driving position takes a little getting used to.

Because of the batteries in the floor, the seat mounting is slightly higher than ideal, though I found my 178cm frame became used to having the backrest raked to compensate. Unlike vintage MG roadsters, you don’t sit on the floor in the Cyberster.

As for the driving aspect, the Cyberster is impressively slick. It takes the dynamic benchmark that the MG4 created for the brand and elevates that even further, offering a smoothly polished, but also involving and powerful driving experience that does a terrific job in blending all its systems and tech together nicely.

Sadly, that was without the ‘KERS’ regenerative braking working in our test car. It’s usually activated via the left steering-wheel flap but, as mentioned, our test car’s electronics needed a reset.

The MG’s regular brakes feel strong (big ventilated discs with Brembo front calipers), its tyres grip hard (Pirelli P Zero – 245/40R20 front, 275/35R20 rear) and its overall handling balance feels poised, adjustable (as it divides torque between the front and rear axles) and engaging.

This may not be your traditional lightweight roadster – at 1910kg kerb weight, it’s 858kg heavier than an MX-5 GT RS manual! – but as Australia’s only electric AWD two-seat drop-top, the Cyberster has its own dynamic DNA and unique appeal.

While the dampers are fixed-rate, the steering and Drive Modes each offer three settings, though simply leaving the Cyberster in Comfort mode is satisfying enough 90 percent of the time.

Its steering may not offer much in the way of true feel – the weightier Sport setting mitigates this to a degree – but its turning circle is tight, the gearing is relatively quick and when you ask for extra steering lock in a corner, the Cyberster responds by turning in harder.

Unless you’re a genuine purist (who will have already choked reading the MG’s weight penalty over Mazda’s iconic roadster), there’s a lot to like about the way the Cyberster handles.

Its ride isn’t quite as polished, given that it doesn’t have adaptive dampers, so pushing hard on a bumpy road produces lots of movement. But body control is impressively strong, as is the MG’s structural strength, and there’s little to criticise about the Cyberster’s demeanour around town. Given that it’s a soft-topped roadster wearing 20-inch wheels, that’s no mean feat.

Its driveability, too, is really impressive. Lovely, linear accelerative response and a finessed feel indicates MG spent a lot of time and money fine-tuning this mobile brand statement, because there’s nothing light-switch about the way the Cyberster drives.

Even stomping on the accelerator gives this urgent build in thrust, which further enhances the Cyberster’s polished feel. In this regard, it feels like it could be worth a six-figure sum.

Arguably the weakest link in the Cyberster’s credentials is its charging speed. It’ll only take a maximum of 144kW DC charging, meaning a 10 to 80-percent charge time of 40 minutes – or about 10 minutes longer than what would otherwise be ideal.

Its WLTP range claim is 443km, which is acceptable, and our test car showed it was hovering around the 420km mark for total distance, which isn’t bad given it was being ‘tested’ and not just driven.

In this regard, perhaps the rear-drive Trophy’s 509km WLTP range potential would be better-suited to Australia’s big distances…

On the whole, though, the MG Cyberster deserves praise. It’s distinctively handsome, unique and undoubtedly rare and these are all things that add to a sports car’s allure.

Yet it’s also amusingly rewarding to drive, with a sophistication and finesse that show MG knows what it’s doing when it puts in the effort.

As a statement vehicle for the MG brand, the Cyberster scores. It’s a brave and theatrical design that really stands out, for the right reasons.

Whether it also manages to appeal to sports-car purists willing to pay $115K-plus for one is another thing, though at the very least, anyone who buys a Cyberster is likely to have the only one in their neck of the woods. And that exclusivity means something.