Why I'm so excited for the MG Cyberster (but wish they'd change the name)

AutoElectric VehiclesWhy I’m so excited for the MG Cyberster (but wish they’d change the name)A resurgent MG is going after Porsche and Polestar with its new electric sports car, but the name needs a rethink.When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

A resurgent MG is going after Porsche and Polestar with its new electric sports car, but the name needs a rethink.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: MG)

MG Cyberster

(Image credit: MG)

The second reason MG’s Piccadilly dealer makes sense is its new electric sports car, called the Cyberster. I’ll come back to the name later, but for now this thing needs celebrating.

(Image credit: MG)

MG Cyberster

(Image credit: MG)

But every car company needs a flagship, so why not stick the MG badge on a two-seat convertible sports car with vertically-hinged doors (hello again, Lambo) and enough performance to rival the Germans? That’s exactly what the Cyberster is, and we’re told deliveries will begin in the UK this summer.

Any rivals? No, not really. Porsche’s electric Boxster is still wearing camouflage somewhere in the Arctic and isn’t due on sale until 2025, while the gorgeousPolestar 6won’t land until 2026 at the earliest. So if you want a convertible electric sports car right now, MG is your only option. Who saw that coming?

It’s a pretty thing, the Cyberster. Nothing is carried over from MG’s past, but that’s okay because this car is much larger than the dear old MG F. It’s also much, much more powerful. The dual-motor, all-wheel-drive variant produces over 500 horsepower and MG says it’ll crack 62 mph in 3.2 seconds, just like a McLaren F1. WLTP range from the 77 kWh battery is a claimed 277 miles, while a single-motor, rear-drive version should go even further, albeit with less power (335 bhp) and a 0-62 mph time of around five seconds. Still quick then, and most definitely not an electric rival to theMazda MX-5. MG has its sights set on far bigger targets, like Porsche.

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The Cyberster will likely be priced like a Porsche too, with even the single-motor version expected to cost around £60,000.

(Image credit: MG)

MG Cyberster

(Image credit: MG)

The dramatic doors of the Cyberster open and close electronically, and inside the driver is presented with four (count ‘em, four) digital displays. Three sit behind the steering wheel, while another is fitted to the centre console and handles the climate control.

Early reviews claim it drives as well as it looks, despite weighing a full two tonnes with a driver and passenger onboard. Buyers can thank Marco Fainello for that, the Italian who before tuning the Cyberster’s setup was head of vehicle dynamics for Ferrari’s F1 team during Michael Schumacher’s glory years. After that he transferred to Maranello’s road car division, where he was head of performance development and created the witchcraft that is Ferrari’s Side Slip Control system.

What’s in a name?

Safe to say, I’m very excited about the MG Cyberster…but I wish they’d change the name.

I at first thought it was Cybster, which drops a syllable and, in my opinion at least, is easier to say. But no, the Cyber prefix is what MG went for. Like theTesla Cybertruck, which will surely go down as the biggest automotive folly since the similarly steel-clad DeLorean DMC-12.

It’s a name that also, rather unfortunately, reminds me of how Donald Trump refers to cybersecurity as “the cyber”, and gamers will recall how the much-hyped Cyberpunk 2077 wasso comprehensively brokenat launch that buyers were offered a refund.

(Image credit: MG)

MG Cyberster

(Image credit: MG)

MG’s past is unfortunately full of literal, unexciting names like MGA, MGB, MGC and so on. A rekindling of the MG Midget isn’t going to work in 2024, and the Cyberster promises to be so much more than the MG F that a revival of the brand’s most recent sports car isn’t right either.

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