MG Cyberster Test: Electric Sports Car - MotorTrend in China - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

MotorTrend Testing Director

Transcript

00:00We're in an MG Cyberster.

00:04This is an electric sports car made by a Chinese company wearing the badge of a 100-year-old

00:10British sports car company.

00:12This car is not a direct 911 competitor.

00:15We're using that 911 as a benchmark, the standard that it needs to meet, maybe.

00:20This vehicle is, though, about half the price of a Porsche 911.

00:23Let's do a launch.

00:240 to 60 in 3.2 seconds there, quarter mile in about 11.7 seconds, 11.6 seconds.

00:38The soundtrack is just bizarre.

00:41Sounds like it's straight out of a 1980s arcade game.

00:44There's not a ton of drama.

00:45It pulls from a stop, but not the way you'd think, given how much torque it makes.

00:50Doesn't feel like it's really jumping off the line like a lot of high-power Teslas do.

00:55Certainly doesn't feel as extensive as a Porsche 911, but you can also see how this might be

01:00designed more for a younger, more digital generation with this kind of three-instrument

01:06cluster.

01:07This is a convertible, of course.

01:09All right, we're at 92% battery.

01:10I think we started at 96%, and it got about a tenth of a second slower from the first

01:16to the second run.

01:17Let's see if it's starting to fade now, or what.

01:20Let's give it a launch.

01:24A little bit of torque there, 0 to 60 in about 3.1 seconds.

01:29It is quicker than a 911, has none of the world drama of a real 911, but you know, goes.

01:38That's what EVs do.

01:39All right, let's do some brake stops.

01:44I do not like the way the brake pedal feels.

01:47No action, no feedback, no nothing.

01:52You just don't feel like there's any connection to the car.

01:56This almost certainly has a brake-by-wire system, and I'm saying that just based solely

01:59on how this thing feels.

02:01There's no way you're stepping on anything other than kind of a simulated brake pedal.

02:08Something that's connected to a box that sends electronic signals to the brake booster to

02:12then push fluid to the calipers.

02:14The brake stops in this MG Cyberster are longer by about five feet in the MG Cyberster compared

02:20to a Porsche 911.

02:21I'm sure weight has a lot to do with that.

02:24Tires could be a factor as well.

02:26All right, let's do it from 100.

02:35I will admit to being a little bit nervous braking from 100 miles per hour in this car.

02:41I'm just hoping that everything stays bolted together.

02:45There's a Super Sport button on the steering wheel.

02:47If you push it, it does not activate Super Sport mode, it activates Track mode.

02:51So we're in Track mode.

02:52We've got traction control and ESC off, maybe.

02:57Overcooked that one a little bit.

02:58Got a brake earlier.

02:59Remember, it's an EV, it's quick.

03:02Chassis builds-wise, it's not atrocious.

03:05I shouldn't say not atrocious, it's okay.

03:08Not responsive to brake and throttle.

03:12I will say there's nothing about the steering that makes me love it.

03:17It is very much the epitome of everything we dislike about bad electric power steering

03:23systems.

03:26So I am about a full second slower in this car, which is quicker zero to 60 than I was

03:35in the 911, around the figure eight, right?

03:39Low stability control intervention there.

03:42So I've got traction control off, but not stability control.

03:46And as far as I can tell, you can't turn off stability control.

03:49I had some locals help me with that.

03:51All right, let's do two more.

03:54Nowhere near as neutral as the Porsche.

03:56You're not really having to worry about oversteering this car.

04:02It will a little bit if you really provoke it, but doesn't require balancing on the edge

04:09like the 911 does.

04:11I'm almost exactly one second slower in this car around the figure eight course than I

04:17was in the Porsche 911.

04:19And that's kind of amazing because this car was almost a half second quicker zero to 60.

04:24So it's a grip issue, maybe a confidence issue, a balance issue a little bit, handling, quality.

04:32So yeah, it's what you'd expect almost.

04:35The EV is quicker in a straight line, but I can't manage the Porsche in terms of handling,

04:40in terms of braking, and certainly not in the sense of driving experience.

04:45It's nowhere near as fun.

MG Cyberster Test: Electric Sports Car - MotorTrend in China

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended