The second premium offering from MG Select dealerships is Cyberster, which is launched in India for an introductory starting price of Rs 74.99 lakh (Ex-sh). Rs 72.49 (Ex-sh) if you had pre-booked this vehicle. With Cyberster’s pricing, MG seems to have hit a homerun. We say this because there’s not a single 2-Door sportscar in India (or probably even the world) that offers this much performance and this much sauce at this price point.
The next most affordable vehicle in India with scissor doors costs Rs 6 fricking Crore rupees (Ex-sh). The next most affordable sportscar in India that can sprint from 0-100 km/h in 3.2s costs around Rs 2.8 Cr (Ex-sh). MG Cyberster is basically making supercar performance accessible at luxury car price. So, is the just launched MG Cyberster “Too Good To Be True” or is it “Too Good and True”? We experienced Cyberster at Buddh International Circuit F1 race track in Greater Noida to tell you just that.
MG Cyberster First Drive Review – Design
Starting with the way it looks, MG Cyberster is an achingly pretty car encapsulating the charm of bygone MG B Roadster. It turns heads no matter where you are and has a lot of “take out your smartphone and pap me” appeal. Especially when the electric scissor doors are up, makes it look sensational and an absolute style statement radiating its aura to visible range. The Red soft-top on Andes Grey and Modern Beige colours look particularly lovely. Long story short, it looks enchanting.
Coming to what makes this vehicle enchanting, we have a long sweeping bonnet, a stylish bumper with Active Aero, expressive Storm-eye LED projector headlight setup with integrated LED DRLs, lovely 20-inch alloy wheels that creates an interesting pattern when moving, swooping and curvaceous side body profiling, Kammback tail design, rear bumper with a diffuser and interesting arrow-shaped LED connected tail light signature.
While the overall aesthetics is head-turning, one might find that the rear tail lights are a tad over-designed, which does not match the rest of Cyberster’s otherwise lovely design. But it may grow on you. The soft-top roof is made of durable fabric which is weather resistant and the mechanism takes just around 10 seconds to go up or down and functions as advertised at speeds up to 50 km/h.
Supercar-like Interiors
Press the electric Scissor door release button and it opens into a futuristic cabin. Interiors of MG Cyberster take a lot of pages from supercars around the world. It does not look and feel like a Rs 75 lakh (Ex-sh) vehicle at all. It is just as plush and tech-loaded as a multi-crore supercar. We particularly liked the Y-shaped leather seats which had suede-finish inlays. These seats are electrically adjustable with controls on the doors.
Once seated, you are greeted by a proper driver-oriented supercar-like cockpit with a triple screen setup that falls in driver’s peripheral vision at all times. Driver and co-passenger areas are separated with a physical barrier which also houses grab handle for passenger to grab during spirited drives. These seats hug you tightly and hold you in place and a centre armrest offers comfort. Centre console has a couple of cupholders if you fancy hot or cold beverages.
Centre console also houses a 7-inch portrait-style control screen with finer HVAC controls and there is a row of quick buttons with haptic feedback for HVAC controls as well. Next to this screen, we can see a digital shifter that will take some time getting used to. Below, we can see three intuitively placed physical switches for both the doors and the convertible roof. Almost everything you feel in this cabin is soft-touch and lends a plush feel, complimented by metallic inlays.
The flat-bottom steering wheel feels nice to hold and packs controls for infotainment and instrumentation along with a dedicated dial for steering response and a Red button for Super Sport Mode. Left paddle shifter is dedicated for KERS (Regen) and right one to cycle between various modes. We kept the best for last, which is the Sci-fi digital cockpit. Centre screen is 10.25-inch for driver’s instrumentation, navigation, vehicle data, ADAS related info and others.
This is flanked by two 7-inch touchscreens where left screen controls multimedia along with smartphone connectivity (Android Auto, Apple CarPlay) and the right screen is for system controls, energy centre, user settings and 360-degree camera feed, among others. Cyberster comes with 8-speaker 320W Bose music system and AudioPilot tech that adjusts volume based on speed and noise. There’s also an artificial snarling V8-like exhaust note, if you’re into it. The only gripe I have with MG Cyberster’s interiors is that the seats are heated and not cooled.
Supercar Performance!
MG Cyberster offers a special 77 kWh battery pack with NMC battery chemistry. It is special because of how short it is at just 110 mm, which is shorter than a can of soda. On a regular EV, it doesn’t matter, but in an electric sportscar, this thin battery pack allows for a lot of room which is certainly appreciable. The company promises an MIDC-certified range of 580 km on a single charge. It supports DC fast charging of up to 144 kW, bringing down the 10-80% SOC time to just 40 minutes.
This battery provides juice to two electric motors rated for a combined 510 PS of peak power and 725 Nm peak torque. This allows for supercar-like performance with a 0-100 km/h sprint in just 3.2 seconds and a top speed capped at 200 km/h. Power split is rear-biased as rear motor contributes for 62% of performance and front motor 38%. There are four Drive Modes – Comfort, Custom, Sport and Super Sport.
Drive & Safety
Launch Control on Cyberster is very potent, sending the car into the next dimension every time and so is its electronic differential lock and AWD traction. MG Cyberster boasts of a delicately designed chassis by F1 engineering legend Marco Fainello with a 50:50 weight distribution. Also helping with grip are the sticky Pirelli P Zero tyres and providing stopping power are Brembo callipers.
Handling is sharp because of the 50:50 weight distribution and there is a lot of traction from the sticky Pirellis. Steering response is quite intuitive and direct and is adjustable too with three modes. Ride is pretty planted and does not include any surprising concerns. Braking is one area where we felt that it could have been better, especially with stronger initial bite than what it offers. Other than that, this is a lovely machine to go crazy on a race track.
Safety is a concern with convertible cars, but MG is ensuring that there are no stones unturned. For starters, there is significant engineering in Cyberster’s A Pillars and there are sturdy roll hoops behind the seats to prevent roll-over related fatalities. Then we have 4 airbags as standard which covering front and the sides. MG has implemented a driver-monitoring camera on steering wheel and then the safety net of Level-2 ADAS ensures autonomous features like auto emergency braking, lane-keep assist and adaptive cruise control.
Conclusion
Sportscars and Supercars in India are not a practical solution, but a conscious choice to stand out from the mundane. It should look pretty, sprint like a Cheetah, impress your love interest sitting beside you and give you a grand entrance everywhere you go. These are not highway mile munchers in the practical sense, but for quick and glamorous city excursions and paparazzi encounters.
For intended purpose of a sportscar or a supercar in India, MG Cyberster absolutely delivers and is an undisputed champion in pricing. There’s nothing that comes close to Cyberster in terms of appeal, panache and flair, especially at the Rs 75 lakh (Ex-sh) price tag. With some planning, it can double up as your convertible Grand Tourer machine with its promised 580 km range, giving you best of both worlds. MG Cyberster is not “Too Good To Be True”, it is “Too Good and True”.
Source: Electric - rushlane.com
