The Cyberster AWD has a kerb weight of 1,985 kg, which means the power-to-weight ratio is 253 BHP/ton and the torque-to-weight ratio is 365 Nm/ton.
Driving the MG Cyberster
Finally, it was time to get behind the wheel of the Cyberster. This was a track experience drive, and we didnât get to drive on normal roads. Hence, this report will focus solely on the track experience. We will have a separate report once we have driven the Cyberster on public roads.
First up was the main track that we would be driving upon. I got in the car and familiarised myself with the controls, and adjusted the seat and steering (rake & reach) to my driving position, which was pretty easy. The roof was down, so I put the roof on as I would be driving at high speeds. There was a noticeable difference once the cabin was isolated. I engaged Sport mode, since there were only 3 laps that I would be doing. The first one was a sighting lap, which would be followed by a couple of push laps. With my foot on the brake pedal, I pressed the âDâ button and let go of the brake pedal.
Before we get to the driving part, letâs look at whatâs powering the car. The Cyberster gets a dual motor setup with a combined power output of 503 BHP and 725 Nm of torque. You get 3-phase permanent magnet synchronous motors on both axles that have a maximum rpm of 17,000. The power distribution is 62% to the rear wheels and 38% to the front. The Cyberster AWD has a kerb weight of 1,985 kg, which means the power-to-weight ratio is 253 BHP/ton and the torque-to-weight ratio is 365 Nm/ton. Those are impressive numbers for something that has an ex-showroom price of Rs. 75 lakh.
The car rolled off the pit lane very smoothly, and as I eased on to the A-pedal, the acceleration was very linear. Itâs not jumpy and over-excited in Sport mode, and you can actually drive smoothly. As most enthusiasts will agree, the Buddh International Circuit is a great track. Itâs pretty technical and, more importantly, a lot of fun to drive on. Since the first lap was a sighting lap, I climbed up through turns 1, 2 and 3 and got on the back straight, which is ~1.2 km long. Floored the accelerator pedal and was instantly pushed back in my seat as the carâs speedo climbed till ~209 km/h, and at this point, I was fast approaching turn 4, which is a tight right-hander. The instructor then ran me through the lines for the rest of my sighting lap.
At the last turn 16, I let the car run wide and got on the accelerator pedal down the main straight. Reached about 170 km/h pretty quickly and then had to brake hard to ~90 km/h for the turn 1 right hander. Kept left through turn 2 and again braked hard for the turn 3 right-hander. This is an uphill hairpin and the slowest corner of the circuit. Onto the back straight and went on full power. The accelerator pedal feels well calibrated and progressive. Even when driving through the fast corners 10 and 11, keeping the throttle constant and power delivery steady was fairly easy. You can make minute adjustments, and the response will be smooth, which would be great in the city. The acceleration is something that you will get addicted to for sure. Being close to the ground and carrying so much speed does give you confidence to go faster. The Cybersterâs acceleration was strong till 170-180 km/h on the back straight, after which it took some time to reach 200 km/h. But thatâs something expected in EVs.
Letâs move on to the handling part. The Cyberster is equipped with a double wishbone system up front and a multi-link rear suspension. MG claims that the Cyberster has a 50:50 weight distribution and a static stability factor (SSF) of 1.83. To give more context to that figure, SSF is calculated using the formula SSF=T/2H. It is based on 2 aspects of the car: a. ‘T’, which is the track width of the car (distance between centres of left and right tyres), and b. ‘H’ is the height of the centre of gravity. A higher SSF number means that the car is more stable and there are fewer chances of a rollover. Given that the Cyberster is an EV with most of the weight in the floor, the centre of gravity is low. It is also wide, which means the value of 1.83 is very good.
I wonât be commenting on the ride comfort over bad roads because we never even encountered a single bump during the driving experience. But on the track, the turn-in is sharp, and you can point the car into the turn pretty easily. You get a dual-pinion steering, and in the low-speed corner of turn 3, with a good amount of steering lock, the car could carry a lot of speed. On the straight, at high speeds, the car felt extremely stable even at 200 km/h. Going through turns 5 to 9, the Cyberster could hold the line well. There are 3 settings for the steering wheel weight. I had put my car in the heaviest setting and felt that there shouldâve been a bit more weight. Most owners, who will be driving in the city, wonât be bothered by this. Itâs only when youâre pushing the car that you feel the need for some heft.
Thereâs a quick direction change when you go through turns 6 and 7, and then again when you go through turns 8 and 9. This is where you feel the weight transfer, especially if youâre carrying a good amount of speed. While the car manages to hold its line and goes where itâs pointed, you can feel the roll in these corners along with the weight of the car. The suspension tune isnât very stiff and track-focused, which is a good thing for driving on public roads. This is also where you are reminded that, despite the 50:50 weight distribution, the Cyberster is a heavy car. Even with that much power on tap, thereâs a lot of weight that youâre hauling. Itâs not a light chuckable sports car that will have its rear step out of line with a flick of the accelerator. In the all-wheel drive version, the power distribution is fixed, and you cannot have a full rear-wheel drive mode. Also, since you cannot switch off the traction control, youâll notice the power cutting off if you go a bit overboard.
Braking duties are handled by a Brembo system. MG claims that the Cyberster can come to a stop from 100 km/h in 33 meters. This is very believable as the carâs braking is strong and very predictable, and it never feels nervous under hard braking. The pedal also felt progressive and managed to shed speed linearly. The Cyberster runs on 20-inch alloy wheels (8.5J front & 9.5J rear), but with a staggered tyre setup. It has 245/40 section tyres at the front and 275/30 section tyres at the rear. Our test car’s wheels were shod with Pirelli P Zero Elect tyres, which have been developed specifically for high-performance electric and plug-in vehicles. They provide excellent grip and were quite comfortable around the track. They did squeal when the car was being pushed hard, but it was never excessive.
There was also a handling course set up outside the main track to show how the car performed on a tighter track. First up was a slalom course where I had to start from a standstill. The acceleration and the quick direction changes were amplified in this tight course. I managed to touch ~60 km/h through the cones and didnât veer off too much from the path. Next up was an autocross circuit where the cones were placed pretty close to each other and a lot of direction changes. There was even a tight hairpin bend where I had to apply full lock and get back on the power quickly. The steeringâs return to centre was impressive, and I could quickly catch the steering where I wanted to once I got on the power. Next up was the moose test, where the cones were arranged for a quick lane change. It was fairly straightforward, and the car managed to hold its line well. Lastly, there was the figure of 8, where two points were set, and we had to drive in between them. Now, this wouldâve been even more fun if the car were rear-wheel drive, but unfortunately, thatâs not the case. The traction control keeps cutting in when you try to get on the power with a full steering lock. That was the end of the track driving experience.
Regenerative Braking
There are a total of 4 levels of regenerative braking: low, medium, high, and adaptive. Since the drive was primarily on the track, I was mostly in the low regenerative braking mode. People have different preferences when it comes to regenerative braking. So, itâs good to see that there are different levels to choose from.
Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH)
While we know EVs to be silent in nature, there is one different aspect about the Cyberster, which is the roof. The whole idea of a convertible is to be able to enjoy the open air. When you drive in the city, with the roof up, the cabin feels fairly isolated at low speeds. However, at high speeds, the wind noise was noticeable.
Range
The Cyberster is available with only a single 77 kWh battery pack option. This is a Li-NMC battery pack from CATL. The MIDC (Part 1+2) range is rated at 580 km, and the WLTP range is 443 km. In a real-world scenario, you should expect a range of ~400 km.
Charging
The Cyberster is built on a 400V architecture (related thread). Its price is inclusive of a 3.3 kW portable charger and a 7.4 kW AC wall box charger. The Cyberster allows for 1.2C peak charging and has a maximum capacity of 144 kW DC fast charging that takes 40 minutes to charge from 10% to 80%. It also allows for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-load (V2L) functions.
Under the bonnet, everything is covered up. There’s no frunk here since there’s a motor on the front axle:
 
Bonnet gets insulation underneath:
 
Interestingly, you can see the upper wishbone in the top corner. This part should’ve been covered properly:
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