MG Cyberster Review: The Affordable Electric Drop-Top?

MG's roadster is back in Australian showrooms, and it arrives carrying something no MGB ever did: 1885kg in its lightest form. That's 850kg more than a base Mazda MX-5. It also brings up to 375kW, electric scissor doors and a price that starts at $99,900 before on-road costs. The weight is the number that shapes everything else here.

So is the Cyberster the affordable electric drop-top the badge suggests, or a fast appliance in a party frock? We've worked through MG Australia's own figures, the published reviews from the NRMA, CarExpert, Chasing Cars, evo and Top Gear, and the national sales data. Nobody paid for this review, and no car was supplied to us.

There are two versions. The MG Cyberster 77kWh RWD ($99,900) runs a single 250kW rear motor and claims 507km of WLTP range. The 77kWh AWD ($115,000) adds a front motor for 375kW and a claimed 3.2-second 0–100km/h, but its range drops to 443km. Prices and specs are MG's as of October 2026.

The Cyberster Verdict

The Cyberster is a quick, striking electric grand tourer that happens to have a folding roof. It isn't a lightweight sports car, and it doesn't drive like one. Buy the RWD if you want the look, the range and easy open-air cruising. Skip it if steering feel, low weight or an independent crash rating sit high on your list.

Living with scissor doors and a magpie dashboard

The cabin is the Cyberster at its most theatrical and least practical. Electric scissor doors and a wraparound bank of four screens grab attention in any car park. Living with them is another matter. The published reviews we've read agree the doors are slow, and that the outer screens hide behind the steering wheel rim.

MG fits sensors so the doors stop short of obstacles, and you can work them from the key, buttons on the door or switches inside. Top Gear UK timed them at 5.8 seconds from the door button and 7.5 seconds from the key. That's a long wait in a downpour. Chasing Cars called them form over function.

There is one upside. In a tight bay, a door that swings up needs less room beside the car than one that swings out. Top Gear's Ollie Kew found he could get out of a British parking space where conventional doors would have trapped him. Australian shopping-centre bays are hardly more generous, so that's a real, if narrow, win.

Then there's the dash. A 10.25-inch driver display sits between two 7-inch screens, with another 7-inch touchscreen on the console. CarExpert and Chasing Cars both found the outer pair blocked by the wheel, and the NRMA's Kris Ashton said you have to tilt your head 'like a magpie' to read them. It looks great in a photo. Less so at 100km/h.

How practical are the roof and boot?

More than you'd guess for a two-seater. The boot holds 249 litres whether the roof is up or down, because the electric fabric roof stows clear of it. The roof takes 15 seconds and works at up to 50km/h, so a passing shower in traffic doesn't mean pulling over. For a weekend away for two, it's enough.

There's no spare, only a tyre repair kit, which matters if your weekends involve country roads a long way from a tyre shop. Ground clearance is 116mm, so steep driveways deserve care. Equipment is generous, with an eight-speaker Bose system, a 360-degree camera and vehicle-to-load (V2L) power standard on both variants.

Does 1885kg kill the roadster magic?

Not entirely, but it changes the kind of magic on offer. CarExpert's Jack Quick called the Cyberster properly rapid, and more settled on sweeping roads than tight ones, like a grand tourer. What it can't do is feel light. Every review we've read circles back to the weight, and the numbers explain why better than any adjective.

Our numbers make the point. The RWD carries 7.5kg per kilowatt, almost identical to the MX-5's 7.7kg, so on paper the cheaper Cyberster and the Mazda haul the same load per unit of power. The difference is the 850kg the MG has to stop, turn and settle over every bump. Power hides weight in a straight line. Corners find it out.

The reviews agree on the broad picture and split on the detail. The NRMA found the car 'ironing-board flat in corners', yet said the 1985kg AWD wants to drift sideways if pushed hard through a long bend. evo, scoring it three out of five, criticised poor suspension control and said the car made every kilogram felt.

Ride quality draws the same split. CarExpert found the suspension more supple than expected, while the NRMA said the body 'hops like a jackrabbit' on poor surfaces and noted suspension upgrades are a hot topic on owner forums. Given the state of many regional Australian roads, we'd weigh the NRMA's verdict more heavily for local buyers.

Is the RWD or AWD better on the road?

The RWD is the better roadster. It's 100kg lighter, runs 19-inch wheels with more tyre sidewall than the AWD's 20s, and claims 507km of range against 443km. evo found the single-motor car keener to turn, if a little more jittery over bumps. The AWD's 3.2-second sprint is a party trick you'll rarely use on a public road.

Which brings us to the Mazda. The MX-5 2.0 manual costs $42,640 before on-roads and weighs 1035kg. If steering feel and a car that dances on a back road matter more than pace, it's still the answer. If you want a quick, quiet electric cruiser with a folding roof, the MG makes more sense.

Cross-shoppers have other petrol options with fixed roofs. Our Toyota GR86 review covers the lightweight end, and our Porsche 718 Cayman review shows what the class does at the top. If you're weighing the MG against a hot hatch with similar pace, our Cyberster vs Audi RS3 comparison runs those numbers.

Safety, price and the sums behind the badge

Is the MG Cyberster safe?

It has no crash rating to prove it either way. The NRMA reported in its August 2026 review that the Cyberster 'has not been crash-tested and doesn't have an ANCAP rating', and Euro NCAP hasn't tested it either. That's common for low-volume sports cars, but it leaves you relying on the equipment list rather than an independent score.

That list is long. MG's 2026 Cyberster brochure includes autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise, lane keeping and emergency lane keep, blind-spot detection, rear cross-traffic alert with braking, driver monitoring and a door-open warning. Front airbags and integrated head and thorax airbags complete it. For a weekend car, that's reassuring. As a family daily, it's a harder sell.

Is the Cyberster good value at $99,900?

Against an MX-5, no. Against what 375kW and a folding roof usually cost, the AWD looks sharp. Our working puts the AWD at about $307 per kilowatt, below the MX-5's $316, while the RWD sits at about $400. Whether that's value depends on what you're buying: speed, or the feel of a light car.

Two tax details matter. Both variants sit above the ATO's $91,661 luxury car tax threshold for fuel-efficient cars in 2026–27. On our estimate, LCT accounts for roughly $1,900 of the RWD's price and $5,400 of the AWD's. It also rules both out of the electric car FBT exemption, as our novated lease explainer covers.

Running costs are a strength. MG's capped-price servicing runs every 12 months or 25,000km and totals $1,391 over five years on our sum, including a roof check each visit. The warranty is seven years with unlimited kilometres, extending to 10 years or 250,000km with MG dealer servicing. The battery gets seven years or 150,000km.

Why are there so few on the road?

Because hardly anyone is buying one. CarExpert's VFACTS and EVC sales data shows 43 Cybersters sold in 2024, 58 in 2025 and just 20 to September 2026, down 52.4 per cent on the same period last year. That's 121 cars in total, and slow sellers rarely hold their value well at trade-in.

Rarity can help a classic, but a low-volume EV is a different proposition when it's time to sell, as our EV depreciation guide explains. MG hasn't cut the price since launch, and the Cyberster isn't in MG's October 2026 offers. With sales sliding, it costs nothing to ask a dealer what they can do.

Which Cyberster should you buy?

The 77kWh RWD. It's $15,100 cheaper, 100kg lighter, rides on smaller wheels with more tyre sidewall, and goes further on a charge. The AWD's extra 125kW turns a quick car into a very quick one, but in a car whose real talent is cruising, the RWD does the job better. Skip both if your sports car must feel light.

Plan around charging. DC charging peaks at 144kW, and MG claims about 40 minutes from 10 to 80 per cent on a 150kW charger. That's fine for a coastal day out on the Grand Pacific Drive, but longer trips need planning, as our EV road trip guide shows. At home, 11kW AC charging takes about nine hours, and our home EV charger guide covers the hardware.

The Cyberster isn't the MX-5's electric twin, and it was never going to be. It's a fast, well-equipped and heavy GT with a roof that folds and doors that put on a show. Buy it for that, in RWD form. If you want a featherweight roadster, the best one is still built in Hiroshima and costs less than half as much.