MG Motor UK Cyberster review

Just two choices, and it comes down to power, performance and wheel size, as equipment is almost identically generous across both cars. Every Cyberster gets an eight-speaker Bose audio system, electric folding roof and scissor doors, heated seats and wheel, full smartphone connectivity and a 360-degree parking camera. The £54,995 Trophy combines 335bhp power and 316-mile range and sits on 19in alloy wheels; the £59,995 GT boasts 503bhp, 276 miles and 20in rims.

The same colour and trim combinations – 32 in total – are available across both powertrains and besides their different alloy size and design, you’d be hard pushed to spot the difference. Standard paint in the UK is a creamy ‘New English White’; the bold Inca Yellow and Dynamic Red options are each £695. You can have a red roof (rather than black) for another £500. Thus far, around 80 per cent of orders are for the bougier GT, but that may be skewed by excitable early adopters. The Trophy is arguably a purer, more fun car.

Each Cyberster will be sold to order while MG figures out quite where demand sits: attractive lease deals will play a part in that process and you're currently able to sneak into a Trophy for under £700 per month on a four-year deal with an £8,400 deposit and a 6,000-mile limit. But rivals for this car are very few, and currently all petrol-powered: its price puts it toe-to-toe with a BMW Z4 or Porsche Boxster, while a Mercedes-AMG SL43 with 376bhp is almost double the price.

A selection of 75 dealers will sell the car across the UK and MG has demanded an upgrade to their showrooms to befit its positioning north of an MG4 hatch or HS crossover. It also expects the UK will be the biggest market for the Cyberster.

The car will rapid DC charge up to 150kW, which allows a top up from 10 to 80 per cent in 38 minutes. Expect a full top-up to cost just under £20 quid at home; less if you’re on one of those helpful overnight-use tariffs, more if you’re rapid-charging along the motorway. The warranty is very generous in the performance car world, at seven years or 80,000 miles. The service intervals are every 12 months or 15,000 miles.