6 days ago
MG Cyberster
What even is a 'sports car'? I only ask because most of the cars that fit the accepted person-in-the-street definition aren't in fact sporty at all.
Traditionally, a sports car was low to the ground, had two doors, two seats and probably an open roof. It had a powerful engine. And its top priority was driving dynamics. That's as close as you'll get to a quantifiable declaration of sportiness.
Advertisement - Page continues below
But is a current BMW Z4 a sports car? Was the Mercedes SLC/SLK? Don't be daft. I've heard convincing arguments that the Mazda MX-5 is too limp in the engine department and too roly-poly in the corners to really be a sports car. I choose to ignore them because I adore the current MX-5, but I sort of get their point.
So, the Cyberster. It's got skin in the game here: the MGB, MGF and MG SV were all sports cars, of varying sorts. Does it do the business?
Dynamically, it's a bit of a pudding. An MG engineer told me the car's been softened off again from its original European spec: they felt they'd overdone the 'stiffen it up for those aggressive-driving, B-road warrior Brits' and had to smooth the edges back off because 'it's not supposed to be a track car".
For me, they slightly overdid it, allowing too much wallow into the suspension. There's a sense of top-heaviness to the car, some of which comes from the too-high driver's seat, and some of which is down to the restless damping, which never settles in one assured movement after it's been disturbed.
Advertisement - Page continues below
The steering is dead: a pity as I'd hoped going for the RWD 'Trophy' model would liberate the steering of corruption from the front motor in the 'GT' and unlock a bit of road feel. Not to be, I'm afraid: it's computer game stuff, without Forza 's handy re-wind feature.
