MG4 X-Power waiting area

[Deleted member 10041]

It's quick and if you are judging it just on bang for buck in a straight line then it's really good, if you are going to add practicality, range, comfort into the mix then less so.

 

[MG Fred]

It's quick and if you are judging it just on bang for buck in a straight line then it's really good, if you are going to add practicality, range, comfort into the mix then less so.

For what I am looking for and based on an MG4 Trophy test drive that I had, plus several YT reviewers, the refinement and ride comfort is very good and the practicality is good in that the dog will be fine in the boot, plus car width is suitably narrower than my current F-Pace (that V6S is such a great car by the way) for our country lanes. So for me it ticks most of the boxes.

 

[Eber]

I just did a bit of research convincing myself that this MG4 XPower is the deal of the decade on £/bhp:

It absolutely is. Especially because it's a small hatch and physics can't be cheated. An SUV will always have a higher centre of gravity, longer suspension travel (thus more rigid dampers) and will never handle as well.

Even though I am aware of the mediocre reviews I will have to test drive it myself. Knowing the Trophy model well I just can't imagine that the X-power will handle worse than any of the performance SUVs.

 

[Macadoodle]

It absolutely is. Especially because it's a small hatch and physics can't be cheated. An SUV will always have a higher centre of gravity, longer suspension travel (thus more rigid dampers) and will never handle as well.

Even though I am aware of the mediocre reviews I will have to test drive it myself. Knowing the Trophy model well I just can't imagine that the X-power will handle worse than any of the performance SUVs.

I think that the handling and grip of my SE standard is perfectly adequate for use on a public road.
I do value the lives of other road users as well as my own though so always keep any 'fun' within sensible limits.
Unless you live beside the Nurburgring or wherever I think the average driver is likely to find the x power just fine handling wise despite what the motoring journalists say.

 

[Robf]

I find that the handling and grip of my SE standard is perfectly adequate for use on a public road.
I do value the lives of other road users as well as my own though so always keep any 'fun' within sensible limits.
Unless you live beside the Nurburgring or wherever I think the average driver is likely to find the x power just fine handling wise despite what the motoring journalists say.

You could always pop over to Aberdeen for a few circuits on Bodgers private track, im sure he wouldn't mind.

 

[MG Fred]

The guy on youtube Bjorn Nylan has done a lot of EV reviews so knows his stuff and although he criticises the lane assist stuff he is very complementary on ride: “this car rides wonderfully”(21m:11s):

Also tried to get some comparisons on braking distances from 100km/h, the best so far is from brembo and all on high performance ICE cars. The MG4 Xpower at 33.9m is very good in comparison, close to a ferrari and Lotus exige(!), despite some reviews (don’t understand that top gear review) and great for an EV:

 

[Brettus]

The guy on youtube Bjorn Nylan has done a lot of EV reviews so knows his stuff and although he criticises the lane assist stuff he is very complementary on ride: “this car rides wonderfully”(21m:11s):

Standard MG4 does indeed excel. I think that is why people had/have such high expectations for the xpower but I think they need to be realistic. Cyberster might be a drivers car, the xpower is an OP MG4 on a budget so it’s not going to be amazing all round but it is powerful.

People bemoaning “I wish they’d spent the money on x….” What money? There is bugger all uplift in price over the trophy and you get a bunch more power and different brakes. There wasn’t the budget to make it more than it is I think.
It’s a compromise car, to keep an aggressive price point some things have to give.

If they’d specced it up for people’s wish list then it’d be knocking on the door of £50k and everyone would be bemoaning “I’m not spending that money on a chinese car” or some tosh. Can’t please all the people all the time. Get it in at a low price point and those that want nicer tyres, performance suspension, maybe a body kit can go spend the extra on it but it suits more people to have the lower entry point IMHO.

Edit: to be clear I’m not trying to convince anyone, I still think the smart money is on the ER version for the best mix of all attributes.

Also tried to get some comparisons on braking distances from 100km/h, the best so far is from brembo and all on high performance ICE cars. The MG4 Xpower at 33.9m is very good in comparison, close to a ferrari and Lotus exige(!), despite some reviews (don’t understand that top gear review) and great for an EV:

That IS pretty impressive given it’s such a chonky boi by comparison to most of those.

 

[PristDean]

Not as much as calliper covers does

Be interesting to see how they are fixed on.... if one falls off... they'd all have to come off.

 

[Macadoodle]

Standard MG4 does indeed excel. I think that is why people had/have such high expectations for the xpower but I think they need to be realistic. Cyberster might be a drivers car, the xpower is an OP MG4 on a budget so it’s not going to be amazing all round but it is powerful.

People bemoaning “I wish they’d spent the money on x….” What money? There is bugger all uplift in price over the trophy and you get a bunch more power and different brakes. There wasn’t the budget to make it more than it is I think.
It’s a compromise car, to keep an aggressive price point some things have to give.

If they’d specced it up for people’s wish list then it’d be knocking on the door of £50k and everyone would be bemoaning “I’m not spending that money on a chinese car” or some tosh. Can’t please all the people all the time. Get it in at a low price point and those that want nicer tyres, performance suspension, maybe a body kit can go spend the extra on it but it suits more people to have the lower entry point IMHO.

Edit: to be clear I’m not trying to convince anyone, I still think the smart money is on the ER version for the best mix of all attributes.

Yep, I'm actually shocked at the price, can see me looking for a sensibly used one in a couple of years time if I can afford the insurance.

You're right though, the ER version might be the more useful in reality once the novelty of a mid 3 sec 0-60 has worn off.
The only time I wish for more power is on A and B road overtakes, the standard cars are usefully brisk but it would be cool to have that access to warp speed and get the job done in a jiffy

Be interesting to see how they are fixed on.... if one falls off... they'd all have to come off.

I hope that they're using at least 2 pot calipers if not 4. Would rather that than the mickey mouse covers TBH.

 

[MG4London]

Don’t rush to order one, first reviews are not great!

The reviews I’ve seen love it, which one are you talking about?

 

[MG Fred]

I hope that they're using at least 2 pot calipers if not 4. Would rather that than the mickey mouse covers TBH.

Does it matter with that fairly impressive stopping distance? Plus of course you also have regen braking.

Who on here has put an order in (deposit in) for an mg4 xpower? Just wondering what they have been told on delivery date?

 

[Brettus]

Not got an ETA at the moment, my working theory is between August and November. I picked orange which might be behind the exclusive green in production order

Next milestone I’m waiting for is dealer getting a demonstrator in to go try out. I think Redditch said they were expecting one today on a website somewhere. Hoping they’re soon at Crewe as they were hoping they’d be shortly after Goodwood after they made the splash there.

 

[MG4London]

I wish I’d waited and gone for the xpower.

I’m interested to see if there will be obviously noticeable differences apart from the orange brakes?

If you colour the orange brake cover black it would be a real sleeper

To keep it stealth so you couldn’t tell if it was a regular MG4 I would just put black electrical tape over the brake covers so you could take them off if you wanted, you could probably do it without even taking the wheels off

 

[Chikyu]

Believe me, once your daily commute is a car that accelerates quietly and within 4 seconds. You'll forget its other shortcomings, and the drivability isn't much worse.

 

[Brettus]

I love that you’ve been pondering this

I suspect it’s easy enough to remove the plastic parts TBH.

 

[cuke2u]

Believe me, once your daily commute is a car that accelerates quietly and within 4 seconds. You'll forget its other shortcomings, and the drivability isn't much worse.

I have one that is 4.6secs 0-62mph and you're quite right. Shortcomings though is a subjective term anyway...

 

[tsedge]

For what I am looking for and based on an MG4 Trophy test drive that I had, plus several YT reviewers, the refinement and ride comfort is very good and the practicality is good in that the dog will be fine in the boot, plus car width is suitably narrower than my current F-Pace (that V6S is such a great car by the way) for our country lanes. So for me it ticks most of the boxes.

Is the rear wiper on the inside? To wipe the dog off the rear screen after you floor it? You'll need to be gentle with the four legged friend inside!

 

[Rolfe]

The guy on youtube Bjorn Nylan has done a lot of EV reviews so knows his stuff and although he criticises the lane assist stuff he is very complementary on ride: “this car rides wonderfully”(21m:11s):

Also tried to get some comparisons on braking distances from 100km/h, the best so far is from brembo and all on high performance ICE cars. The MG4 Xpower at 33.9m is very good in comparison, close to a ferrari and Lotus exige(!), despite some reviews (don’t understand that top gear review) and great for an EV:

That is slightly odd. He repeatedly says this is the smaller battery, and that it's 51 KWh. But several times I saw that the car he's driving has Trophy spoilers on it. Also, at one point he seems to be on a fast type 2 charger and it's getting more like Trophy charge speeds from it (I think).

Another interesting thing is that in that car the central screen's battery charge display seems to be working properly, in that it goes amber when it's below somewhere around 50% and red when it's below maybe 20%. There have been various hints that that's how it's supposed to work, but in most of our cars it stays green and only comed up amber at random sometimes just for the hell of it.

I saw amber apparently for real on mine when the charge got below 5%, never red. In another of Bjorn's videos the car he's driving is doing that too. Amber when very low, and never red. Another bug I think.

 

[siteguru]

Bjorn first tested the MG4 when he was in Thailand (the clue is that it's a right-hand-drive model, and he also starts the video with "Here we are in Chang Mai") ... over there they have the 51kWh Trophy model available.

 

[Rolfe]

I wondered if it was something like that, although I hadn't heard that the SR Trophy was a thing anywhere.

Still intrigued by the battery charge indicator working properly. I seem to remember someone on the forum saying they had one that worked like that too, but it must be rare.