Xpower as a hot hatch

[olliewebb]

I get where you’re coming from, having recently owned an R55, mini cooper S. It certainly had a rock hard suspension that people associate with hot hatches, which the Xpower doesn’t but I prefer it that way. You shouldn’t compare the two on handling as the XPower is a different balance between weigh, comfort, handling & power. Just the balance I want. Still handles very well and the fact that the cinch review track time beat a JCW Mini Cooper shows that. It uses power to compensate for weight on the track times. On straights of course it annihilates most cars on the track time list. The only other EV in the top 25 that comes close is the BMW i4 M50 costing twice as much. Which in my book makes the XPower a game changer for EVs.

People wouldn't have compared it to a hot hatch if they'd bodied it as an Crossover, Saloon, or Estate.

I've only got it for two years any way - by which time the ID.2 GTI might be out, and the availability and price of the Ioniq 5 N might be good (there might also be 'warm' hot options by then too). It's an experiment for me really, try running an EV for two years and see how livable it is, I know that's a privileged position to be in, but I do want to test it before the carrot turns into a stick.

I might've gone for an updated i3 if they'd kept making it but increased the range and performance. Or the MINI hatch if the electric was available in five door and had, well, more range and poke. I drove the F56 electric and while it was fun, my car with the Bluespark box would destroy it.

I change my cars more often that some people change their underwear. And besides I've got a TF and a Midget for summer weekends.

As for the Cinch lap - not sure about the guy driving and his background... ideally I'd like to see one of the journos with a background in 'hot laps' (Steve Sutcliffe, Chris Harris, etc) to test them back to back on the same day. There does need to be more reviews of the thing vs. it's rivals by the performance mags/YouTube channels if MG are serious about chasing the performance car market - doing drag races doesn't particularly prove anything other than confirm my view that it's an EV Muscle Car in a hatch body.

Any way - this is starting to get very 'Piston Heads' in this thread, not a bad thing, I just assumed MG EV owners were a different crowd haha!

 

[Tycho]

I get where you’re coming from, having recently owned an R55, mini cooper S. It certainly had a rock hard suspension that people associate with hot hatches, which the Xpower doesn’t but I prefer it that way. You shouldn’t compare the two on handling as the XPower is a different balance between weight, comfort, handling & power. Just the balance I want. Still handles very well and the fact that the cinch review track time beat a JCW Mini Cooper shows that. It uses power to compensate for weight on the track times. On straights of course it annihilates most cars on the track time list. The only other EV in the top 25 that comes close is the BMW i4 M50 costing twice as much. Which in my book makes the XPower a game changer for EVs.

I would say that on normal roads it would be as quick as pretty much anything else due to the fact that cornering speed on track is totally different from on road due to visibility and other road users. My MX-5 is brilliant round corners where you have great visibility and is great to get sideways but the opportunities to do so safely are few and far between. With most fast/fun cars, the environment is the limit unless you do regular track days which I don't.

 

[MG Fred]

I would say that on normal roads it would be as quick as pretty much anything else due to the fact that cornering speed on track is totally different from on road due to visibility and other road users. My MX-5 is brilliant round corners where you have great visibility and is great to get sideways but the opportunities to do so safely are few and far between. With most fast/fun cars, the environment is the limit unless you do regular track days which I don't.

Agreed. I try and stick to the rule “make sure you can stop in the distance you can see”. That rules out a lot of high speed cornering round here with narrow country roads. However the odd time I have pushed on around a corner it does well in grip I think.

 

[MG Fred]

Any way - this is starting to get very 'Piston Heads' in this thread, not a bad thing, I just assumed MG EV owners were a different crowd haha!

LOL. yes sometimes it seems that way. Surprising that even some mags say the slower normal mg4 is the one to have! More power is always more fun for me, even if more lairy or challenging to drive!

 

[olliewebb]

LOL. yes sometimes it seems that way. Surprising that even some mags say the slower normal mg4 is the one to have! More power is always more fun for me, even if more lairy or challenging to drive!

Any car that's got more grip than power has zero interest for me. That's why the Midget gets driven more than the TF really.

 

[tsedge]

Any car that's got more grip than power has zero interest for me. That's why the Midget gets driven more than the TF really.

(traction control switched to off)

 

[olliewebb]

(traction control switched to off)

[taps head] That's my traction control.

 

[JustAnotherMidlifeCrisis]

Two more Xpower reviews just in. The first is good if you are thinking of buying and need a reminder of how the car looks:



The second touches on how it drives but doesn't mention the hum at 70mph until someone calls him out on it in the comments:

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

My comments in the description.......

Everything would be sharper in Sport mode.
We're you in default normal mode?
Also moaning about the brakes?
How many miles did the car have on it?
Probably not enough to have bedded in the brakes properly.
I see this a lot with the Missenden Flyer twonk testing new bike brakes.
"Oo there not very good" Well they won't be til a decent amount of running in has been done.
Yes, I have one, and yes, it's excellent.

 

[olliewebb]

Brakes aren’t as big as I’d expect, I get you’ve got regen to help but they’re not much bigger than what I have on a F55 Cooper S. and the XPower is a very heavy car.

I’m hopeful EBC will have a Yellow Stuff pad out for this car soon. They’ve fixed problems in other cars I’ve had that have been under braked.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Brakes aren’t as big as I’d expect, I get you’ve got regen to help but they’re not much bigger than what I have on a F55 Cooper S. and the XPower is a very heavy car.

I’m hopeful EBC will have a Yellow Stuff pad out for this car soon. They’ve fixed problems in other cars I’ve had that have been under braked.

The brakes are fine for the road.
You absolutely do not need bigger (IMHO) for normal road driving.
Mine is always in max regen, so when driving normally, I hardly ever use the brakes.
And there can lie the problem with EV brakes.
Because your first application might be after many, many, miles without touching the brakes, they always feel a bit lacking in the initial stage of braking.
And if you are pushing on, the brakes are being used more, thus working better when you use them.
If you could get pads (yellow stuff you said?) to improve the very first touch, I might consider them, but I don't see it as a problem for the driving I am currently doing.
I've also not yet been in a situation with the cars braking that has given me any reason for concern, and I don't hang about when the mood takes me!

Same as anything though m8, it's all subjective.
What works for me, won't work for you and vice versa.

 

[siteguru]

The real test of the brakes is when you've just charged to 100%, go for a spin and tank it towards a corner with no regen available.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

The real test of the brakes is when you've just charged to 100%, go for a spin and tank it towards a corner with no regen available.

It'll Never happen!
I can't charge the bloody thing to 100 percent!
I only use my local Tesla fast chargers and I get fed up at the collosal slow down from 90%, so I unplug and bugger off

Starts off well enough with up to 139kw
But it doesn't last.
I am rarely there longer than 30 minutes a week.

 

[Rolfe]

You're supposed to take the car to 100% on an AC charger and let it sit there and balance at least once a month.

You're also supposed to take it from <10% to 100% in one run on an AC charger every 3 to 6 months.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

I know.

 

[MG Fred]

Brakes aren’t as big as I’d expect, I get you’ve got regen to help but they’re not much bigger than what I have on a F55 Cooper S. and the XPower is a very heavy car.

I’m hopeful EBC will have a Yellow Stuff pad out for this car soon. They’ve fixed problems in other cars I’ve had that have been under braked.

The Xpower brakes are quite a lot better in size and ventilation compared to the mini cooper S resulting in the same 62-0 mph stopping distance:

Brake disc size:
Cooper S F56: front 294 x 22 mm (ventilated) rear 259 x 10 mm (not ventilated)
62-0 MPH in 33m

MG4 Xpower: front 345 x 30 mm (ventilated) Front Rear 345 x 22mm (ventilated)
62-0 MPH in 33.9m

 

[tsedge]

The XPower brakes are fine for a road car. If you want to go on a track, much better off picking something lightweight.

 

[olliewebb]

The Xpower brakes are quite a lot better in size and ventilation compared to the mini cooper S resulting in the same 62-0 mph stopping distance:

Brake disc size:
Cooper S F56: front 294 x 22 mm (ventilated) rear 259 x 10 mm (not ventilated)
62-0 MPH in 33m

MG4 Xpower: front 345 x 30 mm (ventilated) Front Rear 345 x 22mm (ventilated)
62-0 MPH in 33.9m

Read my post again. Not as big as I expected.

 

[Vingnut]

Muscle car it is.