MG 4 XPOWER: Fast and curious ... super car acceleration at a bargain price

We’ve been driving a car that can hit 62mph in 3.8 seconds, in the process squashing your eyeballs into the back of their sockets, yet is equally happy trundling to the shops. Welcome to the schizophrenic world of the MG4 XPOWER.

Standard issue MG4s get by with single electric motors to power their back wheels. This one has a second motor stuffed under its beaky nose, and the two combined produce an express train-like 6,000Nm of torque. Electronic gubbins control this so that tyres aren’t shredded, and the car features a ‘torque vectoring’ power distribution system for all four wheels as part of this process.

There’s some harmless go-faster addenda in the form of a launch button and a G force readout, which we can file under ‘fun’, alongside bigger brakes and other engineering tweaks to contend with this electric MG’s supercar-like levels of acceleration. Terminal velocity is a more pedestrian, if still highly illegal 124mph.

In the flesh the MG4 XPOWER isn’t all bulges and shiny bits. Its tyres are broad and low profile, its chunky, 18 inch alloy wheels quite distinctive without being vulgar, while twin, squared-off plastic spoilers live at the top of its tailgate. There are also some interior trim differences. The end result has a low-key Hot Wheels toy car aesthetic, which presumably is the idea.

MG has tweaked the suspension to a make it firmer, the steering has also been re-calibrated to deal with the extra power, and having all four wheels driven helps transmit it to the road without breaking traction. The car corners flatly and has plenty of grip, and although a little knobbly, its riding qualities are never jarring.

However, pushing the XPOWER hard makes you aware of a mild twitchiness as it deals with all that power. It’s not dangerous or alarming, but it’s there, and I suspect this would be more apparent in the wet.

Otherwise, like many EVs, the MG4 isn’t especially characterful, going about its business in a quiet, unobtrusive way.

There is a range of driving modes, including one pedal control where the car’s motors take over most of its slowing down activities. This would be the setting we’d go for when driving in town.

Most of the MG4’s functions, including this one, are controlled by the inevitable touch screen, which works effectively, although some of the icons are rather small, and subjectively, old school dash controls for often-used functions such as heating and ventilation would be easier to find quickly. This is a generic observation about such systems in many cars.

The equipment list is comprehensive, including a reversing camera which is particularly useful when manoeuvring into a tight parking space, as the car’s rearmost pillars, which look like smoked windows but are in fact solid, rather get in the way of seeing where you’re going.

Although the boot isn’t huge, the XPOWER has decent amounts of room for a quartet of adults and their gear. Those in the front will feel the benefit of ‘sports’ seats, which are well shaped and comfortable.

Recharging? Using a rapid charger, MG claims up to 80 per cent replenishing in just over half an hour, and an average range of 239 miles, which would drop somewhat in cold weather, but was pretty much what we achieved in mild conditions.

This is a remarkable car, being a practical family hatchback with the performance and kit of exotic models costing £20k or so more, but like many modern vehicles it’s not one bursting with personality, and once the novelty of its Ferrari-like acceleration has worn off, we wonder how many owners will make use of it. Perhaps that’s missing the point.