The ‘retuned’ steering doesn’t have a ton more feel. It’s just heavier in the sportier modes. Like the stiffer suspension, it might help to conjure a ‘sportier’ vibe, but it doesn’t feel entirely essential.
Inside, the MG 4 is much as it was before, so it’s roomy and practical and has a good driving position, but the flimsy door cards remain, and this performance version could do with some sport seats.
There are a few changes in this XPower that will appear on the standard MG 4 as well. There’s now a rear windscreen wiper and the middle rear passenger gains a headrest. Some of the infotainment bugs we noted in our road test seem to have been exterminated too. It’s still not a great system, but once you learn its quirks, it’s mostly inoffensive. A final model-year change is the addition of a one-pedal mode. That’s very welcome, but there’s a delay to the retardation kicking in, which makes it harder to control than it ought to be.
Naturally, the additional power comes with a range penalty. The combined WLTP range drops from the Long-Range Trophy’s 270 miles to 239. The XPower’s efficiency seems particularly sensitive to driving style, because we saw everything from 2.5 to 3.5mpkWh. We’d expect an average of 3.0mpkWh and a range of 185 miles.
The standard MG 4 is an excellent electric hatchback. It does all the sensible stuff well: space, range, equipment, comfort – you name it. But it also shines with unusually delicate and adjustable handling. We would have liked to see an extension of that, but instead the XPower adds sledgehammer power.