First ride: Flat out in 429bhp MG EX4 concept

With a professional touring car driver at the wheel, we tackle the Goodwood hillclimb

Group B-inspired one-off is a stake in the ground for MG’s return to fun performance cars

Experiencing a hot, rally-inspired MG on Britain’s most famous hillclimb is probably not something you’d have expected to see in 2023. But here we are. 

It’s the EX4 - a stripped-back, aggressively styled throwback designed in collaboration with the engineering maestros at RML - the motorsport outfit turned preparation specialist famed for the SWB, a stunning recreation of the Ferrari 250 GTO. 

The EX4 is what happens when MG – Chinese since 2005 but linked with Britain’s admirable motoring history – taps into its sports car heritage. It’s been designed as a futuristic tribute to the Group B MG Metro 6R4 rally car, and it certainly manages to capture some of the visual drama of that original.

With a front splitter jutting out like Durdle Door and rear spoiler not much further regressed than that, you’re acutely aware that it means business. Just as well, then, that I, who barely knows how to put a racing helmet on, am not driving. 

The man behind the wheel was British Touring Car Championship race winner Dan Rowbottom, a down-to-earth family man who enjoyed chatting about the MG, his BMW M3 Touring and F30-gen 320d, and the intense pressures of touring car racing.

Before that, though, it was the EX4’s turn to clear its throat. 

Or, rather, motors, because this botoxed hatchback produces 429bhp and a Mercedes-AMG A45-beating 0-62mph time of 3.8sec, so it has the twin-motor performance to match that love-it-or-loathe-it exterior. It’s based on the MG 4 XPower, which sits in front of us as we line up on the Goodwood start line. 

The XPower thrusts away at an alarming pace, and after four or five seconds is out of sight. Then, it’s our turn. Rowbottom nails the throttle and after a slight delay we accelerate through 20, 40, 60, 80 - the numbers come faster than I can speak. He floors the admittedly weak brakes toward the first corner and balances the throttle before nailing it out the other end.

The next corner comes and it’s more of the same - hard on the brakes, tail off, accurately balance brake and throttle as we thread MG’s one-of-one through the Goodwood needle, and then power down the main straight to a site of gawking spectators.

As we reach the end of the run, though, I have one thought pulsing its way through my brain, and it’s what was missing from the experience - noise. It might have been hysterically fast with go-kart handling, but the silence left as we tore through corners felt as though I should try and fill an awkward conversational gap with “What are you up to this weekend?”. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that should happen.

This is something that Hyundai and Abarth didn’t miss with their Ioniq 5N and 500e - cars which mimic the sounds of the most unlikely combustion engines, from fighter jets to V12 Lamborghinis.

All this leads us to one question, however: do EVs belong in motorsport? In their current application, they can’t match the visceral overstimulation you get from a combustion engine, leading to manufacturers jumping ropes trying to get close - but there’s no doubting their world-changing pace.