MG doesn’t want the Porsche-eating flagship to attract undue attention. Job done?

WITH two motors, all-wheel drive and enough power to embarrass a Porsche 911, will the flagship of the MG4 family be the epitome of the hot hatchback of the future?

That’s perhaps the hope held for the XPower version of MG’s new small electric, which is about to release in New Zealand in standard form. with no additional news yet about when this more ferocious fun model will join the Kiwi pack. The line-up so far announced launches on August 8 and more information is set to be released then.

When it does touch down, who will necessarily know that the XPower is substantially different from its less powerful siblings?

MG itself admits the visual upgrades sported by the new derivative are subtle, saying it wants the now fully revealed car to fly under the radar, and that's exactly what it does.

But ‘fly’ this high-performance version of the family hatchback certainly will.

The brand’s first hot hatch since the early 2000s delivers with a total of 324kW and 600Nm of torque, to become the most powerful production MG ever.

To put that into context, the most powerful MG4 so far signed for NZ is the Essence Long Range, with 180kW (and a 77kWh battery), which is coming in for $63,990. The least grunty one for us is an entry Excite, with a 64kWh battery, 150kW/250Nm at $49,990 before rebate.

MG is keeping X-Power pricing under wraps even in its primary right hand drive market, the United Kingdom, where it displayed the car at the weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, alongside an EX4 concept car (above) designed to “reimagine” the Metro 6R4 Group B rally car of the 1980s.

The demonstration runs on Lord March’s driveway will likely fire up interest. Thanks to a launch control system that allows it to put that power down more effectively, the XPower will get from 0-100kmh in 3.8 seconds, making it faster than a Porsche 911. Out of interest, MG cites the same step-off for the EX4, which for which outputs of 320kW and 600Nm are cited.

Because the rear motor is slightly more powerful than the front one - 170kW versus 150kW - it retains something of the rear bias that has been appreciated by fans of the regular dual motor model.

Other tech for the flagship includes a new Dynamic Cornering Control System, with a locking differential and a torque vectoring system that sends the power to the wheel with the most traction.

The regenerative braking system has also been recalibrated. Less high-tech solutions have also been employed, with recalibrated spring and damper tuning, stiffer anti-roll bars and sharper steering. The suspension is 25 percent stiffer, too, while MG has also fitted bigger brakes and new Bridgestone Turanza tyres for extra grip.

Orange brake callipers hiding behind the 18-inch alloy wheels are the least subtle of its updates and Racing Green paint, with option of a black roof, is also only for the XPower, but that and some polished trim along the door sills about the limit of its visual loudness as seen at the kerb.

Even getting into the car won't make that much of a difference. Yes, MG has fitted black Alcantara seat upholstery and metal sports pedals, but otherwise it's the standard hatchback, with the same wide central touchscreen and digital instrument display, neither of which is much different from that of the standard MG4, according to first testers. MG hasn't even made wholesale changes to the graphics to suit the sportier model.

Speed is doubtless the XPower's party piece, so it doesn't quite have the range of the existing Long Range models, with 385 kilometres cited from in-house testing, but the clever all-wheel-drive system shuts off the front motor when it isn't needed.