MG Im5 vs MG MG4

What's the difference?

The MG IM5 Performance is fast, comfortable, quiet and super refined. Putting some minor spec and active safety niggles to one side, it offers the features, tech and price to match it with its well-credentialled and already popular mid-size EV sedan competitors. Is there room for one more? We think there should be.

The MG4 was a game changing electric car, resetting the price benchmark while also being a very good small car in its own right. But as we discovered when we tested the rest of the range, the MG4 is a car that gets more compelling the cheaper it is. The $38,990 MG4 Excite 51 is arguably the pick of the range given its value equation.

But that’s not to say the MG4 XPower isn’t a good car. It’s a very quick car that will play the role of daily driver and weekend fun machine well. Just not quite as well as its petrol-powered rivals.

Playing spot the straight line on the outside of the MG IM5 is like an automotive design version of Where’s Wally? There aren’t many, in the midst of an unrelentingly curvaceous exterior treatment.

At close to five metres long and two metres wide the IM5 is appreciably longer (+211mm), a little wider (+27mm) and a bit taller (+33mm) than a Tesla Model 3. Think BMW 5 Series in terms of overall size.

And the soft-form shape is functional; the swoopy liftback boasting an ultra-slick 0.24 drag coefficient.

That said, I’m not convinced by the ‘Periscopic’ cameras informing the driver assistance systems from the front guards. They scream tacked-on afterthought. But a touch-only initial opening function for the flush door handles is cool and makes life easier.

The curves continue inside with soft-padded surfaces around the dash and doors, but the straight edge obviously came out for the 10.5-inch central media screen and vast 26.3-inch upper display. There are next to no buttons; even exterior mirror adjustment is directed from the screen to a multi-function steering wheel control.

System software (powered by a Qualcomm ‘Snapdragon’ chip) is lightning fast with a two-finger up and down swipe shortcut function on the central screen for ventilation and other functions.

The interior is light and bright thanks to the enormous panoramic sunroof. It’s been fine in cooler winter conditions during this test but it could be interesting to revisit in the heat of an Aussie summer

There are two interior colour schemes available - the ‘Highland Grey’ of our test car or ‘Dover Beige’ for those brave enough to live life with the threat of scuff marks on your shiny new car’s glamorous but vulnerably light interior.

What really stands out about the design is… that not much stands out about the design. At least in differentiating the XPower from the rest of the MG4 line-up.

There are no pumped out wheel arches or a bigger, sportier spoiler that makes it look different in the same way a GR Corolla won’t be mistaken for a regular Corolla hatch.

Instead, the XPower has the same 'Energetic Agile' silhouette and includes the same ‘Active Intake spoiler’ at the front and the ‘Twin-Aero’ rear spoiler that’s the same as the Essence models.

There are some differences though, including more pronounced styling on the sides of the doors. It doesn’t add any performance benefit but creates a slight visual difference between the models in the range.

Surprisingly, there is very little to signify that this is the sportiest XPower model, with a distinct lack of badging - inside and out. In fact, the only visual clue that this is the XPower is on the bright orange brake calipers. Or, to be more accurate, brake caliper covers.

These are just lightweight metal covers that make the MG4 braking hardware look bigger than it really is, so it’s a bit of visual trickery from the MG designers.

There’s plenty of breathing room up front and in terms of storage one of the first things worth calling out are the long but relatively narrow door bins. No good for anything above unusually slender bottles, even if they’re lying down.

No conventional glove box in the dash, but there is a large lidded box (cooled and heated) between the seats that doubles as a centre armrest. It’s supplemented by a big stowage area underneath the flying buttress style centre console.  

There are two cupholders in the centre console as well as a wireless device charging pad in front of them with a vaguely phone-shaped oddments bin alongside it.  

Move to the rear and the IM5’s 75mm wheelbase advantage over the Tesla Model 3 is clear. Heaps of knee and headroom for me at 183cm sitting behind the driver’s seat set to my position. 

But… the seat sits low which pushes your knees up into the air to the point where my thighs are not contacting the seat cushion. Even though the rear seat reclines to a certain degree it’s a problem compounded by a chronic lack of room for your toes under the front seat. Awkward.

There are map pockets in the front seatbacks, modest bins in the doors and a fold-down centre armrest with two cupholders. Adjustable ventilation in the rear of the front centre console always makes life in the rear seat more pleasant.

The car also houses ‘Strong Magnets’ at various points around the cabin and boot, with a configurable adapter able to lock a phone or tablet into place for the entertainment of, in our case, back seaters. 

Speaking of devices for entertainment, there are two USB-C sockets and a 12-volt outlet in the front and another USB-C and 12V in the back, so charging isn’t an issue. 

The IM5 is a liftback so the boot aperture is generous and a capacity of 457 litres with the rear seats up is decent for a car of this size, although that’s less than the Tesla Model 3 (594L) which has an additional well under the floor. 

Still, enough room for the largest (124L) and smallest (36L) suitcases from the CarsGuide three-piece luggage set with some room to spare.

The power tailgate can be operated hands-free via the key or an always welcome under bumper kick function.

Volume expands to 1290 litres with the rear seats folded and there’s a modest 18-litre ‘frunk’ under the bonnet.

The bad news is a repair-inflator kit rather than a physical spare wheel, but the better news is the IM5 Performance can tow a 1500kg braked trailer (750kg unbraked).

The IM range also features the ‘MG iSmart’ app allowing remote control of various functions including charging, checking vehicle location and route planning. 

As with the exterior, there’s not a lot to differentiate the XPower from the rest of the line-up. No bright red Civic Type R style interior treatment here. MG has opted to carry over the minimalist design that no doubt contributes to the sharp pricing.

Probably the only notable difference is the seat trim, with the XPower model getting a combination of synthetic leather and suede for a sportier look and feel. But the rest is largely the same, which detracts slightly from its hot hatch credentials.

On the plus side, the MG4 cabin is generally a well-designed interior space, which is a positive for the XPower’s hot hatch argument, as the idea behind the ‘hot hatch’ is that it can be a practical car during the week and fun on the weekends. 

There’s good room for passengers and luggage, in large part thanks to the relatively slim battery design that frees up more cabin space. Front seat occupants will enjoy the space and good visibility on offer.

Small item storage is very good in the MG4, with a pair of cupholders, a large, flat lidded tray (with one USB-C and one USB-A outlet just above) and the centre console box all fitting between the front seats.

There’s also a wireless smartphone charging pad that sits halfway up the centre fascia, next to the rotary gear selector, but it’s a shallow space so your phone will almost certainly fly out as soon as you begin cornering vigorously.

However, once again highlighting the ways MG has saved money to keep costs down, the back seat accommodation isn’t anywhere near as well appointed.

While the space is adequate for a small hatch, there are no cupholders, no air-conditioning vents and no fold down armrest for those in the back. All they have access to are some pockets on the back of the front seats, including a pair of small ones high on the seat, seemingly designed to accommodate your smartphone.

In another positive for its hot hatch practicality, there are ISOFIX points on the outer rear seats, neatly covered by leather pieces for a cleaner look when you don’t have kids.

As for the boot, the XPower measures the same 363 litres with the seats up which is unchanged from the rest of the MG4 line-up.

Disappointingly, there’s no obvious place to stow the charging cable, even though it comes in a small, neat bag. This is a worryingly common trend with these early generation EVs that shows a lack of practical thinking from the designers.

The MG4 has no under-bonnet storage either, so it feels like a few wasted opportunities for what is a bespoke EV design.

While we’ll dive into performance and the headline figures of the XPower soon, there’s another number that’s arguably more impressive - the price.

The MG4 XPower is priced from $59,990 (plus on-road costs), making it only $4000 more expensive than the range-topping MG4 Essence 77.

More importantly, when compared to the likes of the $72,600 Honda Civic Type R, $68,990 Volkswagen Golf R, $64,190 Toyota GR Corolla and $57,990 Subaru WRX tS Sport the XPower is arguably one of the first EVs to achieve true price parity with its internal combustion engine rivals (although the Cupra Born starts at $59,990 so it can argue the same).

Beyond the performance upgrades we’ll detail below, that price brings a well-equipped car.

The XPower comes with 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights and tail-lights as well as vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality.

It also comes with a six-speaker sound system, Bluetooth, navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a wireless smartphone charging pad and synthetic leather and Alcantara trim. 

There’s the 'MG Pilot' safety package included as standard as well, but we’ll detail that below.

The 'Hunter Green' hero paint colour is exclusive to the XPower in the MG4 range, and is reportedly inspired by an MG land speed record car the legendary Sir Stirling Moss drove in the 1950s.

The MG IM5 Performance is powered by an electric motor on each axle - the rear (372kW/500Nm) more powerful than the front (200kW/300Nm), for overall outputs of 572kW (that’s close to 770hp) and 802Nm of pulling power.

The official term for that amount of grunt is… a lot. And we’ll get to what it means on the road in the Driving section shortly.

This is arguably the biggest single difference between the XPower and the rest of the MG4 line-up. Unlike the others that have a single, rear-mounted electric motor, the XPower adds a second motor on the front axle.

This has an obvious impact on the performance, boosting it from the previous best of 180kW to an impressive 320kW/600Nm.

Having motors on each axle also means the XPower is all-wheel drive, so it has little trouble transferring all that grunt to the road.

So much so that the MG4 XPower is the equal quickest hot hatch on the market (at the time of publication), taking just 3.8 seconds to run 0-100km/h; matching the Audi RS3, with its turbocharged five-cylinder engine.

The MG IM5 Performance features an 800-volt electrical architecture which means the 100kWh NCM battery can accept a DC peak charge of close to 400kW.

Only snag is the highest you’ll currently find in Australia is 350kW. But even at that rate you’ll still be looking at a 30-80 per cent charge in just over 15 minutes. Maximum AC charge rate is 11kW.

Claimed range is 575km (WLTP) which is less than the Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor AWD at 629km.

Over a week of city, suburban and some freeway running we saw average energy use of 20.6kWh/100km which is on the high side for an EV of this size but maybe not for one with this kind of performance potential. 

Interestingly, the XPower is not fitted with the biggest battery in the MG4 range, forgoing the 77kWh version in favour of the 64kWh option.

In the ‘standard’ rear-wheel drive MG4 Excite 64 model this battery can provide up to 450km of range (on the WLTP cycle) but in the XPower that figure is reduced to 400km.

While that’s well short of the 530km offered by the long-range Essence 77 model, it’s still a respectable amount of driving range and should suit your typical hot hatch buyer, who knows performance typically comes at the expense of efficiency.

Our test drive was limited to just two days, so we didn't have the chance to live with the XPower for an extended period, but it managed to make it this reviewer’s preferred hot hatch playground on the edge of the city and back again to home with more than 50 per cent of the battery charge remaining.

This was a trip that included a lot of urban driving, some highway and then some ‘spirited’ running on the twisty road, so there’s enough range from the XPower to meet most buyers' needs.

Across almost seven hours of driving, the MG’s trip computer was claiming an average energy use of 18.6kWh/100km. To replenish the batteries, a 140kW DC charger will take just 30 minutes to take them from 10 to 80 per cent.

The V2L is another nice addition, which allows you to draw power from the battery, if needed, to run small electrical appliances.

The XPower is hardly a car for camping but, for example, if you decided to take it to a track day and want to plug in a kettle to make a hot drink, you can literally plug it into the car. Handy!

First things first, the IM5 Performance is supercar fast. This 2.3-tonne five-seater blazes from 0-100km/h 3.2 seconds and with its dual motors combining to produce 572kW/802Nm, eye-widening performance always resides underneath your right foot.

But it’s not all about straight line speed. Ride comfort is excellent. Underpinned by an all-new platform, the IM5’s suspension is by double wishbones at the front and multi-links at the rear. But the key to its bump and rut smoothing ability is air suspension and ‘continuous control’ active damping.

Fold in double-glazing on the full-length glass roof and side windows, as well as active noise cancellation and you have a serene interior environment at any speed. Also worth noting the front seats are great; as grippy as they are comfortable.

Not only that, despite its relative heft, this mid-sizer steers well, too. Not the last word in road feel but it points accurately and the standard rear steering helps with prompt (but never jerky) cornering turn-in. Flick to ‘Sport’ mode and the IM5 is up for some enthusiastic running.

The rear wheels can turn up to 12 degrees in the opposite direction to the fronts at slow speed, which makes for a usefully tight 10-metre turning circle. But above that, at lesser angles, it adds extra stability and decisiveness in the way the car steers through even tight, twisty sections.

Rubber is top-shelf Pirelli P Zeros on 20-inch alloys (245/40 fr - 275/35 rr) and it grips hard, especially in the wet weather over much of the test period. Braking is solid, as it needs to be, with ventilated discs all around and four-piston callipers at the front. 

No adjustable regen braking but you can feel the ‘Cooperative Regenerative Brake System’ (CRBS) doing its thing when you lift off the accelerator. 

The physical rear view is modest thanks to the slope of the back window reducing its functional area for the driver to that of a 1950s VW Beetle. Even the interior rear-view mirror is tiny and folds up into a recess in the headliner if you’d prefer life without it.

But that’s where a rear camera view popping up on the upper screen display (accessed via the right-hand steering wheel click control) comes in handy. Side camera views are also available as is a 360-degree overhead view, which makes parking straightforward.

If you need more parking help there are various self-parking modes including a nifty ‘Curbside’ function that will realign the car hands-free if you’re parallel parked too far out from the kerb.

In a similar vein, a ‘Rainy Night’ mode projects left and right rear views onto the main screen using AI to enhance clarity and highlight pedestrians and cars.

Overall the ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) are relatively unobtrusive but we found ourselves switching off the incessant overspeed chime that sounds for 10 seconds if you creep over the indicated speed limit, even when the system has misfired on the correct speed. For example, 40km/h school zones on a Sunday.

The over-zealous driver distraction warning also occasionally issued a visual and audible slap on the wrist when I was looking straight ahead. Tellingly, there’s a specific quick screen for turning both these functions off, but it kinda defeats the purpose of having them in the first place.

We also found the adaptive cruise control to be hesitant in multi-lane environments, reducing speed occasionally because the system seemingly believed a car was set to merge, when it wasn’t.

The real question about the XPower is not if it’s quick, because all EVs and especially those with dual motors tend to be very rapid in a straight line, but how it handles itself on a twisty road.

That’s what separates a good hot hatch from a great one, but it’s also an area EVs have struggled in, because the combination of silence, weight and just the fact they’re new and different tends to mean they lack the driving engagement of more established competition.

Hot hatches also need to play a dual role, as daily transport and weekend fun machine, so that’s another factor to consider.

So, how does the MG4 XPower stack up? Well, the unsurprising news is it’s very, very quick. The acceleration is ferocious and really shoves you back in your seat, leaving you in no doubt that it will leave most of its hot hatch rivals (with the exception of the Audi RS3) in its dust.

When the going gets twisty though the XPower feels like it lets its rivals catch back up. There are different driving modes and switching to ‘Sport’ and reducing the regenerative braking makes a notable difference to the way the XPower handles.

The steering gets heavier and it will roll and coast into corners more like a petrol-powered hatch. It makes for a very competent car, with direct steering and good road holding… but not a great hot hatch.

It lacks the engagement and excitement that the best hot hatches offer. For example, the steering gets heavier in Sport mode, but doesn’t provide any more feedback to the driver. The Bridgestone Turanza tyres do a fine job but they lack the grip of a Michelin Pilot Sport. 

The lasting impression on the driver is a car that feels quick but doesn’t leave you wanting more. The best hot hatches make you want to keep on driving and driving, that’s not the case in the XPower.

As a daily driver it’s arguably better than its rivals, though, with quiet, effortless commuting potential thanks to its electric powertrain.

There’s the usual passive safety features, including six airbags as well as the required stability controls, anti-lock brakes and the like, however the XPower also comes equipped with the MG Pilot suite of active safety features as standard.

MG Pilot includes autonomous emergency braking, lane keeping assist, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

Thanks to all of this safety gear, the MG4 range was awarded a maximum five-star ANCAP assessment, when it was tested in 2022.

The MG IM5 Performance is covered by a seven-year/unlimited km warranty, which is a plus, but the catch is it’s conditional on authorised dealer servicing. Go elsewhere and the term drops to a more common five years/unlimited km. The drive battery is covered for eight years/160,000km, which is the norm in the Aussie market

Servicing is required every 12 months or 20,000km with charges averaging $586 per workshop visit for the first five years, which is on the high side for an EV, even at this price point, the average bumped up by a more than $1400 doozy at year four.

MG IM models are sold (with service available) through all of MG’s 100-plus dealerships across the country, so no concerns there.

Like every MG sold in Australia, the MG4 XPower is covered by the brand’s seven-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, which is industry standard for high-volume brands these days.

As for servicing, the intervals are also the same as the rest of the MG4 range, which means a lengthy two years or 40,000km, whichever comes first, between visits to the dealership.

That’s much longer than your typical petrol-powered hot hatch, which has more moving parts that need servicing. 

In terms of costs, the XPower is ever-so-slightly more expensive compared to the rest of the MG4 line-up.

A minor service is the same $296 but a major service (which comes every second service) will cost you $962.

But even so, for the first six years you’ll only be up for $1554 in servicing costs, which is comparatively cheap amongst its hot hatch rivals, and only $76 more than you’ll pay for any other MG4.