Stuff Top Cars: MG, Lotus and BMW scoop awards
A luxury behemoth, cut-price EV hatch and striking sports car are Stuff Top Cars trophy recipients.
Stuff, in conjunction with Vermeulen Officer Media, is proud to confirm its second three award-winning cars from this year’s Top Cars campaign. Last week, our winners of the Top Light Commercial, Top Family Car (under $60,000) and Top Family Car (over $60,000) were announced as the Ford Ranger, Honda CR-V and Ford Mustang Mach-E.
This week, we crown our most affordable and most expensive award winners of 2024; a fully electric hatchback from China, a midengined British sports car and a suave (and expensive) super sedan from Germany.
Top Small Car: MG4
The rapid rise in quality of the cars being produced in China was something most petrol-headed pundits forecast years ago. But even so, it was still a little jarring to see a vehicle from the region land in local showrooms late last year that was just so well rounded, so comprehensive and so perfect for the moment.
At a time when the industry was craving affordable pure electrification a few years ago, along came MG with the
ZS SUV, the first EV to be sold in New Zealand priced under $50,000.
And last year, the brand one-upped itself by releasing the first EV to be priced locally under $40,000 (Clean Car Discount leg-up considered) – our Top Small Car of 2024, the MG4. The MG4 isn’t just good because it’s cheap. It’s good because it’s … good. Very good, actually.
We spent an extensive amount of time driving the cheapest model over the holiday period, coupled with a few stints driving the long-range 77kWh, 530km variant and even a stint with the utterly bonkers dual-motor 0–100kph in 3.8-seconds MG4 XPower.
In other words, we know the model like the back of our hand.
Excellent to drive, more planted and solid to drive than most other small cars, generous with its standard kit, the MG4 is a genuinely difficult-to-fault Top Cars candidate. We had five of them filter through the Stuff test vehicle pool last year, and didn’t once observe any rattles or creaks. Expectations were high, but the MG4 exceeded them.
Top Driver’s Car: Lotus Emira
The Best Driver’s Car award is always interesting. It doesn’t necessarily mean the best sports car or fastest supercar – it’s the vehicle that gave us the biggest grins, made us laugh out loud, set off the fizz. The stunning Lotus Emira is our Top Driver’s Car of 2023, edging the enormously capable Honda Civic Type R and riveting rear-driven BMW M2.
When pondering the Emira, Lotus went with its tried-and-true Toyota-derived 3.5-litre supercharged V6, producing 300kW/430Nm paired with a beautifully snickety manual transmission.
Its howling V6 noise far surpasses its humble Camry origins, growling and rumbling at idle and absolutely screaming at the redline. And it pulls like hell, banging into the limiter without any sense of slowing down. The gear shifts are easy and tactile, particularly going from second to third, and there’s a delightful crackle on the overrun that’s especially pronounced in the sportier modes.
While the Emira might not win the outright power wars, nor the 0-100kph runs (those metrics belong to the brutally fast performance EVs), Lotus’ typically incredible chassis development means it dances rings around the straight-line heroes. The balance of the car is unreal, largely thanks to the alloy donk sitting behind the seats.
The front end is highly communicative, the steering wheel reactive without being too heavy, and the rear end sticks even with the most aggressive of throttle applications. Of course there are plenty of electronics keeping you on the road, but they feel very background.
Similarly, there’s very little in the way of driver-aid stuff. You get electronic stability control and ABS ... and that’s about it. No active roll control, torque vectoring or even adaptive dampers in the suspension. Just a limited-slip differential and a seriously good chassis. And, the Emira is all the better for it. It’s an unforgettable driver’s car.
Top Luxury Car: BMW i7
Three hundred thousand dollars. You could buy a bungalow in Dunedin for that, maybe, or one of Picasso’s crappier paintings. You could also buy a car that we think represents the current ultimate in luxury motoring; the BMWi7.
After a fairly quiet period, it seems like BMW is in a purple patch of form – namely with its pure electric products. The i7 steers the ship, displaying incredible technologies and design elements that will likely trickle down not only to future BMW products, but will quietly be adopted grudgingly by the Bavarian carmaker’s peers.
If you have thoughts about the i7’s exterior styling, you are not alone. It has certainly been a topic of debate during Top Cars judging. Bold and imposing are two terms even the harshest critic cannot deny. It’s the interior that matters most, really, and here the i7 puts on a spectacular show.
It’s hard to know where’s best to begin, whether it’s the intricate and prolific ambient lighting via the customisable ‘Interaction Bar’, the y sumptuous and commodious rear seats, the 35-speaker Bowers & Wilkins sound system or the control panels in the back doors for rear-mounted passengers. The list of toys BMW has crammed in the new 7 is never ending.
More to the point, the i7 feels streaks ahead of its immediate rivals, to the point where it positions itself in the same conversation as its distant cousin, the RollsRoyce Ghost. It feels exclusive, smooth, and – above all else – special.
Keep an eye out next week as Stuff Top Cars names the recipient of the inaugural Top Cars People’s Choice award and crowns its overall Top Car for 2024.