Similarly, the Chery Tiggo 9 has 422bhp and feels rather clumsy on a twisty road because its chassis struggles to cope with so much power. The ludicrously quick 429bhp MG4 XPower does get some suspension upgrades compared with regular versions, but also feels like a bit of a loose cannon as it fires you into the next county.
This phenomenon is not just confined to Chinese cars, however. The dual-motor versions of the Volvo EX30, EX40 and EC40 are astonishingly quick, but I think the amount of power they have is over the top.
It comes down to a matter of trust. For a long time, we didn’t trust a Ford Mustang to go around corners as fast as a BMW M3 and, for me, it’s the same with these cars. I’m always more tentative behind the wheel of one of them because I’m not sure what might happen if I approach a corner at the great speeds they can so easily reach.
And with these cars being so fast, drivers who have never had access to so much firepower can easily find themselves going way beyond the speed limit without even trying. A 400bhp+ family car sounds like a fun idea, plus it’s great the first time you launch it. But you might not feel quite so clever after your third speeding ticket.
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