BMW's fuel efficient Mini continues to go from strength to strength. It's been around many years now and continues to be a success. All types of Mini are available now. Besides the standard Cooper you can get extra power from the turbocharged Cooper S. There's the Works Mini for even more performance and a convertible Mini. The Clubman is a longer Mini in the style of a station wagon with barn doors at the rear. Soon BMW will add a soft roader (probably the latter half of 2010) and an electric Mini to the ranks. Their newest Mini however, is the release of an updated soft top.
The new fuel efficient convertible is available as the familiar Mini Cooper and Cooper S breeds. These cars both have a 1.6 litre engine and both are available in manual or auto. The main difference between the two is an awesome turbocharger which lifts the Cooper S power output to 175 horsepower compared to 120 from the standard Cooper. The 120 bhp engine with variable valve timing is an ok engine for the metal roofed Mini but the convertible is heavier and as a result performance is quite average with this engine.The gadgetry for the auto opening roof adds quite a bit of weight to the soft top. The 175 bhp turbocharged engine on the other hand deals with the extra weight effortlessly and the car feels responsive, quick and agile, which is exactly what you want from the fun little Mini. The 1.6 turbo is an amazing engine and has lots of torque no matter what revs you're sitting on which is a great achievement from an engine so small.
For the non turbo convertible a very good fuel efficiency of 49 miles per gallon is returned for the manual and 42 for the auto. The turbo version is not such a fuel efficient car but still has a pretty good fuel economy of 42 mpg for the manual and 39 mpg for the automatic. The Mini fuel consumption figures are calculated with the soft top up because better fuel economy is achieved this way due to less wind resistance. It would be interesting to know how much less efficient the Mini is with the roof down, but unfortunately these tests are not carried out on convertibles. We think the six speed manual gearbox is the best choice of transmission. Its much more fun than the auto which is what the Mini is all about. The manual gear changes are short, smooth and sweet. The automatic is a bit sluggish by comparison although a Sports setting does speed it up a little.
The convertible roof of the Mini ticks all the right boxes. Ease of use is good, its quick to operate and it appears solidly built. It looks good too. The soft top initially opens up as a sunroof and then when you press the button again the roof opens up all the way down. Driving with the top down is neither excessively windy nor noisy, but it is heaps of fun although I'm not sure if the thrill would wear off after a while. A timer that BMW have coined the 'Openometer' tells you how long you've had the roof down. It seems a bit pointless but BMW think it will be useful to let you know how much exposure to the sun your skin's had (or you could just use suncream?). The hard top Mini has better backwards visibility than the soft top but its certainly not a deal breaker.
There's lots of optional extras you can get for the new fuel efficient convertible Mini but be prepared to part with a fair amount of money. Well, quite a lot of money actually. Available features include a better quality 10 speaker hi-fi system, support for phone and mp3 player, stiffer suspension, stability control, heated leather front seats, steering wheel with hands free operations, mood lighting and climate control.
Most cars which are made into convertibles do not drive as well afterwards. This is both because they weigh more than before and they lose stiffness previously provided by the metal roof. These factors can cause sloppy road handling. Thankfully for the Mini its handling remains excellent despite its roof being chopped off! Unless you're really pushing the car to its limits you really won't notice the tiny loss of stiffness in the chassis. For those wanting to further improve the Mini convertible's road handling there's an optional sports suspension package.
The interior of the Mini looks great. No boring bits here. Everything is
very stylish. A new feature is the mood lighting option enabling you to
change the color of the cabin lighting. In the front seats, the car feels
very roomy, in the back it feels cramped but no more so than other cars
this size.
On the subject of safety, the fuel efficient Mini gets five stars from crash tests. It has front and side airbags and stability control is an option. An extra safety feature which is standard in the soft top is a roll sensor which causes a protective rollbar to pop up in the event of an accident where the car rolls over.
BMW's new Mini Cooper S convertible ticks all the right boxes apart from price. Its well built, quick, enormous fun, yet still a fuel efficient small car. Even if you buy the standard vehicle its quite expensive for such a tiny car. Select a few options and you'll really feel the pain.