MINI Cooper S Convertible
Its a tempting combination. The full-on personality of the supercharged MINI Cooper S allied to full-on soft top treatment. Of course, the end result isnt cheap, but if you want the biggest helping of fun ever crammed into a compact convertible, heres where to look.
The competition, it has to be said, isnt that hot. If you want a soft-top tot for tooling to the shops and trundling about on a summers day, there are plenty of good-looking cars that come to mind. If, on the other hand, you want a car that stands up when the going gets twisty, the choice gets a whole lot more limited. Keen drivers will look to the Smart Roadster, Fords Streetka and the MINI Convertible.
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Standard equipment includes the fully electric roof, Park Distance Control and 16-inch X lite alloy wheels. Just remember that the 17-inch five-star bullet alloys fill the wheel arches even better. Then theres that stereo upgrade and so on. Its not tricky to differentiate this model from its humbler siblings.
The bonnet sits 40mm higher than other MINIs to accommodate the added air intake scoop, necessary to cool the supercharger that boosts power from the standard Coopers 115bhp to some 170 braked horses - in excess of 100bhp per litre for those who cant be bothered with the mental arithmetic. What will matter to most is the fact that the Cooper S Convertible can notch off the sprint to 60mph in just 7.2 seconds and keep going until 134mph. The joy of the supercharged engine is its flexibility and in fourth gear itll punt the MINI from 50 to 75mph in just 6.
6 seconds. Which is just as well as its no great aural delight, the whine of the supercharger sounding like the Seven Milkfloats Of The Apocalypse when at full chat.
"Id wager that most Cooper S Convertibles will trundle from dealerships knocking on the door of £20,000"
One of the key aims when designing the Convertible was to offer the fun of top-down motoring without sacrificing too much in terms of space and driving dynamics. Imagine a shoe box with the lid on it. Its quite rigid but if you pop the lid off it suddenly becomes a rather wobbly thing. The same applies to convertible cars when their hard tops are removed and a lot of work goes into remedial reinforcement work to rectify this.
If youve ever wondered why soft top cars are often heavier than their tin top equivalents, now you know. MINI claim their Convertible offers the same go-kart style handling as the hatch and this is testament to thorough bracing. The roof itself is a fully automatic fabric affair, MINI wisely choosing to reject the far more complex folding hard top fashion. Opting for this more complex engineering solution would not only have ruined the MINIs shape but also severely impinged on its luggage space.
As it stands, the MINI retains a characteristic profile with the roof in place yet looks appealingly cheeky with the hood down. Press a button once and the roof slides back by 40cm, creating a sunroof effect. Press it again and the hood retracts fully, folding down behind the rear seats. Its not the neatest stowing arrangement but it only takes 15 seconds to get there and youll retain a healthy 120 litres of storage space in the boot.
The boot itself is worth taking a look at and its not often I find myself saying that in a road test. Its redolent of the original Mini insofar as it has a drop down lid which can double as a loading platform. A pair of steel cables mounted on a sprung retractor act as boot hinges and can hold up to 80kg which in old money is nigh on 13 stone. With the roof in place i.
e. up - theres 165 litres of stowage space but those wishing to transport bulkier items are also accommodated. By flicking a pair of levers located in the boot, the rear fastening of the roof can be detached, allowing the entire rear section to be raised. This in turn creates a wider space through which bigger items can be loaded.
Couple that with the folding rear seats and youll be able to jemmy in some surprisingly loads. MINI claim a total capacity of 605 litres. Clamber underneath and youll spot BMWs Z-axle multi-link rear suspension, now made even more responsive with reinforced anti-roll bars on both axles and firmer springs that balance the increased engine output and lower the cars centre of gravity. This produces optimum road contact and cuts down on the kind of body roll you get when taking bends at speed.
The excellent weight distribution (63% on the front wheels and 37% on the rear) also helps here. The MINI people reckon that you should be able to achieve a combined fuel consumption figure of around 32mpg but I cant see how, assuming youre intending to drive the car in the manner intended (and if not, why bother with it in the first place?). In a day of hard driving, I struggled to get more than 250 miles from a tankful pretty horrendous for a small car, even a very fast one. Still, superchargers have always been thirsty beasts: ask anyone who runs a Jaguar XJR. Approach Cooper S Convertible ownership on the understanding that the £17,960 asking price is just a starting point on top of which you load options, then work out your ongoing cost of ownership on that basis and you shouldnt be disappointed. Theres certainly not a great deal wrong with the product. Yes, the hood could fold down neater, there could be more space in the rear and the supercharged engine does make a rather unusual note but all of that can be forgiven merely by the way the Cooper S Convertible goes, stops and steers.
Now its up to the rest to try to build something half as much fun.
Facts At A Glance
CAR: MINI Cooper S Convertible
PRICE: £17,960 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 16
CO2 EMISSIONS: 211g/km
PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 134mph / 0-60mph 7.2s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: 32.1mpg (combined)
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front and side airbags, ASC+T, ABS with EBD
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height 3626/1925/1396mm
