MINI Convertible review
by Mike Grundon (20 March 2009)
The MINI Convertible has always been a hugely desirable car, a fact reflected in its almost unnatural ability to hold onto its secondhand value. But now a new range is being launched with so many important improvements that it's going to whip up the lust even further.
The 2009 Convertible is about a thousand pounds more expensive but it's bigger, better-equipped, more rigid, lighter, quicker, faster, safer, more economical and cleaner. There'll be no base-model MINI One Convertible till the first quarter of 2010, but from launch there'll be a quick Cooper model, an even more rapid Cooper S and, for the first time ever, an inspirational John Cooper Works performance model.
The new Convertible is a fabric-topped 2+2 which looks amazingly similar to its predecessor – which is a Jolly Good Thing as we all know the image of the MINI is as important as its agility and performance. It's got a raised shoulder line and a lowered roof line but even the nerdiest spotter will have to look closely to work out it's the new car he's looking at. As before, don't expect the back seats to be usable by anyone enjoying the luxury of legs.
There are more things to say than I've got space for here but we're told the cars are now 10% stiffer and yet they're 10kg lighter. They're powered by variations on a 1.6-litre petrol engine and all get six-speed gearboxes as standard, though a paddle-shift auto box can be specified. There are still no plans for a diesel.
Across the range, fuel economy has been improved by around 10mpg and carbon dioxide emissions have been reduced by about a fifth. Even taken on their own, both are such huge steps forwards that you could almost wonder what the company has been playing at up till now.
The Cooper uses the normally-aspirated version of the engine which turns out 118bhp. It'll dash through the 62mph mark 9.8 seconds after take-off and storm on up to a top speed of 123mph. In these days of unpredictable fuel costs and environmental awareness it's good to know it will go almost 50 miles on a gallon of unleaded and its CO2 emissions are down to 137g/km.
On the road it's an enthusiastic little car. What it lacks in pure performance it makes up for in sure-footed nimbleness. That short wheelbase, responsive steering and solid suspension add up to a fun little ducker and weaver, and even with the roof and all the windows open, at motorway speeds there's little more than a stirring of light airs in the cabin.
If you want a bit more storm in your life, the Cooper S is the next up the tree. It adds a turbocharger to breath enthusiasm into the progress, and £3000 to the price tag. It's as left-and-right as its little sister but the power has been boosted to 173bhp, the sprint time shaved to 7.4 seconds and the top speed stretched out to 138mph. Fuel consumption drops a bit to 44.1mpg and the carbon dioxide output rises to 153g/km but neither of those figures are prohibitive.
Driving this version is top fun. It just eats up the road as it dashes out across the countryside. It's best on the twisty country roads where it can show off its solid suspension and quick steering though the bends. Slotting up and down through the gearbox is so much fun you want to do it as often as possible and it has enough power and torque to make you look forward to tight, slow corners, just so you can experience the acceleration to the next one.
Only trackday enthusiasts will get the best value out of the John Cooper Works Convertible because although it has some serious go about it, the jump in price is difficult to justify by the jump in performance. It's still only a 1.6-litre, four-cylinder engine under that sculpted bonnet, but the power is pumped up to a snorting 208bhp which is enough to take the 0-62 sprint time down to just under seven seconds. Believe it or not, the JCW is good for 146mph and yet it will still do an official average 39.8 miles on a gallon of petrol.
With an on-the-road price of £23,470, it's almost £4500 more than the Cooper S which is already enough of a car for most of us. On the track, however, the extra money shows its real value as the improvements beyond just the engine output come into their own.
I took one round the Circuit Pau Arnos down near the Pyrenees, and came away with what felt like pure adrenaline pumping round my veins. Stamping down on the accelerator on this occasion brought a trumpeting "brap" from the exhaust and a suitably stirring leap forward. Hard acceleration along the straights was reined in before the corners by powerful brakes.
I'm no race driver but working to the instructions of my coach, the car felt like it became an extension of my body. I could place it exactly where I wanted it on the strip, which meant very close to the kerbs in fast snaking combinations, and right on the marked "ideal" apex points. Turning off the two-stage traction control electronics and pushing out harder, I found that when the car drifted, it was perfectly balanced and relatively easy to control.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, it's difficult to criticise a car that's become as much a modern-day icon as the original Issigonis-designed Mini – for instance you can overlook things like the way the fabric top sits tight but untidy on the top of the boot. However, the large speedometer in the middle of the centre console is, despite its heritage roots, now looking incongruous and inappropriate.
I have to mention an optional extra called the Openometer (no, honest) which measures how long you keep the roof open. You could ask me why easier than I could answer you, but the boys from BMW says it's a "fun feature". In my view it would be a bit more fun if it didn't partly mask off the air blower in the dash. Truth is it also looks a bit Halfords and your £115 could be better spent.
The final analysis, though, is that the best has just got even better. The driver in me applauds the improvements in performance, the romantic in me rejoices at the buffet-free joy of open-sky entertainment, and my conscience is gratified by the newfound economy and low-smoke tailpipes. In short the Convertible offers guilt-free fun in spades. My personal choice – a Cooper S in red with a black roof, black alloys and black bonnet and tail stripes. Yum.
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