MINI2 Full Driving Review from Marseille, France

The MINI Cooper Convertible is a pretty impressive car really. Almost peerless, and already selling like hot cakes well ahead of launch. With the latest addition to the MINI family, BMW Group appear to have another guaranteed hit on their hands. It’s a safe bet to say that this will be one of “the cars” to be seen in following it’s launch this summer, but have BMW managed to keep the MINI the real “drivers car” that’s won over the motoring press and the car buying public so empathically, or has it all one a bit floppy with the roof peeled off?

The Cooper Convertible is effectively the “mid range” MINI Convertible. The Cooper S Convertible will go on saleshortly afterwards and will be shown to the public for the
first time in May at the Madrid, then shortly after Birmingham
motor shows. In addition certain markets such as the UK and
much of Europe will also be offered the base model MINI One
in soft top guise.

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Despite the cool weather all journalists peeled away from Marseille airport with the roof rolled back, exposed to the elements and ready for a good open air blast. After all, what’s the point in driving a Convertible if you’re not going to endure, sorry, enjoy the elements while you drive?!

Almost immediately, myself and my navigator felt the benefit of the optional heated seats, auto air-con and wind deflector that was installed across the rear seats! The wind deflector in particular made a terrific difference to the battering the rear of our heads were being exposed to, despite appearing almost too diminutive to have any real effect. This is one option box I’d whole heartedly suggest buyers of the Convertible check, especially if you intend to drive the car above 60 mph without and rear seat passengers! If you plan on havingrear seat passengers, I’d suggest they wear hats.

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During the course of the event we covered over 300 km’s in the Cooper Convertible, and the incredibly scenic, tremendously twisty mountainous roads of the region provided a stern test, not only for the chassis, but also of how the power plant copes with the extra weight (around 100 kg). The undulating roads also provided a great opportunity to get to grips with the new Getrag 5 speed gearbox that will replace the current Midland Gears unit across the Cooper and One model range in the summer this year.

Initial impressions of the way the car behaved on the road were all good. With the roof down, and windows up, we found driving conditions that both myself and passenger were more than happy to live with, and the noise was surprisingly bearable, even at fast motorway speeds with the roof fully reclined we were able to hold civilised conversation without becoming horse through shouting at one another! Later in the journey, with the roof closed, the noise level was again suitably impressive.
Sure it’s noisier than the tin top, but the roof felt extremely tight and solid, and wind noise, for a car of this type, was impressively unintrusive. The down side to having the soft top sealed up is the car feels extremely dark and the rear view is dreadful through the small window and rollover bar. Headroom however remains impressive for a car of this size.

During the latter stages of our drive we also decided to try the unique “sunroof” feature of the MINI Convertible, which allows the first section of the roof to be peeled back
and closed at speeds of up to 75 mph (120 km/h). This proved to be as gimmicky as it first appeared, and while it might be good at lower speeds, we found it was both noisy and directed the flowing air directly into our faces once traveling at speed. To be honest, if you’re going to open the roof, I’d suggest going all the way and not bothering with this clever, but none too useful “featurette”.

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The MINI Convertible is a very different animal, in terms of construction, to it’s hatch back brethren. Dr Anton Heiss, head of plant Oxford is quoted as saying that “The introduction of the MINI Convertible as a second body variant within the MINI family has added considerably to the production production process’ complexity. In aggregate, over 1,200 new part numbers and 650 components have been added”.

For passive safety, and general motoring stability, the open MINI has many unique features that contribute towards BMW’s efforts to keep the driving experience as “MINI”
as possible, as well as protecting the occupants. The torsional stiffness of the MINI Convertible is 9000Nm per degree of twist, which is pretty good for a Convertible. Measures taken to improve the safety and handling characteristics in the body include using thicker steel (three times as thick as the hard top) in the sills, and the use of additional crossbars in the area of the B-pillars as well as at the rear of the car. Additional V-struts have been installed between the underbody and the rear axle, in addition to struts between the engine mount and the strut tower. For protection in the case of a roll, the front windshield panel conceals a tube of high strength steel integrated into the A-pillars (which can absorb 1.5 times the mass of the car). The rear roll bar is constructed of high strength aluminium tubing.

Overall, these unique design elements and the MINIs basic benefits of direct steering and a short, wide body with the wheels at each corner have made for an impressive driving experience. Certainly it’s fair to say the car isn’t as overall solid feeling as the tin top MINI, but it would be unfair to expect an identical experience, however any shaking or rattling is kept to an absolute minimum and at times, if it were not for the wind blowing in your hair and the sun beating down on you, you could almost forget you were in an open topped car at all. The roads we encountered were testing for both car and driver, and the car came out admirably! While I couldn’t say the car felt “just like the hard top version”, it’s so close, and so solid, I believe MINI have done a fantastic job.

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The new gearbox is also an improvement over the current unit, and helps add to the overall experience and quality feel of the Convertible. The 5 speed box, manufactured by Getrag, who also produce the 6 speed unit found in the MINI Cooper S, offers an overall more solid and sporty feel than the Midland Gears ‘box. Shifting is slightly more notchy, and I didn’t hear a single complaint or hear any gear crunching as people put the car into reverse gear! A big thumbs up from me there. However, for all the plus points of the Cooper Convertible, I was left with much more of a feeling that it was absolutely fantastic as a “cruising car”. Strolling through the mountains eating up curve after curve I began to feel quite at home and cozy behind the wheel. The car didn’t really feel that sporty, which is of course where the Cooper name has it’s heritage. Perhaps I was just enjoying the Convertible experience all too much, but after spending time charging around and working the gears to keep the Cooper “in the sweet zone”, I came to the conclusion the car was best enjoyed in a laid back, swinging along, taking in the sites, sounds and smells fashion, rather than the usual country lane flying I’ve become accustomed to driving hard topped MINIs over the years. That’s not a criticism, it’s just another way of enjoying the MINI, something new the Convertible has brought to the table for MINI owners to enjoy, and really, that’s what open air driving is about, enjoying the elements.

The interior of the MINI Convertible is slightly different to the current MINI range, but all the new features will appear in the new look MINI which is appearing in July 2004. The changes are all pretty minor, and even the sum total adds up to very little. The new curved door pulls/arm rests are more functional now as armrests, however they make fishing objects out of the door pockets a very tricky affair. There is a new coin tray under the hand brake/emergency brake which is a nice idea, but it’s so small and shallow I wouldn’t rely on it to hold anything much if you’re into “spirited” driving. The new cubby hole under the toggle panel, comparatively speaking, is a useful addition.

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I drove three different Convertibles during the course of the launch and each had a slightly different interior configuration. All cars either came equipped with Sat Nav, or the optional Chrono Pack, so there wasn’t a huge centre speedo in sight, quite a rare thing when you have a gathering of MINI Coopers! The new optional chrome interior pack won me over, it’s good looking and feels high quality compared to some after market kits I’ve handled. The body coloured dash panel (only seen on the launch in “Hot Orange”) is also bound to be a popular feature. Although not to my own tastes, I can see the appeal and it certainly brightens up the interior of the car nicely. My initial impressions of the Chrono Pack have been reinforced, I think it’s a bit of a mess.

One bug bear that is accentuated with the roof down, is the vast array of information they are forced to try and accommodate on the two dials in front of the driver when you have either the Chrono Pack or Sat Nav options. For example the clock is now on a shared LED display section with the trip computer, so you have to toggle between the two using a small button on the dials (the trip reset button). I found this annoying and not a very neat solution. The reason the Convertible increase my displeasure is the smaller orange LED readouts, when exposed to even moderate sunlight, become extremely difficult to read. I often found myself straining my eyes and covering the dials
with my hands so I could keep track of mileage. An important thing to do when following an unknown route in a foreign land! How MINI could solve this issue I don’t know, maybe brighter lights and a less reflective plastic covering, but it really was one of the few things (along with the sunroof) which left me unimpressed!

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In summary it’s fair to say I was extremely impressed with the MINI Cooper Convertible, and I’m sure it will prove a big hit for BMW who expect around 20% of MINIs produced to be the soft top variant. This isn’t due to the lack of real competition either, the car is just fantastic fun to drive, and handles exceptionally well, even at high speed on the most demanding roads you can throw it around. Best enjoyed in the sun, at a steady pace, this car will appeal to a broad market and adds a fresh new perspective to the world of MINI ownership. Despite the small compromises that have been made (4 cm less rear leg room/foot room, a smaller boot capacity if you want to put the top down, to name a few), the results of BMW’s efforts to keep the MINI driving experience in tact while removing vast amounts of glass of metals have to be commended.

The only problem now is we cant wait to drive the Cooper S Convertible! Hats off to the drop top MINI!

> Visit the MINI Convertible image gallery by clicking here.