Mini Cooper Convertible review: who else makes a car like this?

Ah. The new Mini Cooper Convertible.

It’s suddenly something of an outlier. Who else makes a car like this? It’s also not, as you might have been expecting, fully electric. Or indeed wholly new.

Why ever not?

It’s a little bit confusing. Although the Cooper, Aceman and Countryman are all available with full electrification, the Convertible isn’t. Yet. Mini is hedging its bets – perhaps wisely given what’s happening in the automotive market right now – and combustion engined Minis run in parallel alongside their electric siblings.

They use an upgraded version of the existing platform (as opposed to the new JO1 electric one, co-developed with China’s Great Wall Motors). An electric convertible is under consideration, but no decision has been made yet. The numbers might stack up in the fullness of time, but not yet.

Hang on. Wasn’t there an electric version of the previous Mini?

There was indeed. But it was limited to 999 units globally, of which a mere 150 landed in the UK. A bona fide rarity.

Got it. So what’s new here?

More than you might think at first glance. Mini regards this as the fourth-generation Convertible, and the only panels that are carried over from the previous iteration are the doors. The front grille gets a revised surround and circular LED headlights. Issues with the body structure mean that the vertical rear lights remain, with or without the jingoistic Union Jack motif. That also appears on the canvas roof, which retains its three-stage configuration. Partial retraction gives you a sunroof, the whole thing folding away – though not completely out of view – in 18 seconds at speeds up to 19mph.

Engines?

The Convertible runs the 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo – B48 in BMW Group parlance – which makes 161bhp in Cooper form and 201bhp in the Cooper S. There’s also a JCW with 231bhp, but it’s the Cooper S we’re driving here. Note, that the three- and five-door hatches use the 1.5-litre three-pot engines. Because the Convertible is heavier, it gets the bigger unit. In Cooper S guise, it weighs 1,380kg.

You’re right. There’s a lot of mixing and matching going on.

Indeed. The Mini family has expanded to the extent that it now encompasses three different platforms, if you’re counting. Apparently there was a determined debate internally about whether the Convertible should continue at all, so we’re lucky it’s here. It’s manufactured in Plant Oxford, and in this revised form makes a strong case for itself.

If you like that sort of thing. It’s not a sports car, though, is it?

It’s not, and you might be better off in a Mazda MX-5 if you want a roadster. Or indeed satisfyingly adjustable old-school rear drive handling chops. But an impressive amount of re-engineering versus the regular hatch means that the Mini Convertible is polished in most key respects. There’s a V-shaped brace on the under-body below the front seats to boost structural rigidity, and the bigger engine brings with it improvements in NVH.

The front track is a little wider, there’s a faster steering ratio, and the suspension has been revised for tauter responses. The springs and dampers are firmer. It rides and handles sweetly, and it’s only on really rubbish surfaces that you’ll detect any structural wobbles. The seven-speed dual shift ’box is smooth if a little… stand-offish. Zero to 62mph in the Cooper S takes 6.9 seconds; top speed is 147mph. The S delivers between 42.8 and 43.5mpg WLTP.

It all sounds terribly grown-up. Isn’t a Mini meant to be, erm, a bit of a go-kart?

They’re hanging onto that idea. As on other Minis, the Convertible gets the full set of ‘Experience’ modes, seven in all, including Green, Core and yes, Go-Kart, which alters the throttle mapping and beefs up the steering feel, amongst other things. There’s the same daft ‘woo-hoo’ sound when you engage it, but you can turn that off.

The Sport pack tweaks the suspension further, there are styling upgrades, and it adds paddle shifters. It’s £3,500 on top of the entry price but we’d definitely recommend it, if only to regain some semblance of manual control on the transmission. The car we drove feels diminished without them. Classic and Exclusive packages are also available.

Presumably the Convertible gets the latest Mini interior treatment?

It does, and the central 9.5in OLED dominates things inside. This updates the original Mini’s celebrated circular instrument panel in clever/could-be-a-bit-too-clever-for-its-own-good fashion. The upper half shows speed and other vehicle-related info, and can be displayed full-screen. At the bottom sits a little menu bar that houses the controls for climate, audio, navigation or phone, with a home button in the middle. Double tap that and you’re off into the wider menu and an ever-evolving App universe.

Driver and passenger temperature controls are on the lower left and right portion of the screen. Swipe up to summon a ‘tool belt’ where favourite functions can be stored. There’s a shortcut button on the steering wheel for that, too. Flicking between all this and Apple CarPlay is easy enough, although the CarPlay display itself is relegated to a small rectangle within the screen and looks increasingly old-fashioned (Apple’s update on that is now well overdue).

Beneath the screen is the ‘toggle bar’ that houses a start/stop ‘key’, the gear selector, park button, and volume control for the audio. It all works beautifully, although some of the stylish screen icons are a tad small. Under that sits a second row of switchgear, including hazard warning and the vitally important one that brings up the ADAS stuff, so you can lose the lane assist and speed limit warning swiftly and without wanting to slap yourself in the face repeatedly.

The Convertible also gets something called the ‘always open timer’, which monitors the amount of time the roof is down. And another app tracks the weather to warn of impending downpours. You can also use your smartphone as a ‘digital’ key. The dash is covered in a sustainable textile, feels fantastic and absorbs heat. It also distracts the eye from the less tactile materials elsewhere. There are some hard plastics hereabouts.

Boot space?

Ha. Good one.

Not a load lugger, then.

Of course not. There’s 160 litres of boot space, enough for a small suitcase or some Selfridge’s shopping bags. It takes a surprisingly hefty slam to shut it, too.

Conclusions?

If you’re in the market for a small soft-top, look no further. Even if you wanted to, there’s not much else out there. The Convertible C starts at £27,120, the Cooper S £31,570. We’d go for the Sport pack on top of that, no question, but we suspect that might not be a deal-breaker for the likely Convertible buyer. The new interior is a USP in its own right.