Mini Cooper Convertible

The Mini Cooper Convertible S is the soft drop top version of the standard Cooper S, which is one of the most loved hot hatchbacks by driving enthusiasts globally. The Cooper Convertible is not just the only convertible hatchback in India, but also the most affordable convertible in India, irrespective of the body style.

If you like driving and the idea of convertibles entices you, the Mini Cooper Convertible S might just be exactly what you need. Let’s take a look at it in detail:

The design of the Mini Cooper has evolved over the years. It has grown significantly, and yet, it still retains that quirk and charm of the original Cooper. 

As far as the Convertible is concerned, the design isn’t very different to the standard car. The nose looks cute with the circular LED headlights with different LED patterns inside that can be tweaked from the infotainment system. The slim band around the grille imitates the design of a gaping mouth, while the grille itself is split into two with a bumper panel which also houses the numberplate. 

The side profile of the car is clean, but also sporty.

The stance is low, the 18-inch alloy wheels are sporty to look at, and this is the angle where you truly appreciate the curves of the car. What you’ll also notice is that the roof doesn’t fold away entirely into the boot, which gives the feel that the car is wearing a hoody of sorts.

This fabric roof takes 18 seconds to open and 15 seconds to close, and it can do so while doing speeds of up to 30kmph. Closing the roof would definitely make sense on a hot summer day, but dropping that top is what will get you the maximum attention. At the back, the first thing you’ll notice is the Union Jack pattern in the oval-shaped LED tail lights. These patterns can also be changed with multiple options to choose from as there are small individual LED elements inside the tail lights.

The bumper design is simple and stubby, while the Cooper S nameplate sits on the piano black panel above the indent for the nameplate. 

If the standard Cooper Convertible S is too soft and cute for your liking, Mini is also offering a sportier JCW Pack for a limited period of time. This is a visual-only package, which features black stripes, revised bumpers with aggressive-looking aero elements, 17-inch JCW alloy wheels finished in black and a diffuser-like element for the rear bumper. The JCW pack is available in two colours: Legend Grey and Midnight Black, while the standard car is available in four bright shades: British Racing Green, Chilli Red, Ocean Wave Green and Sunny Side Yellow.

Irrespective of the shade and trim you choose for your Cooper Convertible S, attention is almost a guarantee with the car’s cute looks and unique road presence. 

The cabin of the Cooper Convertible S is very unique. The dashboard shape is actually pretty straightforward, but the elements in it are something that you won’t get in any other vehicle. There’s the circular touchscreen system of course, but the stripe on the passenger side and the panel within which the AC vents have been integrated add some contrast.

What’s even more interesting are the toggle-like switches below the screen, which look like they have been inspired from a fighter jet, and that feeling is even more amplified in the JCW version and its all-black theme. This black theme with contrasting red inserts look properly sporty and race-ready when compared to the standard dual-tone theme which is more befitting for a car like this.

The two-spoke steering wheel is rather chunky for a car its size and gets Rose Gold-like contrasting elements, which also follow on the door handles.

If the design itself wasn’t different enough, Mini chose to go an entirely different route for the materials. There’s the usual leatherette on the steering wheel, seats and armrest, but the dashboard is draped in a fabric and some of it is also on the seats. 

Front And Rear Seats

The front seats in the Mini Cooper S Convertible are similar to what you get in a regular car. Both the front seats are powered and the driver also gets a memory function, which you can use to save your desired adjustment.

But because there aren’t any dedicated doors that open for the rear seats, the ingress egress requires you to fold and slide the passenger seat forward. 

Once inside, the second row passengers do get two cupholders, but space will be limited.

Features

For nearly Rs 60 lakh, the Mini Cooper S Convertible doesn’t exactly justify its price tag when it comes to its features, but even still, there are plenty of quirks in the features that you do get. 

9.4-inch circular OLED touchscreen system: It gets wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay, and while the shape itself is distinctive, it further gets more than seven themes to choose from. These themes alter the graphics, animations and offer you a property different experience.

Rest of the features on the Mini Cooper S Convertible include a Harman Kardon audio system, a head-up display, auto headlights, auto-folding ORVMs, wireless phone charger, ambient lighting, connected car technology, heated steering wheel and powered front seats with memory settings for the driver. 

It doesn’t get a conventional driver’s display and also misses out on features like ventilated front seats.

The safety kit of the Mini Cooper S Convertible gets multiple airbags, ABS with EBD, runflat indicator, reverse parking camera, dynamic stability control, and Level-1 autonomous driving assistance features like lane departure warning, front collision warning and driver attentiveness alert.

The boot capacity of the Mini Cooper S Convertible measures between 160-litres to 215-litres and you can also drop down the rear seats to store more luggage.

There has been no tinkering in terms of the powertrain that the Convertible version of the Cooper S gets. Here are what the specs look like:

With a 6.9 seconds time for a sprint from 0kmph to 100kmph, the Cooper S Convertible promises to be a properly quick car. But because of the additional weight of the roof mechanism, that time is slightly slower compared to the standard Cooper’s time of 6.6 seconds.

The JCW pack brings no performance gains as it is a cosmetic-only add-on.

Mini Cooper S Convertible is available in a single fully-loaded variant. The JCW pack only offers sportier cues inside-out with its aggressive styling and all-black treatment for a premium of Rs 3 lakh.