2012 & 2013 Mini Convertible Reviews & Ratings

The original Mini was launched by the British Motor Company (BMC)in 1959.The small two door car was designed as a "classless" vehicle for all drivers with excellent fuel economy and great handling performance. The driving ability of the Mini and its unique design has made it a classic small car that is popular worldwide.Over the years the car has been sold as a Mini, Morris and Austin but today under the ownership of BMWit continues under the Mini brand retaining all the classic fea... (full review continues below)

The original Mini was launched by the British Motor Company (BMC)in 1959.The small two door car was designed as a "classless" vehicle for all drivers with excellent fuel economy and great handling performance. The driving ability of the Mini and its unique design has made it a classic small car that is popular worldwide.Over the years the car has been sold as a Mini, Morris and Austin but today under the ownership of BMWit continues under the Mini brand retaining all the classic features bundled with increased performance, safety features such as multiple airbagsand premium technology.

The Mini has numerous models including the hardtop, coupe and the ever popular Mini convertible. A key competitor to Mini has always been the Volkswagen Beetle but this has been joined by a number of other competitors today including similar small cars such as the Fiat 500, Honda CR-Z, Hyundai Veloster and Scion tC. Mini stands out from the pack with its excellent driving dynamics and the Mini convertible is the only true convertible amongst the current models offered by the main competitors. The Fiat 500 has something similar with its retractable power cloth top but is not actually a convertible.

The Mini convertible is available in 3 variants the Cooper, Cooper S and John Cooper Works (a street legal racing Mini with high performance parts and tuning). The base model Mini convertible Cooper model starts at $25,650featuring a1.6 liter 4 cylinder engine with 121 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 118 foot pound of torque at 4,250rpm. Fuel economy of the Mini convertible is an excellent 35mpg on the highway and 27mpg in the city (the mpg is the same with the automatic transmission option) with the 13.2 gallon fuel tank providing a range of 462 miles. The Cooper S starts at $28,650featuring a turbocharged 1.6 liter 4 cylinder engine that boosts performance with 181 horsepower at 5,500rpm and 177 foot pound of torque at 1,600 - 5,000 rpm. Even with the increased performance fuel economy is only slightly compromised at 35mpg on the highway and 27mpg in the city with the same range of 462 miles.

The John Cooper Works variant of the Mini convertible starts at a significantly increased price of $35,800 but featuresmany additional standard options and a tuned 1.6 liter turbocharged 4 cylinder engine which provides significantly increasedperformance of 208 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 192 foot pound of torque at 1,850 - 5,600 rpm. Fuel economy of the Mini convertible remains very economical at 33mpg on the highway and 25mpg in the city with a range of 446 miles.

In addition to the standard Mini convertible there is also the sporty Roadster, a 2 seat convertible that is slightly less expensive given its smaller size but offers the same excellent performance. The Roadster is also available in the same 3 variants with the standard Cooper model starting at $25,050 with similar performance and fuel economy to the standard convertible other than a slight decrease in torque (114 foot pound of torque at 4,250rpm). The Cooper S (from $28,050) and the John Cooper Works (from $35,200) Roadsters both share the same performance and fuel economy as the equivalent Mini convertible.