2005 Mini Cabrio Reviews

The Mini is an iconic car that has holds huge appeal for both young and old alike and the cabrio version of the car should make many new friends.Mini Cooper Cabrio is priced from $35,900.The 1.6-litre four cylinder engine generates 85kW of power at 6000rpm and maximum torque of 150Nm 4500rpm. It is a willing worker but labours under the load down low.A five-speed manual is standard but our test car was fitted with the CVT auto. You get the option of D, Sport D or changing gears like a manual, either with the gearshift or with steering wheel mounted change paddles.The transmission makes the most of the smallish engine and the result is lively performance, provided you keep up the revs. But there's a bit of a lull before it gets going off the line.Like its hard topped sibling, the Mini Cabrio handles like a go-kart. Add in stability and traction control and this is one very stable motor car.We found the steering wheel change paddles easy to use, but the traditional gear shift was stiff during manual operation. You can flick seamlessly between the two and the transmission changes up automatically before redline is reached.The fabric covered roof is a snap to operate. There's no catches to release, just push the button and down it comes. Four buttons are located above the rear vision mirror, two for opening and closing the roof, the other two for operating the windows.The roof can also be operated from the remote and has a sunroof option which allows it to be opened halfway, providing a large 400mm opening. This can be done on the move up to a speed of 120km/h.Vision with the top up is limited, especially towards the rear. There's no B pillar but the C pillar more than makes up for this with a small rear window albeit a glass one. Add in some rain and changing lanes can be a bit of a lottery.In terms of parking, it's a good thing then that all versions of the cabrio get a parking distance sensor as standard.If you prefer travelling with the roof up, and most people who own a convertible would rather die than do so, airconditioning is also standard.Safety stuff includes ABS, Cornering Brake Control (CBC) and Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), as well as a strengthened bodyshell that incorporates strong tubes in- serted into the A pillars and dual rollover hoops with integrated headrests behind the two rear seats.Not much room in the back seat nor in the boot for that matter, so this could be a consideration if size matters.Although it takes premium unleaded, the Mini is a light sipper.

Sometimes it's a smiling sunshine hoot, sometimes it's a screaming supercharger hoot and sometimes it's a grip-and-go cornering hoot. There are times when it's all three.That's because the newest Mini is a convertible, a supercharged hot hatch and a baby luxury car. All for one and one for all.It comes towards the end of the first built-by-BMW Mini's lifecycle, with development of a second-generation car at full speed in Europe.To give the test car its full name, and please take a breath now to get through it in one go, it's the Mini Cooper S Cabrio with John Cooper Works Tuning Kit.What that means is it's the combination of the new Mini Cabrio with the power-up kit developed by the same Cooper-family company that did the fast-car fix-up on the original Mini in the 1960s.It means a $54,750 price and a list of special equipment that runs from the Cooper Works engine bits to rear-parking radar and a full leather cabin.The S Works Cabrio is the all-for-one car that puts the best of everything into the one package.The Works kit means 154kW from a supercharged engine that powers the car to 100km/h in less than seven seconds, and the Cabrio kit makes the Mini into a worthwhile four-seat convertible.The car's roof is essentially an electric folding cloth top. But there is much more to it.The conversion has been done without losing the benefit of rear rollover bars and a heated glass rear window.It has a fully automatic control system that can even be operated with the remote keyfob.It also doubles as a targa top with a sliding front sunroof panel.The marketing team at BMW, which has a great grip on what's best in the trend business, also ensured the Cabrio comes in all the right colours, with three choices for the roof fabric, and a wide range of optional equipment.Still, the basics are all you expect, including CD sound and leather trim, electric mirrors and air-con.The roof is operated from two switches at the top of the windscreen support. One allows all four side windows to be tucked away for a clean look.The John Cooper Works kit does the job in the engine bay with bigger fuel injectors and special engine calibration, modified valves, a stainless exhaust, uprated supercharger, modified cylinder head and a special air-filter housing.There is a discreet badge below the grille to tell people what is closing from behind, and one on the back.The Mini Cabrio goes up against all sorts of rivals, from the classic two-seat Mazda MX-5 featured in this week's middle pages to the metal-roof Renault Megane and Peugeot 307 coupe-convertibles.The VW Beetle Cabrio is in there too, in a droptop class that is growing all the time and even includes a value-added new Saab 9-3 convertible in the $60,000 range.ON THE ROADTHE S Works Cabrio is a ripper of a car. It's not for everyone, with an engine that screams and howls and pops, but the people who like it will really like it.It's also very hard to park, has a tiny boot, can be a bugger to contain and could be a long-term problem with so much mechanical and electrical complexity in the Cabrio system.But who cares when the top is down and you are sprinting into the sunshine?The driving enjoyment in the Cabrio Works is right up with the MX-5 and way beyond the thrills you get in a Megane or 307CC. The Beetle Cabrio barely moves the meter.The Cabrio Works' price is pretty meaty even without dipping into the extras list, and beyond its obvious rivals, but this is a car with extra appeal.It is nice just to fold the roof flat for a quiet sunset cruise, because the Mini is refined, comfortable and easy to use.Back-seat space isn't huge, but you can happily take friends along.The Cabrio is nicely quiet at all times, top up and top down, and the system works well. One button, no fuss.Some people would prefer a folding metal roof, but the Mini system is a good design.And we really like the sliding front panel, which gives you extra air and sunshine even if you don't want the full Cabrio experience.The quality seems a little better than that of earlier Minis we drove, without the driver's seat squeak that was so annoying at first, and we're still taken with the funky dashboard.The boot is a pain – even with the fold-flat rear seats – and we found it difficult to back the car with the roof up, and not much better with it down, because of the giant rollbars.But the John Cooper Works kit more than compensates, even if the fitted price puts $9850 on a Mini.It transforms the car into one capable of beating V8s away from the lights and really moving along a twisty road. But it's the way it does it, with excellent bottom-end pull and a surge all the way to the redline, that's so impressive.The hi-tech engine upgrade is well matched to a car with great grip and brakes, even if the steering wheel does jerk around in your hands if you push on broken surfaces.The six-speed manual works well, the steering has good feel, and the sporty suspension still copes with bumps.THE BOTTOM LINETHE S Works Cabrio is just the thing to have in Melbourne in GP week. It's great for a posing cruise but can still light up and go. It's a memorable car that should appeal to a lot of people who want something special that's more than a convertible.

Knock the roof off but don't ever forget that you are on show to the world. Everybody – and that includes bike messengers – will be looking down on you, most with a degree of envy.And well may they be envious ... as long as you are the one gripping the fat little steering wheel there is little reason not to smile in one of these.At $44,900 the Mini Cooper S Cabrio is no steal. However, what price can you put on the sort of warm-and-fuzzy feelings that seem to accompany it? For basic, hands-on accounting purposes, the Cabrio brings everything to the table that the hardtop does – all the go-kart dynamics, great looks and stylish, modern interior fittings.As with its enclosed bretheren, the Cabrio offers a full suit of "personalisation" options running from a full John Cooper Works tuning kit – upgraded to produce a spanking 154kW Cooper S at $9850 – through to bonnet stripes and Xenon headlights.There are also rain sensor wipers, satellite navigation, automatic airconditioning, a range of 17- and 18-inch light alloy rims, a high-spec Harman/Kardan sound system with eight speakers, a wind deflector and more. There is also the choice of three colours – black, green and blue – to coordinate the cloth roof with 12 body colours.The folding roof is fully automatic and will drop in just 15 seconds either from a button inside the car or from outside, using the remote key fob. A feature of the soft-top is a two-stage deployment, which Mini calls the "integrated sunroof". This initial slide creates a targa effect, where half the roof is activated for the first stage of opening. It can be deployed at up to 120km/h.For a single-layer roof the Cabrio's cloth top is benchmark. Wind noise is at a minimum, the fit is drum tight and there was no noticeable stretch or drumming.Knock the roof off and there is no danger of losing the toupee with buffetting – at least in the front seats – kept to a minimum by a combination of the upright windscreen and wind deflector.The 125kW engine is a little beauty and coupled to the same compact six-speed Getrag manual as the hard-top it offers as enthusiastic a drive as you could want.Mechanically the main difference between Cabrio and the hard-top is in the suspension with the settings having been shifted down a notch towards a softer ride. The Cooper S has a sport setting – sport-plus in the hard-top – in deference to the Cabrio's differing demographic of buyer.Without driving the two cars back-to-back it is difficult to differentiate between the settings, particularly as the Cabrio has been stiffened through the A-Pillar and along the bottom rails of the cabin section.There is also additional bracing under the seats and through the use of the aluminium cross-brace which doubles as the rear roll-over loop.It all goes towards keeping the Cabrio scuttle-shake free and feeling almost as tight as a roofed version – although more nervous over corrugations or broken surfaces.Safety features include four airbags. The seat-mounted side bags extend higher in the Cabrio to offer head protection in lieu of the hard-top's curtain bags.Rear seating is tight. Space has been squeezed to accommodate the mechanism for the folding roof and worse still, the seat is set so that passengers are forced to sit at an awkward angle. There is also limited opportunity for luggage storage.