MINI Cooper Cabriolet Review

"Wah boy so hot you know!" the friendly uncle from the lorry next to me enthusiastically gestured with his rapid t-shirt tugging. It was clear his smile was missing a tooth as he acknowledged me and then proceeded to check out the rest of the car.

The curious questioning then commenced with the predictable "Your car?" followed closely by "No money to buy roof ah boy? Hahaha".

See, I like to think of myself as a friendly fella. But holding an impromptu conversation that was inevitably going to be short with an uncle twice my age was never how I pictured traffic light conversations to be.

Damn American movies™

I have driven MINI's before but never a cabriolet, and the amount of attention I got over the 24 hours I had with the car were the most in a long time, edging on uncomfortable at some points. But that comes with the territory.

So, the new generation Cooper Cabriolet's in town and you'd be forgiven to think that nothing has changed.

Looks just like the last one™What's new?

Now, we're all familiar with the MINI's retro-chic design language. It's easy to spot from the low, compact silhouette it cuts from the distance, and of course it helps that the designers at BMW hardly changed Frank Stephenson's design since the first generation.

In its second incarnation, the new Cooper Cabriolet has been brought up to date with subtle design and mechanical changes that makes this proposition even more attractive.

Let's start with the front fascia. Chrome still adorns the bug-eyed headlamps which have been revised to incorporate the signal lamp that used to sit separately on the bumper. The lower part of the bumper that houses the fog lamps however have been given a more purposeful (read: bigger) fog lamp that suits the car better than the first ones.
One of the more noteworthy changes is the redesigned drop-down tailgate. Thankfully MINI has done away with the obvious hinges that were a design break than anything else, and integrated them within the boot. MINI claims that when down, the tailgate can support up to 80kg but I noticed some nervous creaking when I sat on it. Perhaps I overdid my lunch with those 2 cookies from Subway.

Probably the most important change to the new line of Cabrio's is the retracted roll-over bar that sits flushed behind the lowered rear headrests, and pops up in 150 milliseconds when the car thinks it's about to go turtle. Together with the top folding nearly flat now, rear visibility has been improved significantly from the first generation.

And then we've got the Always Open Timer. It sits as another bulbous gauge next to the rev meter and helps you keep track of how long you have gone with the top down. Surely I understand the marketing nature of it's existence, but the reason for the designers to have it block the left driver aircon vent totally escapes me.

European drivers could overlook this, but one blocked aircon vent under our lunch-hour, humidity-ridden, rain-sprinkled 32 degree climate could translate to you wishing you could summon the guts to rip the gauge right off.

How's it like to drive?

It's a MINI.

The direct feedback you get through the steering wheel is only upped by the sharp responses of the car when engaging it in a tango of sharp turns and swooping corners. Much gratitude towards the MINI's excellent front-wheel drive chassis that helps maintain the momentum built through a corner and as a result, gets you through corners faster than a slightly more powerful car. Oh, and body roll from the car was almost non-existent.

The 1.6-Litre in-line 4 produces 160 Nm of torque at a distant 4,250 rpm, so although the torque at lower rpm is sufficient, getting this 1,240kg topless Cooper off the line quickly is not spectacular by any measure.

Matching the direct handling, the 6-speed auto transmission responded with a slickness that laps up everything you throw at it and comes out slotting you into the right gear each time. And it's always fun using the wheel-mounted shifters when the transmission's this responsive.
No surprise that MINI got their suspension set up spot on once again. The car gets just the right amount of bounce to ride over tolerable imperfections on the road but still stiff enough to get the car through tight maneuvers with some level of surety. So even though the Cooper Cabrio might feel lean on the power compared to the more powerful Cooper S Cabrio, you'd still be working her hard when you get the chance.

With the top down, the MINI is easily the epitome of what a drop-top has represented throughout the years, the freedom of driving with the wind in your hair and looking good while at it.

It looks so good topless that every time you're in the car, you feel compelled to collapse the soft top. I did, and I got the darker shade of brown on me to prove it.

The Shakedown

The Cooper Cabriolet we tested came with a Horizon Blue Metallic paint job and sat on 16-inch light alloys. 17-inches would have looked better on the car though, like the ones on the S version. The Hot Chocolate colour on both the soft top and interior fit the cars image like a glove.

It's such an all-rounder, like that kid in school who's good in academics, and had the looks to boot, albeit a tad chubbier (the Cabrio is 100kg heavier than the hardtop).

But there are the typical issues with practicality as with most MINI's. The boot, although bigger now, has too small an opening to squeeze things into even with the seats down. Rear seats as you might expect, are not big enough for some, and you get blind spots at your 4 and 8 o-clock with the top up.

However, buyers of MINI's are a fun loving lot. They live for the day, readily embracing both the troughs and crests of everyday living and above all realising that nothing is perfect.

The all-new MINI Cooper Cabriolet is not perfect. But even with it's imperfections, still managed to show me exactly what I was missing out on without it. If it wasn't for my 5 feet 9 inch frame and my empty wallet, I could easily see myself owning this and basking in the perpetual stares and glares of the adoring public.

At S$127,800 (with COE), the Cooper Cabrio is a questionable purchase during this period of prudence, but this is one of those cars that rewards the driver repeatedly every time he/she gets behind the wheel and drives it the way it was meant to be driven. Topless.