Mini Convertible review

Like all new ICE-powered Minis, its engine is paired exclusively to a seven-speed auto and, unless you’ve opted for a Sport pack on standard cars or the full-fat Works version, it’s oddly free of paddleshifters. Perfectly acceptable for a carefree cruise up and down the coast, which this car aces, but something of a letdown for those of us who love driving.

Minis are still good at that, see. Over a base Cooper C, the Cooper S and JCW Convertibles get extra chassis strengthening and the former feels as pointy and precise as Minis always were, the front tucking obediently into corners and its tail following eagerly behind. Earlier iterations of Mini could be pretty tail-happy in bends - this one is more predictable and mature in comparison.

I assume they’ve tightened things up?

An impressive amount of re-engineering versus the regular hatch ensures the Mini Convertible is polished in most key respects. There’s a V-shaped brace on the under-body to boost structural rigidity, while its bigger engine brings extra refinement with it.

The front track is a little wider, there’s a faster steering ratio, and the suspension has been revised for tauter responses. It rides and handles sweetly, and it’s only on really rubbish surfaces that you’ll detect any structural wobbles. Sticking with those old-gen rear lights has paid off.

Is it quick?

The Cooper S is brisk, the engine soaring towards its redline as you bound down the road with more keenness than the spec sheet suggests. Just watch out for wheelspin on a damp, autumnal roads – Minis have always been frisky little blighters, and this Mk4 Convertible follows the same, slightly rapscallion script.

This 2.0-litre B48 can sound gruff at higher revs, but the gearbox is largely well calibrated for the job. Select the cheesily titled ‘Go-Kart’ mode from its huge central screen and it keenly clings onto lower gears, but that’s precisely what you need with absent paddles. We’d personally spend the extra to have them fitted, but in calmer modes (and with your driving altered to match) the ‘box shuffles smoothly through its ratios.

All the better for trying to match its claimed fuel consumption, too. The Cooper C is naturally the champ, with 43.5mpg on the WLTP cycle, with the Cooper S and John Cooper Works respectively claiming 42.8 and 40.9. Its relatively light weight pays dividends there.

A JCW cabrio - seriously?

Mini has offered one of these for yonks now, and in truth it's probably more welcome than ever in 2025. It's an anomaly, a car that doesn't make immediate sense on paper, but as a hot hatch and small cabriolet in one, it's the rarest of the rare.

It's a quick ol' thing, too, its mighty 280lb ft shove making mincemeat of a claimed 1,500kg kerb weight. Needless to say, wheelspin is even more easily achieved here and the car proves quite a handful on anything other than bone-dry tarmac. 'Twas ever thus with JCW Minis, though, and so long as you've made your peace with the car's absence of ultimate feel and nuance (and brutal ride quality) it can be a minor riot.

What it's not is a true driver's car, on account of those too-rough edges. A top-spec Mazda MX-5 2.0 comes with a smart limited-slip diff on its driven rear axle; it's the epitome of 'light, agile roadster' and embarrasses the JCW for outright thrills. But then it can't handle rear passengers nor take the strain on long motorway hauls like the Mini's exemplary active cruise control can.

The Cooper S is the best Mini Convertible, and a Mini hatch the most convincing slice of John Cooper Works character - but a curious compromise of the two isn't completely without charm. Phew.