Seventeen years ago, I got my first taste of the Mini Cooper convertible while vacationing in Hawaii. I was staying on Maui, and I had rented a 2005 Chevrolet Corvette from Toy Box car rentals. While reading the fine print of my rental agreement, I saw that the Corvette was forbidden to be driven on the Road to Hana, a twisting two-lane highway on Maui’s southeast coast that is famed for its cliffs and waterfalls. I was so disappointed to swap my 400 hp rental Corvette for a 115 hp 2006 Mini Cooper convertible for my highlight drive of my vacation!
But, my disappointment was misplaced, as the Mini Cooper convertible had a kid-like energy and wanted to play, play, play! The lightweight two-door zipped around the bends on the Road to Hana and entertained me with its greatly connected steering feel and frisky handling.
And now I’m set to test a 2025 Mini Cooper S convertible, the modern incarnation of that 2006 convertible, albeit with the S trim’s upsized engine.
In the last 17 years, I have matured, and so has Mini. The brand has added luxury and refinement, and with it, weight. (The Cooper convertible has put on 400 pounds in 17 years and now weighs ~3100 lbs.) Will the 2025 Cooper S convertible be as fun as the 2006 I drove long ago in Hawaii?
From the curb, the 2025 Cooper S convertible still has that fun Mini appearance, with big anime eyes and a broad mouth. My ride is painted in a friendly Ocean Wave green metallic. The car’s black cloth top has the Union Jack stitched into it, a callback to Mini’s British origins.
Inside, my test car’s seats are upholstered in silver leather with black, red and blue fabric accents. The dashboard is covered in dark gray fabric with blue undertones, and there is a cheery rainbow-stitched leather strap above the glove box. Mini’s extensive use of woven fabrics as dash and door coverings is excitingly fresh, and something I’ve never seen in any other brand.
Like all Minis, the Cooper S convertible has a large circular infotainment screen in the center of its dashboard. Through this screen, one accesses all of the driving and entertainment features of the car. The graphics are cheery and game-like, and when I toggle drive modes using the “Experiences” switch below the screen, the UI colors and themes change, too.
With this generation of Mini Cooper, Mini has deleted the instrument cluster behind the steering wheel. As a Tesla Model 3 driver, I’m accustomed to glancing right to find my speedometer and gear selection on the navigation screen. However, Mini has a nicer solution: a head-up display! A panel of glass on the dashboard ahead of the steering wheel shows the speed, fuel level and speed limit.
Today’s Cooper S convertible is thinly optioned with the dynamic dampers ($500), Mini Yours Soft Top ($600), and the Iconic Trim package ($1700) that includes several active safety features and the Harmon Kardon stereo upgrade. Its total price, including destination, is $43,575.
As I find out when I adjust the driver’s seat to my lanky frame, not included at that price are power-adjusted seats. I have to pull levers and pump handles to get the seat to the correct height and position for my body. Sadly, the seat lowering mechanism lowers the rear of the seat more than the front of the seat, and the seat’s front lip pushes up against my thighs after I’ve lowered the seat to the max.
There are a pair of rear seats behind me, but they are of limited use if the man upfront is over six feet tall: there is no leg room for a rear passenger behind my driving position! Shorter front seat occupants can slide their chairs forward to share the Mini’s limited leg room with their petite backseat friends.
Seeing as I’m in a convertible, it’s only proper for me to drive with the top down. I’m enjoying the sun on my head and shoulders, but when I adjust the rearview mirror, I notice that the retracted soft-top blocks the rear vision. I can only see the roofs of the cars behind me, not their headlights or grills.
The steering wheel has a fat grip and beautifully smooth leather wrapping. It tilts and telescopes, making it easy to put it in the optimal position for my driving needs.
Although the Mini Cooper S convertible has a 7-speed dual clutch transmission, there aren’t paddle shifters on the steering wheel. This omission means that there’s no way to pick gears, as the tiny gear selector doesn’t allow for manual shifts, either.
My test drive is a 10-minute route on city streets and highways. On the urban streets, I enjoy the nicely weighted steering (it’s light, but connected) and the tickle of road feel I get through the wheel’s fat leather rim. While I don’t get the fire hose of road information I remember from the old 2006 Mini Cooper convertible, the 2025 Cooper S convertible does relay some of the road textures under the tires.
Those same textures and bumps are felt with even greater clarity through the Mini Cooper S convertible’s floor. This Mini has a sporting and communicative ride that lets me feel the machine’s work. I am glad that such chassis communication still exists in modern Minis!
With the roof down, there are mild shimmers in the car’s chassis that weren’t present in its hard top siblings.
As I approach the highway on-ramp, I put the Mini Cooper S convertible into its cheekily-named “Go-Kart” drive mode in anticipation of a full throttle blast onto the highway. Go-Kart mode loads a new throttle mapping, and I immediately notice the keener responses from the long pedal.
Sprinting from 10 mph, the Cooper S convertible fails to light my pants on fire in our full-throttle romp. It’s slow to gain speed, but after 30 mph, it sustains healthy thrust to 75 mph. Yes, the 201 hp 2.0L I4 engine feels fine for scooting the 3100 lb. convertible up to highway speeds.
Cruising on the highway with the top down, my ears are full of the whoosh of rushing air. I don’t feel buffeted by the hearty breezes, but backseat passengers will have their wind crashing down onto their faces.
I can’t comment on the convertible’s highway cabin noise with the roof up, but I did note when parked that the soft-top Mini Cooper S lets in more noise than the hardtop JCW 2 Door.
Driving in Go-Kart mode, the Mini Cooper S convertible rides with the buttoned-down composure of a BMW sedan with M Sport suspension. That is to say, bumps are felt and immediately dispatched. The other drive modes offer a less hard-edged ride, though they all feel taut.
After exiting the highway, I toss the Cooper S through a yellow-light left-hander and feel encouraging agility in the pint-sized chassis. The Cooper convertible still remembers how to dance.
After a few more blocks at urban neighborhood speeds, my test drive ends. I must admit, 10 minutes is not enough time with the Cooper S convertible to fully understand its dynamic sensations.
However, my first impression is that this Cooper S convertible is the matured version of that spunky Maui rental I had 17 years ago. Like that rental car, the 2025 Cooper S convertible offers a connected driving experience with pleasurable feedback, and although its engine isn’t the star of the show, its cheery vibes, fancy footwork, and open-air pleasures make it an enticing machine.
Yes, buyers who like fun and funky cars and open-air driving should give the Mini Cooper S convertible a hard look. It’s the most amusing convertible to come across the pond from Europe since the New Beetle droptop!
Mike's Steering Column 