2012 Mini Cooper S Roadster
Not quite a front-drive Miata.
The front-drive-roadster market has been a little thin since the departure of the Lotus Elan and the Mercury Capri in the mid-’90s. Truth be told, front-wheel drive just isn’t what the market clamors for when it comes to roadsters. That may be because the term “roadster” brings to mind images of rear-drive MGs, Triumphs, and Austin-Healeys from the ’50s and ’60s.
Testing the water in the otherwise-empty pool of two-seat, front-wheel-drive convertibles is another British attempt, the Mini Roadster. It is basically a softtop version of the . Chopping the roof off of that two-seat hardtop didn’t require much additional structural reinforcement, since the Coupe (and therefore the Roadster) is based on Mini’s four-seat Convertible; modifications include a torsion bar that spans rail to rail below the seats, strengthened rocker panels, and a stronger windshield surround.
All together, the Cooper S Roadster tested here weighs 45 pounds more than It comes with Mini’s turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-four making 181 hp and 192 lb-ft of torque. As with other mini body styles, there is a base Cooper model with a naturally aspirated four, and a John Cooper Works edition with a slightly more powerful turbo four.
Top Down with the Quickness
The S Roadster wasn’t designed to break acceleration records, but it entertains with a pretty quick 0-to-60-mph time of 6.7 seconds. Driver and passenger get an exaggerated sense of speediness thanks to a throaty exhaust and heave-ho pitch during full-throttle events.
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The car’s manual top—another nod to classic roadsters—can be operated from the driver’s seat, but just barely, as it requires some uncomfortable contortions to pull back above your head. When it’s in the closed position, highway speeds are only tolerable; the thin, single-layer top seems to act like a speaker diaphragm, amplifying the noise of constantly changing air pressure on its surface.
Top down, however, the car delivers sensations akin to roadsters of yore. The vertical windshield is way out in front of the driver, putting occupants in the thick of turbulent air. Our tester came with a $250 wind deflector that quells some wind buffeting—spec it and longhaired passengers will thank you. Some of the convertible’s torsional flex comes through the cowl in the form of shake, though not nearly as often and, as a result of the body stiffening, not to the Mini Convertible’s wet-noodle-like degree.
Running Unopposed
As mentioned before, the Cooper S Roadster lacks direct competition. The, a perennial favorite, comes to mind. On paper, and aside from the obvious layout differences, the MX-5 and this turbo Roadster match up nearly perfectly. The Cooper is heavier as well as slightly more powerful and slightly quicker, cracking off a quarter-mile in 15.1 seconds to the Miata’s 15.3. The Miata’s skidpad and braking numbers are on the wrong side of the Cooper’s: 0.78 g and 170 feet from 70 mph, compared to the Mini’s 0.88 g and 166 ft. But the Mazda’s rear-drive layout delivers better handling and infinitely more neutral balance than the Coop, which has a predisposition for understeer. The Roadster will, however, come around in a corner with an abrupt lift of the throttle.
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That isn’t to say that the Mini isn’t capable. Turn-in is lightning quick and the steering communicative. Bump steer will greet you in a lumpy corner, and torque steer, well, it’s a fact of life for a turbocharged front-drive Mini. The brakes are a tad grabby, but you get used to them.
The Cooper S Roadster’s bottom line doesn’t help in its fight against the Miata, either, as a fully loaded comes in $1530 less than this lightly optioned Cooper S Roadster. We say “lightly” because it’s totally possible for one to option an S Roadster to more than $40,000. For a car that starts at $28,050, that’s shocking. Our test car’s $33,550 tally included navigation (something not available on the MX-5), 17-inch wheels, xenon headlights, keyless access, and metallic paint.
Optioned this way, the Mini is much farther from the old-school roadster formula than the Mazda. But it manages to keep the essence of two-seat droptops of the past alive, while offering a little more interior room than a Miata. At the very least, there’s no pesky back seat to deal with
