Fourth-Gen MINI Convertible Bows In with Two ICE-Only Variants

The fourth-gen MINI Convertible bows in with two ICE-powered variants made at the marque’s Oxford plant in the UK.

Following the debut of the fourth-gen MINI Cooper hatch and its five-door twin, MINI has now introduced the latest iteration of the MINI Convertible. Unlike its hatched twin, the new MINI Convertible is only offered in full-ICE version, with its production taking place at the brand’s historic Oxford plant in the UK.

This new soft-top convertible will be available in two ICE-powered variants, namely the baseline Cooper Convertible C and the top-spec Cooper Convertible S. As expected, the powertrain spec for these two variants mirrors what we saw for the ICE-powered MINI Cooper hatch.

The baseline Cooper Convertible C draws its power from a 1.5-litre 3-cyl turbocharged unit that delivers 161 HP, while the top-spec Cooper Convertible S gets a bigger and peppier 2.0-litre 4-cyl unit rated at 201 HP. Both engines are mated to a standard DCT automatic gearbox with no manual option available, which allows century sprint finishes of 8.2 seconds for the C spec and 6.9 seconds for the range-topper S.

For its fourth-gen iteration, the MINI Convertible comes with a soft-top fabric roof that MINI claims takes only 18 seconds to fully open and 15 seconds to close, which can be operated at speeds of up to 30 KM/H. With the roof up, the MINI Convertible boasts a pretty practical boot space of 215 litres, although it will shrink to only 160 litres once the roof has been folded down.

Apart from the soft-top convertible roof, the MINI Convertible also features a slightly different taillight design, featuring a more rounded and traditional shape with MINI’s signature Union Jack lighting signature instead of the triangular-shaped units primed on its hatch twin. Other key design features include several wheel options ranging from 16- to 18 inches, red-hued S emblems for the top-spec variant, and more.

Predictably, both the MINI hatch and MINI Convertible also share a similar cabin layout, with the centrepiece being the 9.5-inch rounded OLED infotainment display that crowns above its front dash. Apart from other usual bits, the MINI Convertible is offered in a slew of upholstery options for the seats and dash trims, ranging from fabric, several faux leather options, and even one made of corduroy.

In its native UK market, the all-new fourth-gen MINI Convertible starts at £27,240 (RM152,712) for the baseline Cooper Convertible C and £31,640 (RM177,379) for the range-topping Cooper Convertible S. With deliveries slated to begin early next year, it seems that we might have to wait for a while before seeing this cutesy convertible making its way into our market.