Home » Car Reviews » Mini Cooper » MINI COOPER » 2005 Mini Cooper and Cooper S Compact Convertible
2005 Mini Cooper and Cooper S Compact Convertible
Car Review of the 2005 Mini Cooper Compact Convertible
Base MSRP Range: $20,950 - $24,400
Base Invoice Range: Not Available
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MSRP As Tested: Not Available
Versions: Cooper, Cooper S
Vehicle Category: Compact Convertible
Engine Location: Front Engine
Drive Wheels: Front-Wheel Drive.
Engine as Tested: 1.6-liter, Dual Overhead Cam, 16-valves, I-4, 115-horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 111 lb-ft torque at 4,500 rpm.
Optional Engine as Tested: Supercharged , 1.6-liter, Dual Overhead Cam, 16-valves, I-4, 168-horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 162 lb-ft torque at 4,000 rpm.
Transmission As Tested: Cooper 5-speed Manual optional CVT, Cooper S 6-speed Manual .
Fuel Economy (city/hwy): Cooper manual 27/35, CVT 26/33, Cooper S 25/32.
Standard Safety Features: Dual-level driver and passenger airbags, Side Curtain Airbags Antilock Brake System, electronic brake force distribution, Tire pressure monitor.
Competition: Volkswagen Beetle, PT Crusier.
Review
What could possible be more fun than driving a Mini Cooper S on warm Fall day, on twisty roads by the shore of a lake. The answer is a driving the 2005 Mini Cooper S convertible, in the same place. The only possible improvement to the Mini Cooper S was the addition of a convertible top. Recently the Mini got this fantastic option, and if you get one, it will make you smile.
Due to the limited number of Mini Cooper convertibles available, and because it is the company's responsibility to make sure they are sold to people who will drive them with the tops down, Mini asks all owners to sign a special contract agreeing that you will leave the top down 90% of the time. Actually it's a just-for-fun contract. It goes on to list the reasons the contract has for allowing the owner to put the top up, in the closed position. They are:
- When motoring in rain under 25 miles per hour.
- When motoring through a car wash/or when having car washed manually.
- When parked outside for an unexpected/extended time period.
- When temperature drops below freezing point.
- After hair plug surgery.
- When within earshot of an outdoor banjo and/or kazoo concert.
- When driving through a biblical-size swarm of locusts.
- To avoid riotous teenage groupies.
The Mini Cooper convertible is delivered to its owner with the top down. There is a seal on it which reads, "Ask yourself, if it is really necessary to put the top up? Be honest." You have to break the seal in order to close the roof.
So, as you can see, the Mini Cooper convertible is not only a car and a lifestyle, but it is also your own, personal comedy show.
The convertible is only the second body style introduced for the New Mini since its introduction in the U.S. in 2002. The car has been a huge success, with sales exceeding the company's conservative projections -- we knew demand would be much higher. However the tactic of keeping output slightly below demand keeps the value of the Mini high, as well as the resale prices. They definitely hold their value.
