Singapore – It’d seem bizarre in retrospect that the roof of a car can undergo a change in meaning from the time of driving to the time of writing a review on it.

The ‘new’ Mini, as owned by BMW and identified by always shouting the brand name in caps, is now in its third-generation and it’s better than ever. The five-door model is the best-selling Mini here, and other offerings like the quirky-estate Clubman have their charms too.

But the heady excitement one associates with a Mini has usually drawn buyers who need to blow off their top cloths. Not clothes, since the Mini Convertible has always been a soft-top, and what you see before you is the new one, the third-gen model in Cooper S guise.

It’s all familiar by now, with the new-gen turbocharged engine – in this case the biggest, 2.0-litre inline four with 192bhp and 280Nm of torque.

Naturally, due to the extra folding roof mechanism and body reinforcement, the drop-top has extra weight. At 1,370kg it’s heavy for a small car, or some 120kg heavier than the three-door Cooper S, but the quick-responding turbo engine and automatic gearbox offset any feeling of sluggishness. In other words, if you are looking at the out-door, it’s not going to take two years to escape.

It’s quick on its feet, though without the obvious forward rip of the three-door, and has a fruity purr that’s pleasing to the ear.

The biggest concerns for a small cabrio like this are scuttle shake and noisiness. A cloth top means more ambient noise protrudes into the cabin, but the chassis is faultless when it comes to driving dynamics, with the agile Mini feeling present in spades. There are three drive modes – eco, normal and sport – and as with all new Mini/BMW offerings you can tweak each slightly to suit your needs.

The Mini’s relatively vertical A-pillars and wide windows mean visibility is good, in contrast to the now defunct Mini Roadster, which seemed expressly designed to hide marauders in your blind spot.

Folding the top takes 18 seconds (at speeds of up to 30km/h) and there’s a useful ‘targa’ mode where the roof half retracts to replicate the usefulness of sunroof if you don’t want to go whole-topless. Unique to the Convertible is a trip gauge that shows you how much time you’ve spent with the roof open. Your mileage may vary with the huge Union Jack plastered on top, though.

It’s certainly fun to drive, though the usual foibles are present: Boot space is tiny, although you can expand it from 160 to 215-litres when the roof isn’t open, thanks to an interior fold-up system, and you will have a hard time fitting four proper-sized people for anything longer than short trips.

But speaking of trips, to the overly cynical, the Cooper S Convertible is a perfect answer to why you shouldn’t Brexit: don’t get swept up in a wave of irrational passion involving oversized flags and damn the consequences because you want more living space.  

Ironically the Convertible, with its solid engineering base courtesy of BMW, is better than ever thanks to European cooperation. It’s far superior to drive now, even if the same drawbacks on space and practicality apply. It’s a pity countries are far less easy to engineer than cars.

Mini Cooper S Convertible
Engine 1,998cc, 16V, inline 4, turbocharged
Power 192bhp at 5000-6000rpm
Torque 280Nm at 1250-4600rpm
Gearbox 6-speed automatic
Top Speed 228km/h
0-100km/h 7.1 seconds
Fuel efficiency 5.7L/100km
CO2 132g/km
Price $178,300 with COE

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