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For those interested in seeing what's under the skin of the new 2005 MINI Convertible, MotoringFile has gotten a hold of official MINI illustrations that show some of the finer points of the car's engineering. You can check them out in their full glory here: 1 / 2
With these illustrations we can clearly see both how the top mechanism retracts and what MINI engineers did to stiffen the open top MINI (not to mention why there is no room for the chrome gas cap on the MCS). You may remember reading from an article a while back that MINI did several things to the open top car to enhance both it's structural rigidity and subsequent safety. For starters, the door frames are approximately 3 millimeters thick while the standard cars have only 1 millimeter steel. MINI also uses 2 pulse welding in some key place on the Cabrio for added stiffness. Couple this with greatly strengthened A-pilars and you have a very solid open top car. Of course, all this is in an effort to battle the obvious effects of cutting the roof off of a car which typically does not bode well for rigidity.
<p>Fabulous pictures Gabe – thank you!
Assuming the orange is the new stuff for the convertible, I wonder why they needed two extra braces around the engine …</p>
<p>Yes the orange is what's new. I actually got to inspect a car in this exact condition at the factory. The door sills are remarkably thicker on the cabrio than on the hard top!</p>
<p>Yes, awesome pics Gabe! These technical and cutaway diagrams are great stuff…always love cutaway of F1 cars and such…</p>
<p>Anyway, with all the added/thicker braces on the lower portions of the car, it should actually lower the center of gravity on the Cabrio compared to the hardtop.</p>
<p>And those two extra braces around the engine are interesting. Wonder if the hardtop would benefit from these…</p>
<p>Problem is the car is heavier than the hardtop models and does not feel as “agile” as the solid roof MINI. I have read these comments on different publications that have already driven the Cooper Convertible.</p>
<p>Open top cars have many compromises and the MINI Cabrio is no exception to the rule. Sacrifices are made in the name of open air motoring.</p>
<p>My biggest beef with this car is the horrid rear view and 3 quarters rear view visibility with the top up. Add to that thick C Pillars (Increased blind spots to the sides) and a small back window with no rear wiper, must make driving this car in truly inclement weather and bad city traffic a true joy….</p>
<p>Anyway, I also enjoy very much the design cutaways. Automotive news Europe released a yearly collection of cutaways of all new cars to be launched in that continent on that specific model year. The cutways also show what suplier manufactures what in the vehicle…very educational.</p>