This comes from a friend who got pretty lucky this evening…

Talk about being in the right place at the right time.. I was picking up my Cooper from its 2 year service tonight, and I stopped by to say hi to my favorite salesmen at Knauz MINI. David mentioned that they had just gotten a new Convertible Cooper S today.

Cool Blue with a blue top and blue leather interior. The leather looked more like an “off black” with reddish/orange stitching. Not bad, but not really blue. I didn’t see it with the top up, so I can’t comment on the color. The chrome gauges look very sharp (I was not expecting to like them), and I really like the body colored dash.

mini

It was a few minutes before closing time, but David offered me a chance to be the first customer to take a test drive. It had been almost 2 years since my last test drive in an S, so of course I took him up on it.

Since the windshield is pretty far out in front of you, you really get a feeling of being out in the air. The view out the rear view mirror is a bit cut off due to the height of the top and the chrome rear seat roll bars, but not too bad. Wind protection is great at speeds of 70 and below (I did not try faster), and there is actually less noise than the Cooper with the sunroof open on the highway. WOW, I had forgotten about how much extra power there is in the supercharged engine. Everything was 15 mph or so faster than my usual speeds for a given road (which is actually part of the reason I bought the Cooper instead of the S in the first place). This 2005 model felt smoother and stronger off the line than I remember the early 2002 S version had been. The power rush and engine growl starting at 3500 rpm and beyond is incredible. The exhaust had a nice mellow raspy sound just off idle which was a pleasure to listen to. The six speed transmission does shift better than my 5 speed Cooper. It did not feel stiff, even though it had low miles on it, and the throws are a bit shorter than the 5 Speed’s. The ride was very compliant. I didn’t even take the time to see which wheels were on the car, but I believe they were 16 inch run-flats. There may have been a slight amount of windshield/cowl shake under power over rougher roads, or it may have just been the rear view mirror moving around a bit. Nothing to get upset over, the being out in the open more than makes up for it.

Nice touches on the 2005’s: The painted dash interior, chrome gauges. Nicer on the 2002: Steering wheel. I still like the 2 spoke wheel (although I do like the horn in the center). The leather is nice touch, compared to my stock plastic version. I didn’t play with the buttons, so I don’t know if they are good or bad. I also like the older style key. The newer one is smaller and more angular. I would most prefer a switchblade style key, even if it were a bit larger than the one I currently have.

All in all, a great ride. I am very grateful I had a chance to take it out for a little spin.

Convertible demos should be at many of the dealers throughout the US by now and customer cars should be coming within days.

Big thanks to Steve for sending this in!!!