MINI – that’s all in caps – are not so miniature any more.
Even though EV Rider’s 2025 MINI Cooper S Convertible is tiny by modern standards – 152.8 inches long, and 3,148 lbs. – it positively towers over my buddy Mark’s modified 1965 Austin Mini. The ’65 is 120 inches and 1,411 lbs. for a stock model.
Over 60 years – This MINI’s engine has grown to 201 hp from a turbocharged 2-liter four with 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, vs. Mini’s 74 hp from an 848cc engine with 4-speed manual gearbox.
Still, stock ’65 and ’25 models share some aspects. They’re both lightweight 4-seaters, and front-wheel-drive. Mark’s MINI has been modified with all-wheel-drive, 220-hp and the name of L’il Booger.
Related: 2025 MINI John Cooper Works EV
In fact, while MINI sold 26,000-plus of its entire line last year, and 33,000 the year before, the smallest is still rare. Only about 2,200 of the Cooper S models were sold in 2024. And outside of the 2-seat Mazda Miata, there’s no other compact convertible on sale stateside anymore.
Also, MINI has stopped importing the 2-door hardtop SE EV, even though in other parts of the world it now rides on entirely new platform, unlike the convertible, which shares some styling updates with the newest MINI 2-door hardtop EVs, but rides on the gas variant’s older platform.
2025 Cooper S Convertible Keeps That MINI Look
Gosh darn, it is cute – and has a new interior for 2025 along with some freshened exterior styling to compliment the EV’s styling in other parts of the world. Halo-rimmed LED headlights stay put when the clamshell bonnet opens. It hearkens back to the goggle-eyed look of the original. The lights flank a big octagonal grille with upper and lower grillework, separated by a bumper bar, and all framed in black. Being a Cooper S – one notch lower than the top-line John Cooper Works version – it adds a deep air dam.
Flared gloss black-flared fenders neatly wrap around P275/40R18-inch Pirelli Cinturato tires on forked 5-spoke silver and black wheels, decent-size disc brakes visible inside, with commendably short front and rear overhangs. Simply rounded sheetmetal gives the flanks and doors some shape over thick black sills.
Side bullet mirrors and smooth and big next to black windshield pillars and a fairly upright cloth top, a Union Jack imprinted – an option – on top. The back end is petite, half-a-Union Jack in each big taillight flanking a slim, bottom-hinged truck lid over black and body-color bumper with petite, almost hidden tailpipe. All in all, a foursquare, fairly low and nicely planted shape.
Stroll up to our MINI and the huge taillights – each LED array half of a Union Jack – does an animation as “MINI” projects groundward from those big bullet mirrors. Here’s a car that lasted pretty much in the same shape as Mark’s until 2000. Then 22 years ago, BMW revived the MINI — all caps now — a bit bigger, and with some big variations — think Countryman. But sometimes, the ways of the original are best, as it applies to this smallest fourth-gen, revealed just over a year ago.
Copper S Convertible’s Interior Gets Major Overhaul For 2025
Our 2025 model’s wheelbase is the same as the third-gen’s, but two-tenths of an inch shorter. There’s a cozy 2+2 cockpit under that black cloth top, its side bars high enough that there’s no reason to duck to plop into black pleather bucket seats — “MINI” embroidered on seatbacks – with gray cloth accents and comfortable support, plus manual adjustments.
A tight weave fabric with color woven in accents is on the dashtop and doors. The very thick rimmed 3-spoke wheel – the lower a cloth band – is stitched leather and very grabbable, with the usual controls in front and – no paddle shifters? Nope, a Cooper S with no apparent way to manually shift — more later.
There’s no gauges in front of that wheel, other than a simple head-up display screen. Instead, echoing the 1960’s Mini center speedometer, there’s a 9.4-inch diameter circular center screen, part of a radically-redesigned interior that says ta-ta to real buttons for the most part.
A cool colored pattern is projected onto the dashboard top cloth on either side of the big speedo display – different colors depending on drive mode. The passenger dashtop gets a blue cloth strap that does nothing but looks cool. When that center screen glows to life, it shows an initial animation of a swinging ‘60’s Mini, then lots of room for everything from speed, tachometer and gas, to mpg, dual-zone temperature control, big or small navigation screen, and more.
Below the screen, a toggle switch selects drive modes — Core, Go-Kart or Green, the display in blue, red/black or green respectably. Core is the start-up mode with navigation, media and phone status, plus climate controls, speedometer and range around the rim. There’s a touchscreen at the bottom with some key menu selections like climate control/fan speed, audio selection, Home screen, navigation and phone. It was sometimes a bit slow to appear when tapped.
Go-Kart opens with a “Whoo-hoo!” sound effect and a huge 160-mph speedometer, 7,000-rpm tach, horsepower and torque displays. There’s even a G-force meter. Green mode goes green with a hummingbird icon when you drive gently, or a leaping jaguar if you don’t. Go-Kart mode also adopts red accent lighting on the doors and dash. Green is — green.
There are three more Experience Modes. Timeless has a sepia-toned classic (as in 1959 Mini) central speedo and tach; Vivid adopts red accent lighting and is more media-forward. Personal mode allows custom display art. But there’s more — real buttons, on that small panel under the screen. Start/stop is a permanent key-like control. The gear selector is a small paddle, with a “Park” button. Double tapping it down accesses L mode to plant the gearbox in a lower gear when you go down a hill. It also blips the throttle on downshifts. Buttons below also handle some other basics like parking cameras and defrost.
The center console is a wide, rubberized tray to hold stuff. The center armrest is just that – there’s no storage space below. Ahead, there’s a horizontal spot with clip to lock your phone into an inductive charger, along with cup holders and some USB ports. There’s a small glove box, skinny door map pockets, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
As for the back seat, it’s narrowed to fit the power cloth top. An 8-year-old fits if the passenger seat moves up but it’s a bit tight for both. The small (5.2-cu.ft.) trunk is boxy behind a bottom-hinged door. It’s floor dipped down for more room. Rear seatbacks split 60/40, and fold to expand.
That top’s a trick as well. Hold the top button a bit, and the section over the front seats slides back into a bit of a targa. Push again and the power top drops all the way down with the side windows in seconds. We love the glass rear window because it’s so big, minimizing lane change blind spots. Fold the top down, and its just breezy enough, although it stacks fairly high, cutting off rearward vision. Using the targa-like half roof makes it windier in the cockpit. But that Harmon Kardon sound system easily keeps tunes loud and clear even topless at highway speed.
Cooper S Convertible’s Performance, Handling Stays Sharp
A classic Mini Cooper S, and this MINI Cooper S share the same traits — both are small, agile and quick enough for their respective time periods.
Our 3,148-lb. MINI Cooper S Convertible’s BMW-sourced 2-liter 4-cylinder engine’s 201 hp gives out a maximum of 221 ft-lbs. of torque. Our 7,900-mile-old ragtop is almost 200 lbs. heavier than the Cooper S 3-door hatch. But while driving in Green mode, which claimed 10 extra miles, it was just fine for everyday driving, if a bit slower off the line until the turbo smoothly (but noticeably) joined in to hit 60 mph in 5.9 seconds.
Set in Go Kart mode, we earned more exhaust snarl and a hint of front wheelspin, even a whisper of torque steer if the wheels weren’t straight as we zipped to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds, each downshift was joined by a throttle blip. The 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox executed fine shifts. It was quick when we wanted to pass, doing so with ease, although the G-force meter meted out a moderate .55Gs on launch.
As for my wish for a paddle shifter to downshift? Well, that small gear selector paddle allows a double tap to access L mode, which drops the gearbox in a lower gear when you go want to tackle a corner – it also blips the throttle on downshifts. With all that fun, we averaged 31 mpg and saw an estimated 400-miles of range on a full tank. But auto-engine on/off at traffic lights is noticeable when refiring.
For comparison, a 2025 Cooper S hardtop I tested a year ago hit 60 mph in 6 seconds in Go-Kart mode. It also averaged about 28 mpg. And a 2021 MINI Cooper S Convertible I tested with a turbocharged in-line four with 189 hp and a 6-speed manual with rev-match engine blips on downshifts – saw 60 mph in 6.9 seconds. We got an observed 31 mpg.
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Under that rubber-at-each-corner body lives front struts and a multilink rear suspension with a comfortably taut yet supple ride that can get a bit choppy on rougher pavement due to that short wheelbase. On smoother roads, it’s a joy to toss around; with a ride that easily handles bumps with a tightly-done rebound that’s buffered at full compression. In the real world, we had a very neutral and fairly flat ride around curves with serious stiction under power as we played. We got a very nice 1.03Gs in our steady-state skidpad, and a fine .99Gs powering up an interstate entrance ramp -whoo-hoo, it’s almost a go-kart.
Power steering is super direct in any mode, with great feedback and a firmer, more direct feel in Go Kart mode. It is so easy to point and shoot it into corners or even lane change, full of feel on any road. We had a hint of understeer when we pushed in the skid pad, but easy to steer and go. It’s almost twice the weight of the original MINI, but still carving corners with aplomb.
Our 13.2-inch front/11-inch rear disc brakes gave us immediate bite and precise whoa-down ability, stopping short and straight with minimal nose drive and no sign of fade after heavy use. It had a very good 1.18Gs under full braking from 60 mph, and no evident fade after a few hard hits. Lane-keep was gently firm in keeping the MINI in line, while cruise control handled speed and distance to a stop.
The base 161-hp MINI Cooper C Convertible starts at $34,600. Our MINI Cooper S Convertible based at $39,600, with lots we had standard except: $1,700 Iconic Trim with smart cruise, Harmon Kardon audio, keyless entry, navigation, wireless phone charging and more; and $600 Union Jack soft-top -final is $38,295 with destination.
Bottom line: The Cooper S convertible is still a tight, squared-off package that says MINI immediately, with short overhangs, rubber at each corner, and cute nostalgic hints with a wonderfully updated interior. It’s still a joy to drive – a go-kart for two and stuff.
2025 MINI Cooper S Convertible Specifications
Vehicle type – 2-door, 4-seat compact front-wheel-drive convertible
Base price – $39,600 (As driven – $38,295)
Engine type –16-valve in-line four
Displacement – 2-liter
Horsepower (net) – 201 hp at 5,000 rpm
Torque (lb-ft) – 221 at 1,450-4,500 rpm
Transmission – 7-speed/dual-clutch automatic
Wheelbase – 98.2 in.
Overall length – 152.8 in.
Height – 56.4 in.
Width – 77.6 in. w/mirrors
Front headroom – 39 in.
Front legroom – 40.4 in.
Rear headroom/legroom – n/a.
Cargo capacity – 5.2 cubic feet
Curb weight – 3,148 pounds
Fuel capacity – 11.6 gallons
Mileage rating – 26 mpg city/36 mpg highway