New MINI Cooper Works Convertible
No truncated suicide doors. No SUV ride height. No gimmicks. OK, there’s a Mad Max/Fast and Furious sport button in front of the gear stick that repositions the boost earlier in the drop top’s rev range (i.e., sacrifices government pleasing mpg for power) and sharpens steering. The four pot providing said oomph is a “significantly revised” (i.e., larger air intake) version of the MINI Cooper S’ 1.6-litre turbocharged mill, the same unit found in the MINI CHALLENGE race car. GOT IT? How’s this for PR sneak: “Extra-large disc brakes paired with upgraded bright red Brembo performance callipers are supplied” [italics added]. The thirty-second MINI variant (and I don’t mean the zero to sixty time of the basest of the bast models) yields 132 hp per litre and 39.8 mpg. (Highway, downwind, windows up, a/c off, one-up, no luggage.) The hardtop version was one of the fastest things I’ve ever seen down a country road, I shit thee not. This will be a genuine hoot.
More by Robert Farago
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@Ferrygeist A ‘90-’91 325i was 2,811 lbs. A 123d is over 3000 lbs, but it matches all the other criteria and gets 35 mpg when driven like a maniac.