Who wouldn’t prefer the feel of natural air brushing while driving on open stretches of road? Not many hands will raise up and the most apt vehicle to do that has to be a convertible. To make it even more interesting, if that convertible comes from an iconic brand making cars for passionate enthusiasts, the deal gets even sweeter.
MINI revealed the 2016 MINI Convertible in front of everyone at the 44th Tokyo Motor Show. While many had pinned up massive hopes from the car, the brand chose to simply update the car and not change its outside design as to maintain the connect with its audiences. Thus, the new MINI Convertible has justifiably added more numbers to its exterior dimension by being wider, longer and taller.
The lines and the overall profile of the MINI Convertible has not been fiddles with at all. This has indeed left mixed reactions with its target audiences especially if we compare this with the other small convertible from Volkswagen, the 2015 Beetle Convertible. Not that I am a fan of the Beetle Convertible but still maintain the fact that the baby VW has its own charm. It is more of a femme than the snarling Cooper boy. However, the inside of the MINI has more charm with its vintage meets modern interiors. The level of personalization is also simple amazing. MINI has raised the practicality aspect with the increase in boot space of 25%.
Then comes the most important part, MINI offers Convertible in three tunes of motors with the first one being the 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine which makes 134 bhp and 220 Nm of torque. For the performance seekers, there is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder motor churning 189 bhp and 280 Nm of torque. If that is still not enough then one has to wait for the JCW edition that will spit out 228 bhp of power and makes 320 Nm of torque. These motors are way powerful than the VW Beetle Convertible. So in short, the 2016 MINI Convertible wins it over the VW. Also, this one will indeed make its way to India and prices will be kept at a typical niche premium
