The new MINI Cooper cannot be tagged as revolutionary as its forefather but it is also quite distinct in its own right. It also carries the reputation of the MINI that even small cars can be popular in the United States as long as they have that quality ride, affordable, and quite fun to handle.

For making the MINI Cooper give that feeling of riding a big car, you have to thank BMW, its parent company, for that. The blueprint of the product revolves around the econobox but the name should not mislead anyone as it feels luxe. It is an affordable car but has a ton of options to give that personal touch and much desired customization.

The retro styling of the MINI Cooper still echoes the classic looks of the original vehicle with round lights, contrasting color of the roof that is really an eye catcher, and wheels pushed to the corners of the vehicle. The seats are very comfortable but it is pretty cramped if someone will be riding on the rear seats.

The 2012 MINI Cooper is being offered in different trims : from Cooper with a 4-cylinder 1.6L engine that gives out 121 horsepower; to Cooper S with 181HP, and the JCW or John Cooper Works which can produce 208 HP.

The base MINI Cooper already gives you a decent performance with the upper trims giving you the extra oomph you might want. The first two trims have the 6-speed gearbox coming in as manual or automatic. The JCW comes with stick only.

The fuel mileage of the Cooper is 29 miles per gallon on city driving while going 37 mpg on the highway. The Cooper S goes for 27mpg on city driving and 35 on the highway. It is not bad at all to get 380 miles out of a full tank of petrol in your Cooper.

The 2012 MINI Cooper is a fun ride with pretty good performance. It also has a 5-star rating for rollovers from the NHTSA.

The German tuning team modified the car’s aerodynamics, styling, suspension, and engine.

AC Schnitzer toyed with the Mini Cooper S Cabrio’s engine which normally gives out 175 horsepower and boosted it to an exciting 208 hp. The R57 also gets a limited-slip differential putting it in the same line with the variant from John Cooper Works and the Cooper S. The car is also enhanced with a chrome tailpipe sports silencer custom made by AC Schnitzer

The R57 Cooper Cabrio gets a suspension treatment with a spring kt and a suspension set-up that is height adjustable. The suspension set up makes the mini more agile in addition to the added aluminum strut brace.

The design house also added front spoilers and installed rear skirts to improve the looks and aerodynamics of the car. Custom alloy wheel also make the Mini a flashier ride.

The interior was made sleeker with AC Schnitzer foot rest, pedals, handbrakes, and gear knobs.

The soft top Cabrio is the second generation of the model and was unveiled during the Detroit motor show last January. The soft top of this car can open in about 15 seconds even when the car is on a slow pace of 30km/hr.

The chassis of the Mini was revised to give it a sporty stance and a redesigned engine bay. The front end of the vehicle resembles its hatchback predecessor while the rear portion, starting from the A pillars, was modified to house the folding soft top.

German soft top specialist, Edscha, spearheaded the realization of the metal and fabric top that can be out of view in just 15 seconds while the car is smoothly cruising at 20 mph. It can also be partially retracted to serve as a sunroof.

Car designers disclosed that the new Mini is lighter than its older brother by 22 pounds. The Cooper S registers at 2712 pounds.

Considering the safety of the riders, a roll bar is deployed when the installed sensors detect impact. An openometer is also added near the tachometer of the vehicle. The openometer is quite an odd gauge measuring how long the car has been driven with its top rolled down.

There will be two versions of the Mini convertible when it will be launched in the US. There will be the naturally aspirated 1.6L four cylinder engine that is able to give out 118 horsepower. Its sibling will be the 1.6L turbocharged power plant that boasts of 172 horsepower. Manual and automatic transmissions will be available for this release of the Mini.

There is also another edition that will be released in the US market able to cruise with a 211 horsepower four-cylinder engine.

The new Mini convertible is expected to hit the show rooms by March 2009 with a sticker of around $24550.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You’ll end up paying just under £20k (that’s $38,000 approx.)

Pretty, innit?

Tuning done by ABF Performance – pretty sick if you ask me!

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’m not sure where this competition was held but I am seriously contemplating joining in with my old Fiat 500!

Click here to view the embedded video.

To be honest — I don’t drive an S. Why? Because the chip difference wasn’t worth the cash — but still, this slightly tuned version is HOT!