MINI's third-generation Convertible has been spotted for the first time with its top folded back into position giving us a revealing look at the upcoming model. Previously the car was thought to have been heading to the Geneva Motor Show for its world premiere, but that didn't happen. Nevertheless, it will join MINI's lineup before the end of this year. As with its predecessors, the Convertible is based on the body and mechanicals of the three-door Hatch adding a conventional retractable canvas top that eats up some boot space while offering seating for four passengers. The powertrain lineup will largely mirror that of the 3- and 5-door hatchbacks with 1.5-liter three-cylinder and 2.0-liter four-cylinder gasoline units alongside a 1.5-liter diesel for certain regions, topped out by the John Cooper Works edition featuring a 228hp (231PS) 2.0L turbo four.
Wow, they really have got the roll-over bar well down in the body. The photo gallery at Carscoops has one photo including a Cooper Convertible - in many ways I prefer the Cooper to the S for looks. Spied: 2016 MINI Cooper S Convertible Opens Up For Summer
You would think all the BMW tech they have access to they would have figure out a cover for the roof when it down and decrease the blind area. :frown2::frown2::frown2:
It's not a tech problem, it's a space problem. They've already moved the back seat forward about 1.5" vs. the hardtop, and have already engineered a tri-fold softtop (which was pretty unique when it came out in 2005), just to be able to fit a convertible roof back there at all. There's not a practical way to make it shorter front to back when folded, and there's not a practical way to eliminate more back seat legroom. So it stays like it is, similar to the Beetle. As for the blind spot... there's a beefy mechanism hidden inside that blind spot, to make the tri-fold roof work. It's already a pretty sophisticated Rube-Goldberg piece of engineering. Now they probably COULD make the rear window a bit larger, which would reduce the blind spot some....
When it's down, it becomes a rear spoiler..... When it's up, the rear spoiler disappears..... It's one design that does two things... Engineering inaction... in·ac·tion inˈakSH(ə)n/ noun lack of action where some is expected or appropriate. "future generations will condemn us for inaction" synonyms: inactivity, nonintervention; More
Actually, I would love to get my car in a wind tunnel. With roof up, roof down, and no roof. But, not likely to happen.
You're only two hours or so away from Haas' Windshear, Inc. Wind Tunnel - 180-MPH Rolling-Road Wind Tunnel
It might just be that the driver is really short but the belt-line looks really high. Might just be the rake of the windshield makes it look like it but it looks almost to be near the top of the shoulder