Cooper S Convertible Sidewalk edition

[theundecided]

Hi,

Quick question, looking to buy a 2 year old Cooper S convertible sidewalk edition. The in-gear times provided on MINI's website suggest it's a fair bit slower than the hard top - is this right?

Also, the times they provide are a hell of a lot slower than the times recorded in EVO mag here...

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/cargrouptests/2341...

Which are most realistic?

[theundecided]

Oh, and here's the car...

[URL=http://img12.imageshack.us/i/minizx.jpg/][/URL]

[DrainTheSpuds]

theundecided said:

the times they provide are a hell of a lot slower than the times recorded in EVO mag here...

Is the car in the picture the very one you're looking at buying? If so, that's the older supercharged version, not the later turbocharged model in the Evo article. Also, the convertibles are a fair bit heavier than their hardtop counterparts, so a small reduction in outright speed is to be expected.

[theundecided]

DrainTheSpuds said:

theundecided said:

the times they provide are a hell of a lot slower than the times recorded in EVO mag here...

Is the car in the picture the very one you're looking at buying? If so, that's the older supercharged version, not the later turbocharged model in the Evo article. Also, the convertibles are a fair bit heavier than their hardtop counterparts, so a small reduction in outright speed is to be expected.

Yep, just realised the output is 163hp. I thought all models post 2006 (R56) were the turbocharged ones, or does this not apply to the convertible?

[DrainTheSpuds]

theundecided said:

Yep, just realised the output is 163hp.

It'll be 170 bhp on that - there was an increase from 163 bhp in July 2004.

theundecided said:

I thought all models post 2006 (R56) were the turbocharged ones, or does this not apply to the convertible?

No, that doesn't apply. They ran the R52 (the original convertible) alongside the R56 until the introduction of the R57 in 2009.

[theundecided]

DrainTheSpuds said:

theundecided said:

Yep, just realised the output is 163hp.

It'll be 170 bhp on that - there was an increase from 163 bhp in July 2004.

theundecided said:

I thought all models post 2006 (R56) were the turbocharged ones, or does this not apply to the convertible?

No, that doesn't apply. They ran the R52 (the original convertible) alongside the R56 until the introduction of the R57 in 2009.

The photo of the car above is the one I want to buy - it's 2 years old this month.

The MINI website seems to detail all the convertible S works as 163 hp, which so far as I understood is not the turbo models, as they produce 177.

Totally confused now.

[DrainTheSpuds]

theundecided said:

The MINI website seems to detail all the convertible S works as 163 hp, which so far as I understood is not the turbo models, as they produce 177.

Totally confused now.

There was never a 163 bhp convertible, as the model was launched in July '04 at the same time as the hardtop facelift. I don't know which MINI site you're getting such confusing information from, but I've just been on the MINI UK site, selected 'Cooper S' from the drop-down list, and it shows the Cooper S Sidewalk as having 170 bhp, as per the old supercharged engine.

[theundecided]

DrainTheSpuds said:

theundecided said:

The MINI website seems to detail all the convertible S works as 163 hp, which so far as I understood is not the turbo models, as they produce 177.

Totally confused now.

There was never a 163 bhp convertible, as the model was launched in July '04 at the same time as the hardtop facelift. I don't know which MINI site you're getting such confusing information from, but I've just been on the MINI UK site, selected 'Cooper S' from the drop-down list, and it shows the Cooper S Sidewalk as having 170 bhp, as per the old supercharged engine.

Here's the spec from the MINI cherished website showing 163...

[URL=http://img132.imageshack.us/i/miniiu.png/][/URL]

[DrainTheSpuds]

theundecided said:

Here's the spec from the MINI cherished website showing 163...

That's interesting; I've just had a look at some Cooper S hardtops on the MINI Cherished website, and it shows both pre and post-facelift Cooper Ss as having 163 bhp. It also states 0-60 in 7.4 (post facelift was 7.2) and top speed as 135mph (post was 138), so there's clearly quite a bit of misinformation on there. I wouldn't pay too much attention; you're definitely getting a 170 hp model!