Range-topping roadster offers storming pace and back-road thrills. At a price...

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MINI’s hot hatch just got cooler! The retro manufacturer has whipped the roof off its 211bhp John Cooper Works performance edition for ultimate wind-in the-hair thrills.

We raved about the JCW hatch when we got behind the wheel in July – and the convertible is just as much fun. Go-kart-like handling and a rorty banging and popping soundtrack are the order of the day. A 0-62mph time of just 6.9 seconds puts the JCW firmly into Focus ST territory, too.

But it’s more than just a chopped roof, as MINI’s boffins have tweaked and honed the current shape drop-top so that it offers serious improvements over the previous model. The new convertible is ten per cent stiffer than its predecessor, which minimalises scuttle shake and improves safety and handling.

All MINI convertibles also boast a wider track, five extra litres of boot space and around an extra 10mpg on their predecessors – largely thanks to BMW’s eco-friendly Efficient Dynamics systems.

Improvements aside, performance is the JCW Convertible’s trump card. Gun the throttle and the MINI leaps forward enthusiastically with huge reserves of grunt from the relatively small 1.6-litre turbocharged engine. Peak torque is 260Nm, but there’s also an extra 20Nm on tap from the overboost feature, for short bursts.

It may be front-wheel-drive, but the JCW handles with the kind of crisp precision that we’d expect from a rear-wheel-drive sports car. Grip is very strong – there’s a hint of understeer, but it’s extremely easy to punt the car into corners with huge confidence.

Our only criticism of the JCW is its firm ride, which is to be expected on such a raucous car. But the only real downfall is the JCW’s little sister – the MINI Cooper S convertible. The S isn’t quite as hardcore, but with 175bhp, 44.1mpg, stop-start technology and a price tag of $26,628 – a massive $6,273 less than the JCW – it’s a great compromise between price and power and makes more sense.

But if your budget permits, then few cars can deliver the same top-down fun as the JCW.

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The dial in the center of the dash isn't quite big enough for me.

~ Zire :D

The dial in the center of the dash isn't quite big enough for me.

~ Zire :D

Where the hell is the speedo, I hope I can see it:D

Considering that the center gauge looks like something Flava Flav would wear, I think Mini was attempting to distract us from the speedo... so that we wouldn't actually see how slow we were going.

~ Zire :D