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Front and rear bumper fascias, a new grille texture, minor lamp alterations, and a whole new line of wheels will keep Mini watchers' heads spinning.
The design of the second-generation convertible looks enough like the first that there is little difference to casual observers. The most noticeable difference is the roll bar, which used to stick up behind the backseat head restraints.
One of our main gripes of previous Minis was the oddly placed stereo control knobs. Fortunately, that has been rectified for 2011 with a slightly more conventional layout.
As always, Mini encourages customization of each car, and is now offering three “design worlds” to serve as inspiration. Dubbed Rally, Classic, and Scene, each is a family of suggestions for body and roof colors, wheel designs, and interior elements hand-selected by designers as a stylish jumping-off point for tweaking your Mini.
Traditional Mini design cues are still there - most notable among them the contrasting colors for the roof and side mirrors, the round headlights and the black wheel flares.
STYLING | 10 out of 10
Expert Quotes:
Front and rear bumper fascias, a new grille texture, minor lamp alterations, and a whole new line of wheels will keep Mini watchers' heads spinning.
Automobile Magazine
The design of the second-generation convertible looks enough like the first that there is little difference to casual observers. The most noticeable difference is the roll bar, which used to stick up behind the backseat head restraints.
Cars.com
One of our main gripes of previous Minis was the oddly placed stereo control knobs. Fortunately, that has been rectified for 2011 with a slightly more conventional layout.
Edmunds
As always, Mini encourages customization of each car, and is now offering three “design worlds” to serve as inspiration. Dubbed Rally, Classic, and Scene, each is a family of suggestions for body and roof colors, wheel designs, and interior elements hand-selected by designers as a stylish jumping-off point for tweaking your Mini.
Car and Driver
Traditional Mini design cues are still there - most notable among them the contrasting colors for the roof and side mirrors, the round headlights and the black wheel flares.
Kelley Blue Book
There are few, if any, other new cars that do modern-classic styling quite like the Mini Cooper, and the entire family of retro-styled small cars it's spawned.
The big-eyed front end, the short nose, the low hood, and the classy wrap-around beltline, with blacked out pillars and a 'floating' roof, are all distinctive design elements that make this modern MINI a standout.
Inside, the quirky, occasionally funky design is undeniably racy, and while its retro rocker switches feel somewhat at the expense of practicality (so might the somewhat gimmicky, plate-size speedometer in the middle of the dash), and there's an element of busyness in the details, it's a cohesive look, and the color options introduced last year spruced it up.
Cross-check cloth and leather upholstery was subbed in last year, as were new seven-hole wheels. Sportier Cooper S models feature functional brake ducts, less chrome, 17-inch alloys, striping, foglamps, and aero bodywork, as well as sport seats and alloy pedals inside.
MINI Coupe models (and the MINI Roadster) have essentially the same packaging from the front seats ahead, but with their lower roofline (MINI proudly calls the roof a 'helmet') there's less usable headroom; there's no rear seat in these models either--just a small cargo shelf. MINI Clubman models, on the other hand, offer a bit more headroom in back, making a somewhat more spacious four-seater, with a funky center-opening, side-hinged hatch arrangement.
With a long list of accessories and add-ons, the MINI Cooper models remains among the most customizable models on the market. Through a huge array of color combinations, interior choices, and graphics packages, and a MINI Yours customization program, with things like a two-tone leather dash and steering wheel, custom alloy wheels, special mirror caps, and unique upholstery patterns, if you have some extra budget, you can pretty much create your own look.
Conclusion
With just the right mix of modern and retro, the 2013 MINI Cooper has a style that's unique...but perhaps a little too cute for some tastes.
