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When MINI decides to put a 2025 MINI Cooper S Convertible in my driveway for testing and review is entirely up to MINI. Mazda gave me a Miata in July, and the testing went swell. Top-down zipping around is what I live for. This MINI arrived during a snow and ice storm on a week that Metro Boston will have temperatures as low as 1°F. So that means the snow and ice will still be around, just now at supercooled levels. So, my review won’t be about the way the top works, since I was afraid it might get jammed with ice if I messed with it. Let’s talk instead bout how the 2025 MINI Cooper S Convertible handles extremes of winter.
2025 MINI Cooper S Convertible - Tires
Let’s start off with tires in our discussion about driving this convertible sports car in harsh winter conditions. Wisely, MINI opted for Hankook all-season tires. Had they been summer-only high-performance tires (like the ones on a BMW we just tested,) I would have parked it for the week and done some TikTok videos about the interior or something. MINI deserves kudos for putting year-round tires on this sports car. It will save owners money, and perhaps even their lives. The Hankook Kinergy tires were great over two inches of snow, and they were normal on super-frozen dry pavement. Smart move, MINI.
2025 MINI Cooper S Convertible - Transmission and Powertrain
I love me a stick shift in any sports car, even if it is being pulled around by front wheel drive, like this MINI is. Except when it’s winter, and I need to go somewhere. Then I don’t want a stick. It’s just one more hassle in bad weather. Our MINI had the DCT Auto, and it worked great. In snow, front wheel drive trumps rear wheel drive hands down in every category except parking lot donuts, so I’ll take this MINI over a Miata or GR86 in winter snow any day.
The MINI’s outstanding powertrain is wonderful when roads are dry, but over snow you don’t need the torque. There are about ten different drive modes in the MINI, none of which is called SNOW. But they have ones that reduce the torque a bit, and that’s helpful. We didn’t get to use “Go Kart” mode much because we wanted to keep the MINI in good shape and stay alive.
2025 MINI Cooper S Convertible - Heated This and Heated That
Let’s face it, nobody wants to shiver in a soft-top in winter. MINI is a German brand now under the BMW tent, so they know a thing or two about making you comfortable when temps drop. The heated steering wheel and seats were yummy. The rear heated glass window worked great, too.
2025 MINI Cooper S Convertible - The Convertible Top
It sure felt weird brushing snow off of a soft top. It was my very first time. I’ve owned a soft top before, but it never saw snow. Rarely did it even see rain. But fear not, the hardworking, smart folks at Haartz Corp. make this soft top textile, and it is amazing. The snow and ice came right off the top like it was treated with some sort of proprietary magic stuff, which we suppose it likely is. The top also seemed to insulate just fine. The car was not colder than we would have expected a hard top car to be, given the crazy temps.
2025 MINI Cooper S Convertible - Visibility
All convertibles have poor outward visibility with the top up, and MINI is the worst of all of them. Other than maybe the Miata. I’m spitting a truth bomb here, but this thing is not easy to see out of with the top up.
2025 MINI Cooper S Convertible - Fun Factor and Conclusion
Even in low temps and snowy conditions, the MINI delivers on its mission. That is: “Make driving a blast.” We loved driving this car in winter and would name it our favorite subcompact, soft-top, front-drive sports coupe under $44K. How’s that for an endorsement? If you must drive this car in winter, fear not. It’s still super fun.
Do you drive your MINI Cooper in winter? If so, tell us how you manage in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you.
Want more content on this MINI? Here is where you can find some TikTok videos we shot.
John Goreham is the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and an expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his fourteen years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on LinkedIn and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. John employs grammar and punctuation software when proofreading, and he sometimes uses image generation tools.
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