Don't know if many on NAM have gotten to put their hands on the R59 Roadster yet...
Our local MINI dealers were able to able to bring in the Midnight Black JCW version in during the week.
I grabbed a few images, was able to test out the roof, and get an idea of head-room.
* http://www.patterndraftimaging.com/p984978091

- Erik

 

Thanks Erik, i would love to hear more of your impressions of the Roadster. Thanks for the post

-Steven

 

Thanks for the pics. I'd be interested in how easy it was to put the roof up/down. I've watched the videos on youtube, of course, but would like to hear from someone who has operated it. I'm wondering if I will be able to put the top up while in the driver's seat -- I'm petite and my driving position is with the seat all the way forward.

 

Owning a JCW R55, there's really nothing different in the powertrain.
With the R58 and the R59 together in the same showroom, they look virtually indentical with the top-up (other than the cloth top).
However, with the top-up, you don't feel as tight or clausterphobic compared to the Coupe.
With the top-up, you can clearly see the structural round bars for the manual roof, but it's not a negative styling cue.
When the top is down, theres alot of viewing room, just like the R57 convertible.
With the top-down, it's looks like extremely streamline with little seems upsetting the style of the vehicle.
It looks best with the top-down and the permanent rollbar mounted to the middle of the body.




The roof is extremely simple to operate; from the outside of the car, simply press the release button on center rollbar and lift.
The roof is somewhat counterweighted, as it took only one hand to lift and set it on top of the windshield.
Once lifted, sitting inside and closing and locking was a 3-second process, just lightly tug, rotate the handle and snap in place.

No. With the wind screen and the rollbar hoops, you cannot reach your arm over that to release and lift the roof.

- Erik

 

Great info., thanks again. I was hoping for a little more headroom on the Roadster, good news

 

I had the opportunity to sit in the roadster on dispaly in south florida. Unless you are very toned, it is difficult to open the roof while siting in the driver's seat. Closing the roof and locking it in place is more difficult.

Personally, I am waitng for the semi-auto option, expecially for my wife.

Bruce

 

[ Ref Question about operating top from driver's seat]

No. With the wind screen and the rollbar hoops, you cannot reach your arm over that to release and lift the roof.


That is a bit disappointing.... the soft top Miata has had that capability since day 1.... the one disadvantage of the power retractable hardtop on my MX-5 Miata is that it takes 10 seconds up or down vs the 2-3 seconds to raise / lower a Miata softop from the driver's seat. "Time is of the essence" if you get caught out in a rain event. Perhaps without the windscreen in place?

Anyone else have the opportunity to try out the soft top functionality from the driver's seat? I'll have to watch for a Roadster at my nearby MINI dealer.

I figured the Roadster would be the FWD equivalent of the Miata....but with it's Mini-ness

 

Went on line and built one. Looks cool, but boy is it pricey!! Not even a JCW and it was almost $40k

 

The configurator shows a "semi-automatic" roof as a $750 option, but I'm not exactly sure what that means.

 

The semi-automatic roof raises and lowers the roof by power but it requires the driver to either latch or unlatch the top in front.

Basically you unlatch the top, press the button and the top folds up and is put away under power.

If the top is down, you press the button. It raises under power. You reach up and latch the roof.

Probably a waste of money since it is so easy to move the top up and down by hand anyway.

 

There's a MINI official four-stage photo showing a driver lifting the Roadster top from the seat without the windscreen.
Let me see if I can locate that again...

Ack! Found it:


- Erik

 

Thanks Erik...those photos answer that question...assuming no windscreen is in place, should be very "Miata-like" to raise/lower the top manually. At least unil we can check one out personally.

Rick

 

Erik, thanks for the response on the operation of the roof. I'm hoping it won't be too cumbersome for me to operate. I've got my Roadster S on order -- received my production number this past Friday! MA says late February production. In the meantime, I'm hoping to get a chance to see one in person.

 

The windscreen/deflector is a (cost) option, so I guess it would depend on whether you have it or not along with your height/seat position.

 

Hey guys, at the new england auto show today I sat in a roadster and proceeded to do the driver seat roof lift and close...

Now, I'm not the strongest arm out there, and it is a somewhat tough roof to pull up, but the mechanism is:

from closed, press a little round button/latch thing that releases the roof, then you grab it with your four fingers and fling it up and towards you, thats the toughest part due to weight and angle... once its up, you now are pulling it to the front mostly, that part was smooth and easy. then right at the end, you grab a handle and have to use some force to make sure the roof is engaging into its clips, pull down and turn at the same time, then you can push the handle back to "store it up" if you will.

releasing is easier, since once unlocked you can sort of throw it back and it latches on pretty well on its own.

I'd get the roadster in a heartbeat if it made sense! even though I've always loved Miatas...

 

When a traveling roadster was at our local dealer, I did try and operate the top from the driver's seat. It was certainly possible, at least for an adult male in reasonable condition. You certainly knew you were doing something though!

I'd expect a decent percentage of women would have trouble doing it. (not being sexist - just the fact that on average men have greater upper-body strength)

That said, we're going with the manual top, and I think my wife will be able to manage it.

Closing it did seem a little easier (muscles seemed happier pulling forward versus pushing backwards). And that's the most likely on-the-road operation, due to rain, buttoning up before getting on the highway on marginal temperature days etc.

Don

 

I imagine I (a petite female) would have been better off waiting for the semi-automatic top (from what I've read, the semi-automatic top will be available late summer).... but I can't wait.

 

You can order now with semi-automatic top!

But it won't go into production until March. Same with recaro seats.

 

I understand "can't wait"!

We did consider that as well, but the money and the delay made us stick to the manual top. I also sort of like the old-school aspect of the manual. We aren't buying a two-seat MINI because it's so practical!

Don

 

Anyone know what the additional weight would be of the semi-automatic option? That would be an important factoid to me.

They'll have at least one at the Philly auto show in two weekends. Now if only it's a Reef Blue version!

 

We have a Midnight Black Preproduction JCW Roadster that MINI USA let us borrow for our soft Grand Opening party. I got to drive it around the lot with the top down in the cold. What fun that was!!!

 

This coming from a female, the top isn't too hard to operate. I could put it down with one hand but couldn't get it to latch (you have to press and couldn't get my arm in the position from the driver seat). Putting it up is pretty much impossible from inside the car but it doesn't take too long to do. It's faster than the power cabrio top. I really like it.

 

Well, actually, if you don't have the windscreen installed, putting the top up from inside the car is quite possible - I've done it. Now, I wouldn't call it easy, but it is possible.

With the windscreen in place I'd expect it is impossible. I haven't seen the screen yet, so depending on how easy *that* is to remove it might just add a little time to the process.

I do like to dare the rain, I've had to pull off the highway more than once to run the top up on our current ragtop MINI.
(that kind of weather makes for some great skies sometimes!)

My plan would probably be to remove the windscreen and run without it if I thought a "priority" top closure was a possibility.

Don

 

I got the chance to sit in a cooper s roadster earlier today, and was given the opportunity to try out the soft top operation. I'd like to share my initial impressions with everyone here so anyone keen on a roadster can make an informed decision.

Internal mechanisms are visible
The internals of the soft top mechanism are clearly visible; the bars that run across the roof are coloured black and relatively thick - that's probably why the top is able to fold down on its own weight. The folding hinges by the sides (above the windows) are also clearly visible.

Window seals
Rubber seals that run along the top edge of the passenger and driver windows look well-constructed and should keep rainwater out in the event of heavy rain.

Blindspots
There's a really big blindspot by virtue of the fact that it is a two-seater and the soft top obscures rearward vision. i.e. no point turning your head to check your blindspot... its completely blocked.

Rearward visiblity
Rearward visibility is pretty small. I didn't get the chance to try out the spoiler, but i would hasten a guess that it would block out the lower parts of the rear window when its deployed. The rear window is smaller than that of the coupe and it is further blocked out by the seats. This could possible be worse if you had the Recaro seats specced in as they're much bigger in size.

Soft top opening
Now i'm a very small guy, even by asian standards. So this section could be somewhat biased. The roadster I tried out is RHD, now I'm uncertain if the roadster was primarily designed for LHD cars, because, being right-handed the top was pretty heavy to push backwards with my left hand. Past a certain point however, the top falls backwards on its own weight and slides down into position.
Therein comes the next problem; I couldn't lock the soft top into place. In fact, neither could any of the mechanics that were standing around outside the car. One mechanic did finally manage to lock it in place - by pushing back the front driver seat and putting his weight onto the middle portion, only then did it click audibly into place.

Soft top closing
With shorter limbs than most folks, i'd say this is definitely achievable from inside the vehicle. Its important to try this out on your own to determine if you can do this quickly enough in the event of inclement weather.
There's a silvery button that you need to press to make the soft top jump upwards. Once its up slightly, all you need to do is yank forwards with the use of the handle. I managed to do this without the wind deflector in place. It does take some upper body strength to pull it up (biceps needed!), but once the handle is right above your head, its a simple slide forward. I did however have problems securing the top back into place on the windscreen - I had to pull downwards on the handle with both hands, applying my body weight to the handle before twisting the handle and stowing it away. Not sure if handle is able to take the abuse though.

Exterior looks
With the top down, i'd dare say its the sexiest MINI in the MINI range. There's just something about its steeply raked windscreen and open top that screams "FAST!" even when its standing still. MotoringFile uses the term "simplicity" and I couldn't agree more.
That said, with the top up, the car looks better when viewed from its front quarter angles. It looks like a spaceship with a funny black bubble right smack in the middle when its viewed perpendicularly from its sides, partly because unlike the coupe, it doesn't have a sloping roofline that stretches all the way back to the spoiler.

Hope this information is useful for anyone considering a Roadster.

 

Me again.... the husband & I made the long drive to the Houston auto show last Saturday so we could see a Roadster in person. We thought it would be nice to see one before mine went into production.

Wow, it looks good! The one they had in Houston was a Pepper White JCW. I've ordered a Pepper White (but "just" a S) so it was nice to see how great the color looked. I must say that the Roadster had some of the largest crowds around it at the show.

Anyway, I sat in the driver's seat and was able to put the top up from the driver's seat. There was no windscreen so I'm sure that helped. I admit it took a bit of "extra effort" but I feel I will able to handle it on a daily basis. I was able to put the top down easily but, like others, couldn't get it to latch without getting out of the car and giving it a push. The MINI rep who was there said that it could be that the production cars will be easier to latch. Not sure I believe that but one can always hope.