While it hasn’t been tested by the experts at Euro NCAP, we would expect top scores of five stars for the MINI Roadster safety. Standard safety kit includes driver and passenger airbags as well as side and head airbags and dynamic traction control. Roll-over bars are situated behind the driver and passenger’s head while it also gets a strengthened A-pillar and stabilised windscreen frame to improve safety, even with the roof down.

This is normally the major downfall for drop-tops, but the MINI Roadster is surprisingly practical. Whether you have the roof open or closed you will have 240-litres of load space. That’s probably not enough space for a golf bag so you’ll need to use the ski hatch, a clever way of making the space more useable. There’s enough room for a couple of weekend bags or a decent-sized shop, however.

The Roadster has 40 litres less load space than that of the Coupe so storage space will have to be used wisely. If you were pushed there is enough space to store a couple of soft bags in behind the front seats. The door bins are of a good size, as is the glovebox. Reversing, or making any tight manoeuvres, with the roof in place can be tricky as you only have a pillar-box view through the back window.

MINI has tried improving visibility by adding sizeable wing mirrors to the Roadster, however. The semi-automatic folding soft top deploys in eight seconds, at speeds of up to 20mph, so you’ll not get too damp if you get caught in a sudden rain shower.