Personal picks—convertibles

To say that we're all not eagerly anticipating warm spring breezes here in Connecticut at the Consumer Reports Auto Test Center would be a gross understatement. The gray, cold weather is quickly turning to warm, bright skies and the 300 acres surrounding our track is becoming green again.

Slogging through the winter with these cars wasn't exactly joyful. Even with heated seats on several of these models, I wasn't tempted to drop the top until the temperature reached at least 50-degrees F. Finally, we can all drive the convertibles from the May issue with the tops down and truly enjoy the open-air experience.

With that in mind, here are our Personal Picks for convertibles.

—Mike Quincy

Tom Mutchler: This is a tough group to pick a favorite, mostly because my favorite cars in this group leave me feeling ambivalent (and somewhat poor). The BMW 328i feels just like a coupe, making it the best to drive of this bunch. Problem is, it's just barely under $50K even if you go light on the options. That's serious money.

I could console myself with our $37,000 Volkswagen Eos. It makes the more-expensive Saab 9-3 and Volvo C70 convertibles seem redundant. I would go with a base-level Turbo with leatherette and DSG for under $31K.

But driving with the top down isn't fun unless the car itself is fun, and I don't want to break the bank. My solution: a used 2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata. Yeah, it only has two seats. And unlike later Miatas, the 2006 isn't available with Mazda's clever folding hardtop that improves visibility and noise without giving up trunk room or adding much weight. But all of the back seats in these cars are near worthless, and the Miata's manual top is the best out there. Surfing on AutoTrader, I can find a loaded 2006 Miata Grand Touring with stability control for around $19,000 with under 20,000 miles on the clock. That's a lot of fun for the money.

Gabe Shenhar: These convertibles are really not my type of car. If there's a choice between the open-top car and a coupe version, I’d always go with the more solid and rigid structure of the one with the fixed roof. For me, I can’t imagine a Porsche 911 with an open top or a BMW M3 convertible. If I already sacrificed practicality, it might as well be for some serious driving fun.

But let's say my kind of fun is having some wind in my hair and catching some rays, rather than blasting down a race track. In that case, I have two favorites. If money was not much of an object it would be the BMW 328i. First of all, it looks gorgeous; second, it drives every bit as wonderfully as its sedan counterpart with a sweet powertrain and a rewarding chassis that's agile and easy to control. Third, for a convertible, it's astoundingly free of the typical nasty body shakes of most drop-tops.

But the BMW, mind you, (and this is a 328i without the sports package) is scratching the $50K mark. This is where my rational choice comes: I'll take the $35,000 Volkswagen Eos. It's easy to consider it merely a Jetta convertible, but the Eos is actually a sophisticated, upscale car with a plush cabin. It's quick, gets good fuel economy, and the automated manual dual-clutch gearbox gives it a sporty character with its quick shifts and an interesting soundtrack. The Eos has a sunroof-only mode, which I find extremely useful when you don't feel like stopping, waiting and fussing with the full-blown, top down experience.

Mike Quincy: Honestly, none of these really lit my fire. The 'fun' factor must be high to put up with the inherent drawbacks of a convertible: noise, limited trunk space, and usually shaky structure. And while the 328i convertible is a refined and "nice" car, it’s not fun—and for less money, I’d get a 335i sedan and probably enjoy the drive more. Back to fun: I’ll take a Mazda Miata any day of the week. It is so perfectly balanced in its handling, steering response, amazingly satisfying shifter, and its just-enough-horsepower. But if I had to have a couple miniscule rear seats (my two young sons like convertibles), I’d choose a Ford Mustang GT. Amazing V8 sound, classic looks, and more-than-just-enough-horsepower. In fact, there are gobs of it. And that’s always fun.

For more on this convertibles group, read the road tests and also watch our car review videos.

Comments

[Cale]

With 75% of VW Beetle convertible buyers women and 68% Camry Solara convertible buyers women, it would have been nice to hear what your women testers thought of these cars.

[David]

The cars in recent convertible test group are what I call "style/cruising" cars. They are for people who want to be seen in a convertible or love cruising around in open top. As for me, I see no point in getting any of these cars.

For convertibles, my picks would be Boxster series, Miata or SLK280 (only trim that comes in manual). Now, these are "real" sports cars that handle excellently and ride reasonably well.

[Jose]

What about the Mini Cooper Convertible!? I went to go see those at the dealership the other day!!! And wow i was surprised how inexpensive they are!!!

[Chris Colenso-Dunne]

It has been said before many times that an open top sports car is not a sports car, its a cruiser aimed at turnings heads not turning corners. But why is this necessarily so. No one would dispute that a Formula One racing car is a sports car. Think also of a high performance motor bike, exemplary cornering and handling again. Neither vehicle has a roof or is completely built in but both are extremely stiff, extremely light and extremely agile. So, in principle then, an open top high performance sports car is not impossible to design and build - at a cost. And some would argue that the Porsche Boxster, and Mazda MX5 at a fraction of the cost of the Boxster, come close to that ideal. But do they really? My suspicion is that even the Boxster is a poor shadow of the car it could be if money were no object and performance were everything. The problem then is not that open tops can't turn corners: rather, its that their makers believe that turning heads is all their owners want to do.

[Jeff B]

I am on my second Miata -- a 2006 GT with 6 speed auto & paddle shifters. It makes me smile every time I drive it. It is the best handling car I have ever driven (and I used to have a Porsche), is totally reliable, and I average about 28-29mpg, daily driving. Nothing comes close in my book.

[Tom Mutchler]

Jose, I'm a big fan of the Mini convertible. It's still based on the last-generation platform, but that's OK. (Rear visibility is lousy though.) I had it in an earlier draft of my pick, but I didn't mention it because I wanted to avoid writing a book.

If you keep out of the Mini options cookie jar, they can be somewhat reasonable in price.

[Ginger Lawson]

I've owned four VWs in my life - the last one was a Triple White limited edition Super Beetle Convertible - - and oh what fun we had in that one! People would come up to me and tell me how good I looked in that car. I will say that I expected better gas mileage than the 24 city miles I got - but look at me now...I'm getting ready to buy another convertible and just can't quit thinking about that one. The back seats are roomy and the trunk space is huge compared to what you'd expect. Plus - the top is SUPER easy to put up and take down.