My girlfriend has just purchased a Twin Air 'Sport' and traded in her juicy Mini Cooper S for it. They are very nippy cars for a 900cc engine.

Before this, she test drove a regular 1.2 'Lounge'. This was nippy and handled very well and now I've decided that i want a Twin Air as its no tax, cheaper insurance and its quicker and just as good MPG like the 1.2.

I have been browsing the Twin Air range online and I'm confused about some things. There is a Sport, Twin Air Plus and also street models. Along with the Pop and the Lounge. What are the difference between the Sport, Street and plus? Does the Sport offer slightly better suspension where as the street is more customisable? Is there one model that offers better value for money then the others?

Can someone please inform me what the pros and cons are with the Sport, Street, plus and Lounge. Im not in favor for the pop but would like A/c and possibility of fog lights and mod cons that come as standard.

Im not sure if this is possible, but she would like to lower the Twin Air. She suggested putting Abarth springs in replacement of the standard ones. My only thoughts are that the Abarth engines are more heavier and the springs are designed for this. If we fitted them to the Twin Air then I could imagine that the car would sit higher rather then lower?

I look forward to your reply's.

Many Thanks
Dan

I'm not too clued up on lowering etc, but in terms of specs, the 500 was launched with Pop, Lounge and Sport trims. Pop is the base model, with hub caps (steel wheels) and no aircon or Bluetooth as standard. It does have electric windows, cd/mp3 stereo, central locking and 7 airbags.

Lounge adds aircon (climate control on versions with the TwinAir engine), split folding rear seats, alloys, Blue&Me with steering mounted controls, fixed glass roof.

Sport was the same price as Lounge and has aircon & Blue&Me with steering mounted controls & (different) alloys, but loses the glass roof and split folding rear seats in favour of rear spoiler, part leather sports seats & front fog lights.

Sport was dropped after a few years and replaced with TwinAir & TwinAir Plus trims. These were similar to Sport but only came with TwinAir engines rather than the full engine range of other trims. Amongst other things, TwinAir had aircon and 15" black alloys and TwinAir Plus had climate control and 16" black alloys. All had brushed chrome bits (door handles, dashboard inserts).

TwinAir & TwinAir Plus trims got killed off pretty quick and replaced with Street, which was pretty similar except it had the whole range of engines again (1.2, Multijet and TwinAir).

This then got killed off recently and replaced with the 'S'. The S has dark alloys & brushed chrome bits, plus part leather sports seats, the flat bottomed steering wheel from the Abarth and bumpers from the American 500. It's available with all engines from the range.

As far as i'm aware they all have the same suspension set-up, contrary to some press reports. All offer similar value for money and all except Pop models get standard aircon or climate control, but if you want fog lights, only the original Sport had these as standard I think. The new S certainly doesn't get them as standard. They are a £160 option. Only Pop & Lounge offer a choice of ivory or black steering wheel & dash, the others are black only.

Hope that helps a little, am sure a few people will be along with further info about suspension springs etc.

JTD Liam has it summed up.
Re the suspension.. I have a Twinair model. I bought the Abarth SS suspension (Koni FSD / Brembo springs) here's the rub - I got a 25mm drop on the rear but a 5mm lift in the front : ( was due to weight difference.
The solution was Eibach Sportline springs : )

My 2013 Twin Air has white alloys, because it's a Colour Therapy, Tech House Grey. Look out for me Leon...Oxford and Abingdon..

JTD_Liam:

Thank you so much for your detail reply, did you write this all your self?

Am in right understanding that the 'S' is now the newest spec? There isn't much of these but there are a few 'Sports' and 'Streets' on Auto Trader, still 11 or 12 reg plate. It sounds like I need to aim for a 'Sport', 'Street' or the newest 'S' to get what I want. Just to clarify, these models are all very similar expect the Steering Wheel, Alloy Color, bumpers + fog lights? I understand that the half leather seats offer the best support and comfort so I will have to base my model around this.

Thanks
Dan