The British are back with a vengeance, the new five-door Mini hatchback revealed and it’s in the giant leap to de-feminize the brand’s image. Expected to sell 1,50,000 units annually, it is about to add a bulky load to the brands’ sales chunk.
Shredding off the image of being a three-door hatchback, the MINI with five-door is expanded by 72mm (2.8 inches) to 2,567mm (101 inches) on the wheelbase and the body has been lengthened by 161mm (6.3 inches) to 3,982mm or 4,005mm for the Cooper S and SD models. It’s also 11mm (0.4 inches) taller than the 3-door model.
In terms of more metal added to all the dimensional figures, it means more space guaranteed inside.
Planted with extensive range of standard features and high-end options to enhance comfort, safety, premium characteristics and individual style such as LED headlamps including LED daytime driving light and LED rear lights, adaptive light distribution and LED turning light, LED fog lamp, lighting package with LED interior and orange-coloured ambient lighting, rain sensor with automatic driving light control, heatable windscreen, Park Distance Control, Comfort Access, electrically operated glass roof, roof rails, electrically heated and folding exterior mirrors, automatic anti-dazzle interior and exterior mirrors, heated seats, 2-zone automatic air conditioning; broad selection of roof and exterior mirror decorative styles, bonnet stripes, seat upholstery types and Colour Lines as well as MINI Yours offers; MINI navigations system, Professional navigation system, MINI Radio Visual Boost, Harman/Kardon hi-fi speaker system, DAB tuner, DVD changer.
On the cosmetic front the nose is done more aggressively than before. The extension in wheelbase had also led to an upright tail gate. Despite having the best of German engineers and traditional British styling, the MINI Cooper with 5-door is found having short doors at rear, and reclining roofline takes away the enormous headroom for tall passengers.
Engine is provided with a mix of petrol as well as diesel options. To be rolled out in the three-cylinder Cooper petrol and three-cylinder Cooper D diesel engines, and four-cylinder Cooper S petrol and Cooper SD diesel at the international dealerships.
Five Door Cooper S is powered by a 1,998 cc, 4-cylinder petrol engine with MINI TwinPower Turbo Technology (turbo charging, direct injection, fully variable valve control, variable camshaft control),
delivering output of 141 kW/192 hp at 4,700 – 6,000 rpm and maximum torque of 280 Nm at 1,250 – 4,750 rpm (300 Nm with overboost). Acceleration from 0–100 km/h can be attained in 6.9 seconds (automatic: 6.8 seconds) and top speed is clocked at 232 km/h (230 km/h). Fuel consumption on an average is rated at 5.9 – 6.0 litres (5.4 – 5.5 litres)/100 kilometres,
MINI Cooper 1,499 cc, 3-cylinder petrol engine with MINI TwinPower Turbo Technology (turbo charging, direct injection, fully variable valve control, variable camshaft control), is desired to deliver output of 100 kW/136 hp at 4,500 – 6,000 rpm and maximum torque of 220 Nm at 1,250 – 4,000 rpm (230 Nm with overboost). For the acceleration from 0–100 km/h it takes 8.2 seconds (automatic: 8.1 seconds) and clocks top speed: 207 km/h (207 km/h). Fuel consumption can be rated at 4.7 – 4.8 litres (4.8 – 4.9 litres)/100 kilometres.
Now coming to the diesel part, the MINI Cooper SD 5 door of 1,995 cc, 4-cylinder diesel engine with MINI TwinPower Turbo Technology (turbocharger with variable turbine geometry, common rail direct injection) is famed to shoot power output of 125 kW/170 hp at 4,000 rpm and maximum torque of 360 Nm at 1,500 – 2,750 rpm. Diesel takes 7.4 seconds (automatic: 7.3 seconds) for the acceleration from 0–100 km/h and rates a top speed of 225 km/h (223 km/h). Fuel-efficiency is rated at 4.1 – 4.3 litres (4.1 – 4.2 litres)/100 kilometres,
The MINI Cooper D 5 door of 1,496 cc, 3-cylinder diesel engine with MINI TwinPower Turbo Technology (turbocharger with variable turbine geometry, common rail direct injection),
cracks the max power output of 85 kW/116 hp at 4,000 rpm and maximum torque of 270 Nm at 1,750 rpm, with acceleration from 0–100 km/h in 9.4 seconds (automatic: 9.5 seconds) and top speed of 203 km/h (202 km/h). Average fuel consumption ratifies it at 3.6 – 3.7 litres (3.8 – 3.9 litres)/100 kilometres.
A six-speed manual gearbox is standard whereas the six-speed Steptronic torque-converter automatic transmission is optional.
Pricing of five-door MINI hatchback not to be extremely expensive than the three-door version.