Minis are becoming more maxi by the day. Which is no bad thing, those who love the cheeky styling of the original BMW Mini, but need more than two seats will be pleased to hear that a stretched five-door Mini is on the way.
The current three-door Mini is almost coupe-like in that it’s all a bit squeezy in the back seat if you shovel adults in there. It’s not just the Mini body that’s bigger, the wheelbase is what counts when it comes to interior space, in the Mini five-door it has been stretched by 72 millimetres (to 2,567 millimetres). All of the extra 72 mm is dedicated to extra legroom. The longer roof means there’s 15 mm more headroom in the back. Interestingly, the designers have managed to add 61 mm more interior width where it counts, at elbow height.
We’ve yet to sample one of the new five-door Minis that have reached us in Australia –
all the information so far has come from head office in Germany – so we can’t comment on what it really feels like inside. However, the numbers are certainly a major step in the right direction.
Boot space, at 278 litres, is 67 litres more than in the new Mini three-door. The backrest has a 60/40 split for improved juggling of luggage/passenger usage so this Mini will be able to work as a family machine for those who can only afford a single car.
The all-new five Mini uses the large hexagonal front grille that made its Australian debut in the new three-door Mini in April this year. Though it’s still strongly representative of the style of the previous two generations of BMW Mini, it has bolder headlamps and rear lights with wide chrome surrounds. It is instantly recognisable at a distance once you know the cues to look for.
As in the just superseded three-door Mini the central speedometer is no more. The speedo now sits in a conventional position directly in front of the driver. Its place in the centre of the dash has been taken over by an infotainment system. This features the new Mini Connected system that can give access to many features and apps.
Though the importer is keeping details of the model lineup close to its corporate chest at this stage it seems likely the five-door Mini will only be sold in Cooper and Cooper S variants. The three-door comes with an entry level model, the Mini One, that hasn’t been brought downunder in the past. Whether we will get a low-cost version of the five-door remains to be seen.
Initially, there will only be two engines brought to Australia in the three-door Mini. One is a fascinating three-cylinder 1.5-litre turbo-petrol with 100 kW of power and torque of 220 Nm (230 Nm with overboost) between 1250 and 4000 revs.
The other is a 2.0-litre that produces 141 kW of power. Torque is even more impressive. With a wide spread between 1250 rpm and 4750 rpm it maxes out at 300 Nm if you use the overboost, normally the top torque is 280 Nm. This engine will give acceleration from rest to 100 km/h of just 6.9 seconds. That’s impressive for what is after all a practical five-door small family car.
Transmission choices are six-speed manual and six-speed auto.
In the pipeline for the three-door, and hopefully its longer brother as well, is the high-performance Mini Cooper JCW (John Cooper Works) hotrod.
Firm dates have yet to be set, but it looks as though the Mini five-door will be introduced in Europe late in 2014 but may not reach Australia till early 2015.
BMW promises that the new stretch Mini will still give us the ‘go-kart’ handling that we have loved so much in past Minis. Can’t wait to experience it…
