Mini back on track with five-door hatch
Mini has not had a five door hatch before and the company were keen to stress the potential sales benefits to them of a Mini hatch with five doors.
Of course we’ve had the Mini Countryman which had five doors — three at the front and two at the back — but we’ve never had a Mini hatch with five doors — until now.
Mini says the new model promises to combine the hallmark go-kart driving fun, distinctive character and refinement of its three-door sibling but with enhanced practicality.
An extended wheelbase means that rear passengers now have 72 millimetres more legroom compared to the three-door Hatch, while the increased space also provides room for a third seat in the back row.
The new model also offers an additional 15 millimetres of headroom, while the car’s interior width at elbow height also increases by 61 millimetres. The boot has a volume of 278 litres, up 67 litres or around 30 per cent compared to the three-door hatch.
Dimensionally, the body of the new Mini Cooper five-door Hatch and Cooper D five-door Hatch is 3,982 millimetres long, 1,727 millimetres wide and 1,425 millimetres tall. This makes the Mini 5-door hatch 161 millimetres longer and 11 millimetres taller than the three-door version.
The width remains unchanged and the wheelbase has been extended by 72 millimetres to 2,567 millimetres, while the track is identical to that of the three-door model.
Visually little has changed as the body, greenhouse and roof are visually separated from one another. The window line tapers off to the rear, contributing to a dynamic wedge shape when viewed in profile.
Other design changes to the interior generally mirror those we have seen recently in the three-door version.
On the engine front, at the launch this week we saw the Mini five-door hatch, equipped with four engines with TwinPower Turbo Technology to choose from. A three-cylinder petrol engine with a peak output of 136 bhp powers the Mini Cooper five-door Hatch. The output of the four-cylinder petrol engine in the Mini Cooper S Hatch is 192 bhp. While the new Mini Cooper D hatch is powered by an 116 bhp three-cylinder diesel engine.
With the introduction of the new model, the Mini Cooper SD five-door Hatch is presented for the first time with a new 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel power unit with an output of 170 bhp. This new engine offers a 0-100km/h time of 7.4 (7.3) seconds, and frugal economy of 4.1 l/km and all model variants of the new MINI five-door Hatch meet the EU6 exhaust emission standard.
Mini is confident the new car will broaden the appeal of the brand to many new customers.
Time will tell on that one, of course, but having had an initial experience of the car in the UK this week, I’d have to say the appeal of the new model is fairly obvious and it would be a surprise if it does not bring in a raft of new customers who like the five-door idea.
It goes on sale in Ireland on October 26 and with prices from €21,210 for the Mini One up to €29,390 for the Mini Cooper SD.
