The new five-door Mini hatchback has been revealed, and is set to give the brand the biggest sales boost of any single model so far when it goes on sale in October. BMW insiders believe it could outsell today’s three-door model by a factor of three to one.
It is thought that this new model could account for around 150,000 units annually, massively boosting Mini’s sales overall.
The five-door Mini will go on sale initially with the choice of three-cylinder Cooper petrol and three-cylinder Cooper D diesel engines and in four-cylinder Cooper S petrol and Cooper SD form. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard while the six-speed Steptronic torque converter automatic transmission is optional.
Despite being a physically larger and more capacious car than the new Mini three-door hatch, BMW UK is charging a premium £15,900 for the entry-level 101bhp three-cylinder turbocharged Cooper petrol model.
That model offers a tempting mix of relative pace (0-62mph in 8.2sec) and a promised 60mpg on the combined cycle. The six-speed automatic version is marginally quicker in the sprint and offers an impressive 58mpg combined. The 189bhp Cooper S hits 62mph in 6.9sec (6.8sec for the auto) and returns 47.8mpg or 52mpg in automatic form. Prices rise to £20,050 for a top-spec SD version.
Measuring a compact 4m from nose to tail, the five-door is 72mm longer in the wheelbase than the three-door and 161mm longer overall, with the extra wheelbase length going entirely into the rear cabin. BMW says the new car also offers 15mm more headroom and a useful 61mm of extra interior width “at shoulder height”.
Boot space is now fully competitive with rivals at 278 litres, up 67 litres on the three-door. This just pips the 270-litre boot capacity of the Audi A1, which BMW sees as one of the five-door Mini’s key rivals. With the 60/40 spilt rear seats both folded, the Mini’s maximum load capacity is 941 litres, again ahead of the A1’s 920 litres.
BMW’s engineers have gone beyond simply increasing the basic load capacity of the Mini five-door and added a number of neat features to improve the utility of the car. There’s the option of a folding false boot floor which can be fitted at two different heights, the upper of which allows a completely flat load bay when the seats are folded forward. Unusual extendable clamps have also been fitted to the rear seatbacks, allowing the backs to be locked in an upright position in order to further increase the load space.
Subjectively, this new Mini’s looks appear better balanced than those of the three-door. The longer, higher nose of the Mk3 hatch is now offset by the car’s extra length. The five-door is also marked out by a distinctive shoulder on its rear rather than having the three-door’s near-upright tailgate.
Join the debate
Add your comment
Fed up with moaners
I totally get what you mean,
We dont know how cramped or