OXFORD, UK – Mini and practicality are terms seldom seen in proximity to one another, but the introduction of the firm’s first ever 5-door hatchback hopes to change that perception in a bid to net buyers otherwise deterred by the fashion-over-function proposition of the standard Hatch.
What is it?
According to Mini, this model is the first hatchback in its product portfolio to sprout a set of rear doors. Some may argue that such a milestone resides in the Countryman’s court but if we’re looking at the model line-up through Mini-tinted glasses we’ll give this one to the 5-door, as the Countryman technically sits in the Crossover bracket.
The 5-door is underpinned by a stretched version of BMW’s UKL1 modular front-wheel drive platform sporting a 2 567 mm wheelbase that liberates an additional 72 mm of interior floorpan length and bumps the vehicle’s overall length beyond the 4-metre mark. By Mini terms it’s a whopper, but does it retain the funky and fun ethos of its smaller brethren.
Exterior
Catch a glance of the 5-door in motion and the only telltale signs of its additional passenger-hauling proviso is the additional set of chrome bumps at the rear denoting an extra set of doors.
Pacing around a stationary example is a different story. By adopting a slim-line rear door design and upping the car’s overall height by around 11 mm, Mini’s designers have endeavoured to keep the car as visually compact as that larger wheelbase allows. Even so, there’s no hiding that additional metal amidships, especially when viewed in contrast to those short front and rear overhangs.
It’s by no means unappealing and the Cooper S wears its go-faster addenda; racing strips, vents, big alloys and the like, comfortably. Purists will no doubt bemoan such growth, but the briar pipe smoking brigade aren’t Mini’s target demographic here; it’s those seeking more practical rear lodgings that the firm has fixed squarely in its sights. So how does it measure up?
Packaging
Given that the Hatch’s pokey rear quarters were largely the preserve of kids, shopping and the double-jointed opening that second set of doors was, for most, something of a journey into the unknown.
With an additional 15 mm of headroom and 650 mm of legroom, the rear quarters are surprisingly airy and a sit-behind-yourself test conducted by a 180 cm was comfortably undertaken without any knees-in-nostrils contortions. The only issue regarding the 5-doors’ rear packaging was the narrow door apertures which required those climbing aboard to thread their feet under the seats before sitting and made egress a less graceful affair for the larger framed.
Even so, it beats the shoulder barging past the folded seatback that getting into Hatch entails and those fitting child seats aft will be similarly grateful for the extra set of doors.
Bootspace has also swelled by 67 dm3 over that of the Hatch, standing at a claimed 278 dm3 with the 60:40-folding rear bench in place and up to 941 dm3 of utility space when tumbled.
Ride and drive
The move to a five-door format has done little to erode the new car’s dynamics thanks to suspension that has received a few tweaks to compensate for the longer wheelbase and a weight penalty of just 60 kg over the Hatch.
There’s still that directness about the steering, although it does become a bit heavy in the Sport drivetrain setting, and the body control remains impressive.
That longer wheelbase also helps remedy some of the choppiness that characterises the Hatch’s ride over scarred surfaces, although the S’s larger rims wrapped in low profile rubber means that this particular model’s ride errs on the stiffer side.
The 2,0-litre turbopetrol engine, although not as aurally satisfying as the outgoing 1,6, is impressively refined and delivers its 141 kW and 300 N.m of torque in a lively yet linear fashion with plenty of mid-range punch. The six-speed auto ‘box to which this unit is mated is smooth and assured in its actions, only getting caught out when frequently tugging at the downshift paddle at higher engine speeds.
Overall
While some may groan at the prospect of another upsized Mini, you have to give some credit to the firm for offering a more practical take on its hatchback that doesn’t completely erode the sporty ethos upon which the marque trades. Indeed, it’s a smart move to serve up a model that could sway those that previously nixed the Mini as their choice of wheels on the grounds of limited liveability but it remains to be seen just how many sales the 5-Door will be able to wrest from such eminently talented rivals as the VW Golf.
