We’ve heard the rumours, seen the spy pics and finally comes the official announcement of Mini’s five-door hatch. It’s the second of what no doubt will be a plethora of variants spun off the platform and it will be launched in SA this November.
We’ll be getting the Cooper and Cooper S versions of a car that has a wheelbase 72 mm longer than the three-door. Mini claims it will accommodate three rear passengers, giving them 72 mm more foot space and legroom, 15 mm more headroom, and 61 mm more interior width at elbow height than the current three-door. Over all the five-door is 161 mm longer and 11 mm higher than the three-door, but is the same width.
There’s 67 dm3 more luggage space too (now a claimed 278 dm3) and the rear seats have a 60:40 split; optional storage package including a luggage compartment floor which can be locked into place at varying points.
Other than the larger dimensions and extra door, the exterior styling is exactly the same as its smaller sibling; though there are additional exterior paint finishes with roof and exterior mirror caps in contrasting colour on request
The engines in the five-door Cooper and Cooper S are also the same powerplants as in the three-door. The Cooper gets the 100 kW 3-cylinder petrol engine, and the Cooper S features the 141 kW 4-cylinder petrol engine. The cars come standard with a 6-speed manual transmission and a 6-speed Steptronic transmission or Steptronic sports transmission as an optional extra.
As for the rest – the interior styling, instrument cluster, driving modes, safety features and driver aids – they’re all the same as the systems debuted with the recent launch of the three-door Mini. Read our full driving impression of that here.
There’s no word yet on pricing, but there’ll likely be a 3-4% hike over the price of the three-door Mini.
