MINI 5-door Hatch – longer, roomier, more practical

The MINI Hatch has always been a 3-door vehicle. Ever since the original model it only had two passenger doors and a rear hatchback. But now, with the introduction of the MINI 5-door Hatch, that’s about to change.

The new 5-door MINI is longer, more spacious and more practical than its 3-door brethren. It’s lost a bit of its stylistic appeal thanks to the additional set of doors, but the added people and cargo carrying capabilities should make up for that. The interior is more spacious, offering a smidgen more headroom, more elbow room and most noticeably, rear seat leg room. The rear bench now also offers a middle seat. The trunk is also roughly 30 percent larger than that of the 3-door model.

When the MINI 5-door Hatch goes on sale later this year it will be offered with a range of four different small displacement petrol and diesel engines. The engine options include a 136 horsepower 3-cylinder petrol unit, a 192 horsepower 4-cylinder petrol engine, a 116 horsepower 3-cylinder diesel engine and a brand new 2.0 litre 4-cylinder diesel unit which produces 170 horsepower.

The car comes as standard with a six-speed manual gearbox, a six-speed automatic transmission is available as an option.

Variable Damper Control with adjustable dampers is available as an option, as are MINI driving modes which offers drivers the choice between SPORT, MID and GREEN modes. Controlled using a rotary switch at the base of the gearstick or selector lever, drivers can select either MID, SPORT or GREEN. The three choices offer a set-up which is either performance-oriented, comfortable and well-balanced or geared towards fuel efficiency.