One of the worst-kept motoring secrets is out – the five-door Mini has been unveiled and these are the first
official pictures. The new Mini, or maxi Mini, is expected to go on sale in New Zealand early next year. It looks like a Mini, no doubt sounds like a Mini, but is it a Mini? We have shown you many camouflaged spy photos of the five-door Mini under development, but the finished product – officially called the 5 Door – in all its glory might be said to have grown a tad too much. Compare the pictures. Mini has made much in its press release of the five-door having three rear seats for the first time, but at 1727mm the car is the same width as the three-door. How does that work? The UKL1 platform on which the third-generation Mini line-up is based has been stretched 161mm to accommodate five doors, a 72mm-longer wheelbase, 15mm more headroom and a boot that’s grown from 211 litres to 278 litres. At 1425mm, the five-door is also 11mm taller than the three-door, a deliberate increase in height to help boost sales in vital markets like the US. The 5 Door weighs 60kg more than the three-door hatch. The car pictured at top is the Cooper S, which gets the same 141kW/280Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine as in the standard hatch. It’s the quickest in the range, able to hit 100km/h in 6.9 seconds with the manual gearbox and 6.8 seconds with the automatic. Mini claims town-and-around fuel use for the Cooper S of 5.4 litres/100km.There will also be a Mini Cooper using a 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine delivering 100kW/220Nm and claimed fuel use of 4.8 litres/100km when matched with the six-speed manual. No word yet on what engine options will be available in the 5 Door in New Zealand, but the global announcement reveals the two previously described petrol units and two diesels. The oil-burners are the Cooper SD and Cooper D, both turbocharged. The go-faster Cooper SD will use a 125kW/360Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder unit, and the Cooper D an 85kW/270Nm 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine. Mini claims fuel use of 4.1 litres/100km for the SD and 3.8 litres for the D. The 5 Door shares the same styling and design as the new three-door Mini, with the hexagonal grille, chrome-ringed headlights and tail-lights along with different paint options and customisation packages.