Mini Coupe (2011) specifications announced

Mini has announced the basic specifications for the upcoming Mini Coupe, due to launch later in summer 2011.

The car will be available in four specification levels, starting with Mini Cooper Coupe's naturally-aspirated 1.6-litre engine. From there it's on to the 1.6 turbocharged petrol Mini Cooper S Coupe, 2.0 turbodiesel Cooper SD Coupe, and the range-topping 208bhp Mini John Cooper Works Coupe.

Sadly there's no additional power and torque to go with the snug-fit roofline on the Coupes - each powerplant produces identical power and torque figures to the equivalent Mini hatchback. A six-speed manual transmission is standard, with a six-speed automatic optional on the Cooper Coupe, Cooper SD Coupe and Cooper S Coupe.

The most obvious differentiating feature of the new Mini Coupe is the new 'helmet roof' (BMW's words, not ours). The coupe's roof sits 29mm lower than in the Mini hatchback, and incorporates a wrap-around roof spoiler at the rear.  Apart from the lower height, the coupe retains body and chassis dimensions with the three-door hatch. New to the Mini coupe since its 2009 Frankfurt motor show debut as a concept car is the retractable bootlid spoiler, which deploys automatically above 50mph.

Inside, it's strictly a two-seater, with the rear seat space transformed into an extended luggage area, accessed through the the liftback tailgate. Mini hasn't released the final capacity, but we expect it to comfortably exceed the 160 litres seats-up capacity of the current hatchback, and be closer to the 680-litre seats-down luggage volume provided by the standard car.

October 2011, with full official pictures and UK pricing to follow later this summer.

By Mark Hamilton