New Mini Hardtop 4-door: First look

Meet the Mini Cooper Hardtop 4-door. The company has followed the surprise unveiling of its one-off Superleggera Vision roadster concept at the recent Villa d'Este Concourse d'Eleganza in Italy with this, a five-door production hatchback that is planned to join its North American lineup later this year.

The new Mini model shares its front-wheel-drive mechanical package with the latest three-door Mini Cooper hatchback launched earlier this year but aims to provide more everyday practicality than its popular sibling through a combination of extended external dimensions and a pair of stubby rear doors.

As these first official photographs reveal, the Mini Hardtop 4-door, as the new model is officially named, mirrors the appearance of the recently introduced third-generation Mini 3-door with characteristic retro-inspired proportions, styling and detailing.

At 157.7 inches in length, 68.0 inches in width and 56.1 inches in height in initial top-of-the-line Cooper S guise, Mini's latest model is 7.2 inches longer, the same width, and 0.4 inches taller than its more traditional three-door hatchback sibling.

The added length is largely concentrated within the wheelbase, which has grown by 2.8 inches over the Mini three-door to accommodate the rear doors. A longer rear overhang also provides the scope for a larger trunk, which is increased by 2.4 cu-ft in capacity over the three-door model at a nominal 9.8 cu-ft with the rear split-fold seat backs in place.

Mini also claims its new five-door offers greater interior accommodation than the three-door hatchback, with 0.6 inches of additional headroom, 2.4 inches more elbow room and an added 2.8 inches of rear legroom.

The increase in dimensions has added 132 pounds to the curb weight, with the 5-door tipping the scales at 2,690 pounds.

Power for the first-ever five-door modern Mini hatchback comes from a new range of transversely mounted three- and four-cylinder engines -- as recently unveiled in other models from the British carmaker. They are mated to either a standard six-speed manual or optional six-speed automatic gearbox, the latter available with steering wheel-mounted shift paddles.

Heading the lineup is a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder gasoline unit. With 192 hp and 206 lb-ft (221 lb-ft on overboost), it propels the Cooper S from 0-62 mph in 6.9 seconds and to a top speed of 144 mph when combined with the manual gearbox. At the same time, it is claimed to return combined fuel economy of 39.9 mpg (US) on the European cycle.

Joining it from the outset of sales will be a 1.5-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine with 136 hp and 162 lb-ft (170 lb-ft on overboost) in the Cooper. It delivers 0-62 mph acceleration of 8.2 seconds, a top speed of 129 mph and combined fuel economy of 50.0 mpg (US) in manual form in the European test cycle.

Further engines, including a highly frugal 1.5-liter three-cylinder diesel unit, are offered in other markets, but are not expected to get an airing in North America any time soon.

While initially tipped to replace the Mini Clubman, the new 5-door hatchback is described by Mini has an additional model. According to Autoweek sources at parent company BMW, the existing four-door Clubman will be succeeded by an even larger model previewed in lightly veiled form by the Clubman concept at the Geneva motor show last March.

That new Mini model will likely ditch the quirky single rear-hinged rear door for a more conventional layout featuring two front-hinged rear doors and the Clubman's traditional barn-style rear doors.

By Greg Kable