MINI 5-Door Hatch Cooper D

The improved MINI 5-Door Hatch Cooper D could well appeal to buyers who haven't considered the marque before. Jonathan Crouch reports..




Ten Second Review

The five-door version of the MINI hatch has proved popular and this Cooper D variant is a favourite in the range. It's now been lightly revised, but this model's key attributes remain much as before. With 72.4mpg economy and a reasonable clip of speed from its 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine, the Cooper D should continue to appeal, especially as prices are reasonably affordable.

Scoring
Perfomance 70%
Handling 70%
Comfort 70%
Space 70%
Styling 80%
Build 80%
Value 80%
Equipment 70%
Economy 90%
Depreciation 90%
Insurance 70%



76%
Total
MINI 5-Door Hatch Cooper D

Background

Although it's clear why MINI has differentiated its once simple product into a myriad of different bodystyles, not all of them have found favour. In fact, it's not unreasonable to say that many of them have left us scratching our heads. The Roadster? The Paceman? But while many of us old timers still try to wrap our heads around the concept of a MINI that's not particularly small, it's hard not to feel some admiration for the five-door hatch. For a start, it looks like a MINI, albeit one that's had a bit of a stretching. Those rear doors suddenly mean that people who quietly fancied the MINI hatch, but wouldn't buy a three-door car and who couldn't countenance the chubby Countryman, now have something that might appeal. In Cooper D guise, it's incredibly economical too. Let's check out this lightly revised version.





Driving Experience

A 116hp three-cylinder turbodiesel engine might not sound as if it's going to generate too much in the way of fireworks, but it's actually quite a lovely little thing. There's a healthy 270Nm of torque available, which punts the Cooper D to 62mph in a crisp 9.4 seconds and there's plenty of fun to be had plugging the car into the turbocharger's boost time and again. The manual gearbox has that appealing MINI clunkiness and doesn't mind being manhandled about a bit. A newly-developed seven-speed Steptronic automatic is available as an option. The standard 16-inch wheels deliver the best ride quality and if you order them in black, your Cooper D isn't going to look under-wheeled. The longer wheelbase does seem to have settled the ride a little, but if you're thinking of fitting bigger wheels, make sure you try before you buy. The basic set up is still on the firm side. Selectable driving modes can be specified. Normal and Green modes feel quite similar but in Sport mode the steering weights up and the throttle feels spikier. The advantage of this small capacity diesel is its light weight and it imposes less compromises on the tuning of the front suspension as a result. Turn in is sharp, the steering is accurate and body control very good.



MINI 5-Door Hatch Cooper D

Design and Build

While it's inevitably not quite as pert as the three-door car, the extra 72mm grafted into this 5-door Hatch model's wheelbase gives the shape some roadside presence. In fact, more length has gone into the rear overhang, with the car 161mm longer than the standard Hatch. The five-door also delivers 15mm more headroom and 61mm of shoulder width. As for the most recent changes, well the styling doesn't look all that different, but close inspection will reveal the addition of standard-fit LED front and rear lights, plus there's now extra scope for all-important personalisation. The pitiful boot space that many might expect doesn't in fact come to pass. In fact, there's a reasonable 278-litre boot which is an increase of 67-litres on the three-door Hatch. Drop the 60/40 split rear seats and there's up to 941-litres available, both measures being better than what BMW sees as this MINI's key rival in its class, the Audi A1 Sportback. The boot floor can be set at two different heights, which can either optimise space or offer a completely flat boot floor for easy loading. The twin height boot floor is part of an optional storage package which also includes additional lashing eyes and floor net for the luggage compartment, seats which can be angled more steeply so as to create more luggage space and map pouches for the backrests of the front seats. Accommodation in the back isn't bad, with a scooped-out headlining freeing up some extra headroom.




Market and Model

The Cooper D five-door retails at just over £19,000, which seems like reasonable value for money when you consider that this is similar to the amount you'll pay for the cheapest 1.5-litre TDCi 120PS version of Ford's Fiesta. Then you put your sensible head on and consider that plenty of five-door diesel superminis would be much cheaper, so this MINI does in reality remain as something of a boutique product. Still, compare against something that a MINI buyer would be more likely to cross-shop, such as an Audi A1 Sportback 1.6 TDI S line, and you'll find that for one of those, you'll be paying about £21,000, so it's hard to complain too much about this MINI's pricing. The spec's decent too. You get LED headlamps, a USB interface and Bluetooth, electrically adjustable exterior mirrors, front fog lamps, air conditioning and an onboard computer. Safety equipment includes front and side airbags, as well as curtain airbags for the front and rear seats. All seats are fitted with 3-point seat belts, belt tensioners and belt force limiters at the front. ISOFIX child seat mountings are provided at the rear and the front passenger seat. This tally can be supplemented with a range of options that includes two-zone automatic air-conditioning, heated front seats, a panoramic glass roof, windscreen heating, rain sensors and automatic light control, a Harman Kardon hi-fi speaker system and a sports leather steering wheel. Other options include Park Distance Control, electrically heated and folding exterior mirrors, plus both interior and exterior mirrors with automatic anti-dazzle function.



MINI 5-Door Hatch Cooper D

Cost of Ownership

The MINI brand has made great strides in improving emissions and economy and no model is a bigger beneficiary than the Cooper D variants. In this five-door guise, you're looking at 72.4mpg on the combined cycle, with emissions rated at 103g/km. That's quite remarkable for a car of this size which delivers this much fun on the road. MINIMALISM environmental technologies include a shift-point display function and optimised preheating process on the diesels. Brake energy recuperation and need-oriented control of the fuel pump, coolant pump and other ancillary units feature on all models. The electromechanical power steering and map-controlled oil pumps in all engines are optimised for the most efficient use. There's even an optimised preheating process which delivers a 50% reduction in the energy required to start the diesel engines. Market experts are predicting very healthy residual values for this five-door variant, further driving down the pence per mile cost of the Cooper D. With insurance rated at a reasonable Group 15E, premiums shouldn't be too pricey. As expected, there's the usual three year unlimited mileage warranty with the usual BMW-style variable service indicators. And on that subject, almost all MINI buyers opt for the no-brainer TLC package, which, for around £300, gives you comprehensive servicing cover for five years or 50,000 miles, whichever is reached first. This also includes a 'MINI MOT Protect' assurance guarantee stating that in the unlikely event your car should fail its first, second or third MOT test, MINI will cover the cost of repair or replacement on an array of selected parts.


MINI 5-Door Hatch Cooper D

Summary

The five-door MINI Cooper D is an interesting vehicle. It'll bring people into the MINI fold who had never previously countenanced buying one. Why? It's well priced, its hugely economical, it has an element of everyday practicality about it, it looks good and it'll retain so much of its value that it'll be very cheap indeed to own. That ought to guarantee some strong sales figures. It also has a decent level of standard equipment, drives well and is very safe. It'll be able to claim sales from the likes of Ford and Vauxhall right up to Audi and Mercedes. There's vast potential here and MINI has confidently predicted that this variant will continue to be one of their biggest sellers. It's hard to disagree. Once in a while, a car comes along that seems to nail the specs at just the right time for a given market. Count the MINI Cooper D five-door amongst models of this sort.

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