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2015 MINI 5-door Hatchback Review

MINI pretty much shocked everyone when they launched the Countryman a while back. That’s because that car totally trampled over what the word and the British brand used to stand for in the past, at the beginning.
2015 MINI Cooper 5-door 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from Youtube
With the Countryman, they approached a new niche, aiming to offer more practicality and room inside a car wearing the winged badge. Now, they’re doing the same with their best seller, the hardtop.

It was earlier this year when the Oxford-based company launched the long-awaited and feared (by some) 5-door hatchback. And, while some applauded the intention, other welcomed it. Let’s see how it is in real life.

The guys from CarBuyer took it for a test and found a couple of surprising facts. MINI announced that the bigger model is now 160 mm longer and all that extra heft translates into more space in the back seats.

As you can see in the video below, a smaller person has plenty of room in the back, even with the seat in front adjusted for comfortable driving. However, that applies only for people that don’t go near the 6-foot (184 cm) range, both for the front and back.

That extra room comes with a price though. It commands a 60 kilo (132 lbs) weight penalty that will, in turn, mess with the dynamic capabilities and the fuel consumption.

Speaking of which, the 5-door alternatives use the same engines as on the 3-door ones. Starting with a 1.2-liter 3-cylinder petrol for the One models, going up to 1.5-liter 3-cylinder plant on the Cooper and the top-of-the-range Cooper D. There are also diesel alternatives with the same displacements.

However, unless you cover extensive distances, we’d recommend the petrol models both for the sound they make and the more refined cycles they have.

Going for the 5-door will bring some practical benefits, but you should be aware of the downsides as well. Apart from the bigger size (that will be noticeable around town) and the extra lard, you’ll also have to deal with frames around your doors’ windows. That’s because the 3-door hatch has frameless windows while this one doesn’t. That’s also taking away a bit of the style factor if you ask us.

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