Along with the MINI Cooper D 3-Door, BMW also launched the MINI Cooper D 5-Door in India. Yes, you read it correct! 5-Door! For the British Motor Company this is the first perfect standard 5-Door hatch. As it has now grown longer in length and wheelbase, taller in height, it still retains its driving nature, performance and emotional bonding with its driver. With increase in its dimensions of length and height the car hasn’t grown fat at all and hence it looks beautiful with neat and clean design, offers more practicality and comfort and fun to drive nature. The car also has enough space to accommodate. If the 3-Door doesn’t squeeze your family in, then this is the car for you and you are going to love it.
2015 MINI Cooper D 5-Door Price – Rs. 36.10 Lakhs (Ex-Showroom, New Delhi)
Exterior Design: The MINI Cooper D 5-Door is based on the new generation model so carries the MINI’s iconic retro look which makes it more striking in looks like the 3-Door. The car now gets extra two doors at the rear for the passengers and it is the only new addition to the car on the exterior side. The four doors are standard doors while the fifth door is the boot door which opens upwards. This 5-Door looks cool in flesh and is a complete family car. The 3-Door like bigger headlights and fat LED taillights surrounded in chrome, integrated LED DRLs in the semicircular pattern, LED fog lamps with cornering lights, the big three-slat hexagonal radiator grille, clamshell bonnet, upright windscreen, retro-styled circular rear view mirrors and a continuous band of chrome at the base of window pane of the car makes the car a many head-turner. There are also chrome outlines at door handles and tailgate and also the chrome plated exhaust pipe makes the car look more striking and cool. The body length is extended by 161 millimetres as compared to the new MINI 3-Door and makes it a total 3982 millimetres with equal car width i.e. 1727 millimetres and height is increased by 11 millimetres which makes it 1425 millimetres in total and increase in wheelbase makes it 2567 millimetres. You can choose the car’s colour from 12 different shades and can also request for roof and exterior mirror caps’ in contrasting colour at no extra charges. You can also call the 5-Door as the second body variant of the 3-Door. So, on the exterior side the car looks just WOW!
Interior Design: On the inside of this car everything looks similar to the 3-Door variant, the retro styled circular theme which looks classy as it’s improved with new materials. Only the addition to the interior of the 5-Door are the rear seats with extra space and comfort. The interiors are highly customizable with an added amount. The combination of seat colours look refreshing and the journey in this car is super-fun. The front seats are comfy and get many adjustment settings. The centre console remains as the complete infotainment system with LED ring surrounding it for visual feedback in response to numerous functions. This centre console also tells you about vehicle functions. The steering can be adjusted according to the driver to make driving for him/her easier. The steering is multi-functional and the leather cover on it makes it feel good to hold and steer. There are toggle switches out of which one is the Start/Stop switch and is illuminated in a circular red light pattern. Just thumb it the engine Start/Stops. There appears a heads-up display on the dashboard behind the steering wheel which displays speed, radio/music track, calling info and also navigation information. The instrument cluster houses the RPM meter on the left, the middle shows the temperature, distance to empty, time, mileage etc. and the right meter shows the fuel level. The rear doors are a bit small in size, so stepping in and out is quite a task but is not difficult too. But, the rear seats are very comfortable. The 5-Door seats five passengers while the middle passenger amongst the three at the rear actually needs to put one leg on the either side of the cupholder placed in the centre. The increase in dimensions of the 5-Door adds up to more legroom and headroom at the rear and the boot space has also been increased from 211 litres to 278 litres and can also expand further with the 60/40 split ratio of rear seat back placed at a 90-degree angle making it a total of 941 litres, so, storage is more adequate. For sure, accessing the rear seats in the 5-Door is much better and simpler than in the 3-Door. Manoeuvring in this car is still easy and full-of-fun even when it has increased in size than the 3-Door. Thus the new 5-Door offers more practicality and driving satisfaction.
Engine & Performance: The MINI Cooper D 5-Door’s engine is a Twin Power Turbo 1.5L 3-cylinder diesel engine which produces 85 kW/114 BHP at 4000 rpm and maximum torque of 270 Nm at 1750 rpm. In real world these numbers feel small as this MINI 5-Door feels more powerful and handles more effectively with its go-kart like handling. Similarly like the 3-Door these power and torque figures are more suited to low-end performance. Thus, city driving is fun in this MINI. The low-end accelerates till mid-range without any fuss and stays smooth right up to the rev limiter. You don’t get to hear the exhaust note much as it’s a diesel engine but is still much fun to drive car. The top speed that can be achieved is 202 km/h and 0-100 km/h acceleration is done in 9.5 seconds.
The engine is mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission which makes driving an easy task around city and on open roads like highways. The automatic shifts happen nice and smoothly. In winding sections like ghats, MINI with its go-kart like handling and terrific performance was good all the way. It also has a 6-speed manual transmission, in which up-shifts and down-shifts happen smoothly. In real conditions, in automatic driving mode we managed to achieve a mileage of 17.4 km/l, while the claimed average is 21.15 km/l (ARAI certified) which is quite impressive for a premium 5-Door hatchback. Its level of CO2 emissions is 125 grams per kilometre.
Driving Modes & Driving Dynamics: The MINI Cooper D 5-Door also comes with the option of an electronically controlled damping that offers the choice between SPORT, MID and GREEN modes. In SPORT mode, MINI’s engine responds with a surge of throttle response that pins you back in your seat. The SPORT mode also cranks up steering, handling and transmission to make the car feel livelier and go-kart like. The MID mode offers a respectable balance between its acceleration, handling and fuel-efficiency. In GREEN mode, as the name suggests, it reduces the fun, so as to obtain more fuel-efficiency from its 44 litres of diesel tank. All these three modes do their jobs pretty well with perfection. The 6-speed Steptronic transmission with the automatic engine start/stop function prevents unnecessary fuel consumption caused by idling at junctions or in congested traffic. The optional Dynamic Damper Control adjusts its dampers and makes the 5-Door’s handling more agile depending on the mode selected by you/driver.
As the car is more ground-hugging, the suspension setup is that of the 3-Door, hence, they soak up bumps nicely. At front, the MINI 5-Door houses the single-joint spring strut axle suspension and a multilink axle suspension at the rear. This front wheel drive car with low centre of gravity and well balanced chassis keeps the car balanced around tight bends. The car cruises smoothly with a background hum comfortably in top gear. As the steering is BMW engineered, the steering feedback is precise. The traction control, braking and rack and pinion steering made the car feel light at tight corners. The brakes on this car are pretty responsive and good and the car comes to a standstill quickly. We did the 100-0 km/h (Brake Test) and the car came to a standstill in 2.39 seconds (VBOX Tested) as the car weighs more than the 3-Door. The MINI retains its rigidity and stability and feels alive with its go-kart like handling.
Safety and After Sales Service: The MINI Cooper D 5-Door has not been tested by the NCAP yet but we can assume that it scores 4/5 stars in Euro NCAP’s crash test as this car’s safety equipments are same as that of the 3-Door. This score is very impressive for a small family hatch. No compromise has been made on the safety equipments side. Along with Six Airbags and Hill descent control the car also gets the anti-lock braking system (ABS), Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD), Cornering Brake Control (CBC) and the brake assistant, the driving stability control system DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) in the new MINI 5 door also includes a drive-off assistant, a brake dry function, Fading Brake Support and DTC mode (Dynamic Traction Control), which permits controlled slip at the drive wheels so as to facilitate driving off on loose gravel or slushy roads. When the driving stability system is deactivated (DSC Off mode), there is an electronic locking function for the front axle differential which selectively and appropriately brakes a spinning drive wheel on tight corners, redirecting the drive torque to the other wheel. This system, known as Electronic Differential Lock Control (EDLC), thereby promotes the car’s forward momentum without negatively influencing self-steering response. There are limited MINI outlets in our country which are handled by BMW so MINI’s after sales service also remains to be limited.
Verdict/Conclusion: The MINI Cooper D 5-Door in its every aspect is very impressive. Even if it has grown in size the car with its driving dynamics and go-kart like handling like its younger sibling – the 3-Door still remains to be versatile and a fun-to-drive car. The 5-Door is fast yet very stable on roads. As the new generation MINI is a segment leader in terms of aerodynamics, there are no complaints on the aerodynamic design of this car. So, the first impressions of this car have been Excellent. The MINI Cooper D 5-Door is a beautifully designed, with head-turning clever looks and improved practicality over the 3-door, and it’s lots of fun and an elegant machine to be driven all the time.
2015 MINI Cooper D 5-Door Technical Data:
* Engine: 1.5L (1496cc), in-line 3-cylinder, 4 Valves
* Power: 114 BHP at 4000 RPM
* Torque: 270 Nm at 1750 RPM
* Transmission: 6-Speed Automatic/6-Speed Manual
* 0-100 km/hr: 9.5 Seconds
* 100-0 km/hr: 2.39 Seconds (Braking Test – VBOX Tested)
* Fuel Consumption: 17.4 km/l, 21.15 km/l (ARAI Certified)
* Fuel Type: Diesel
* Suspension: McPherson Struts spring strut axle with aluminium swivel bearing and
anti-dive control (Front), Multilink axle with weight-optimised trailing arms (Rear)
* Tyres: 195/55 R16 87W
* Brakes: Ventilated Disc (Front), Disc (Rear)
* Safety: ABS, EBD, 6 airbags, Cornering Brake Control, Dynamic Stability Control, Dynamic Traction Control, Electronic Differential Lock Control, Hill Start Assistant/Hill Descent Control
2015 MINI Cooper D 5-Door Dimensions Data:
* Overall length: 3982 mm
* Overall width: 1727 mm
* Overall height: 1425 mm
* Wheelbase: 2567 mm
* Boot Volume: 278-941 litres
* Fuel Tank Capacity: 44 litres
* Kerb Weight: 1205 kgs
* Ground Clearance: 146 mm
* Turning Circle: 11 meters
VBOX Equipments provided by – ZEN Microsytems
Read & See More – 2015 MINI Cooper D 5-Door – Picture Gallery || 2015 MINI Cooper D 3-Door – Test Drive Review / 2015 MINI Cooper D 3-Door – Picture Gallery