After years and years of three door Minis, the brand has finally bitten the bullet and decided to wedge two more doors into its hatch. No it’s not a Countryman or a Clubman, it’s the original Mini hatch and it’s now targeting the family with flashy styling, vibrant colours and unique flair that it carries.

How do they fit those doors in?

To start with Mini alters the platform slightly to incorporate the new rear openings. The 5-door is 161mm longer than the hatch, but weighs an extra 60kg. I had a peak round at the rear legroom and it actually looks useable by adults, they could have made it even better by not making the rear benches so big but they do make the seats more comfortable to sit in. Boot capacity is up as well from the hatch, it’s now a respectable 278-litres, up 67 litres from the hatch.

Same Engines

The 5-door doesn’t benefit from extra shove or go as it uses the exact same engines as the hatch. That means there’s a three-cylinder 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol with 100 kW and 220 Nm, and the four-cylinder turbocharged 2-litre petrol that churns out 141kW and 280 Nm. The latter is a smooth pulling and torquey unit, it pulls extremely well from low down the rev range and is backed up by quite a nice engine and exhaust growl. There’s even a few backfire pops in there when you lift off the throttle to raise a smile. The 1.5-litre is impressively economical, claiming just 4.8L/100km and if you follow the efficiency guides the Mini gives you, it will return the claimed figure with ease.

Play Time

Mini has gone to town on the interior of the Mini 5-door, the seats were specced with a mix of leather and Alcantara. There’s a head-up-display in front of the windscreen that showsyour current speed as well as the speed limit of the road you’re on. It was also kitted with park assist and the Mini Connected system that integrates with smartphones so that certain apps can be accessed through the multimedia system.

Even from a driving perspective, if you’re trying to get the most out of a tank of fuel, the Mini has a rating system for your driving that gives you stars for your acceleration, anticipation and gear changes. The better you are the happier you make the goldfish on the screen and ultimately the more economical your driving is.

Mini 5-door – Price in South Africa

The Mini 5-door is going to be a niche segment car, if you’re a family wanting space it’s likely you’ll look elsewhere, but the 5-door offers that little more versatility than normal. If you mainly use the car to get yourself around and occasionally want to throw some mates or kids in the back then it’s a good compromise as a city car/weekend driver.

Mini 5-door 1.5 Manual – R305 000

Mini 5-door 1.5 Automatic – R321 900

Mini 5-door 2.0 Manual – R374052

Mini 5-door 2.0 Automatic – R389 923