Give Me Five

MINI junkies who've always wanted a practical little hatchback will give one another high fives now that the 5-Door variant is available.

Being a MINI junkie is not easy, especially if he/she has practical considerations, such as offspring or too many belongings. Like other MINI enthusiasts, said junkie adores the 3-Door hatchback that is big on driving excitement, but loathes its lack of space.

Yes, there's the comparatively spacious Countryman, but it simply doesn't appeal to the MINI junkie as strongly as the 3-Door hatch does.

Now, there's the 5-Door hatch (tested here in speedy Cooper S form) to solve the MINI junkie's mini problem. According to the BMW-owned British marque, the newcomer has more room and just as much vroom as the 3-Door.

To accommodate the two additional doors and increase the interior space, the car is 155mm longer than the "donor" hatchback and has had its wheelbase lengthened by 72mm at the same time. Despite the stretched dimensions of the 5-Door, its proportions remain just right.

And its dashboard is as funky as the 3-Door's, with the same semi-circular, centrally located "disco light show" (which can be configured in the "Settings-Lights" menu) and an iDrive-based infotainment system within a colourful, graphics-rich 8.8-inch screen. Said system not only works smoothly and logically, its menu loading times are snappy, too.

To read the rest of this article, get a copy of the April 2015 issue of Torque!

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David Ting is the editor of Torque magazine by SPH Magazines.

Check out more stories at Torque online at www.torque.com.sg.

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