A quick look at the Mini Hatch

By: Suraj Viswanathan

August 4,2019

4 min read

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MINI Hatch

Voted as one of the most influential cars of the twentieth century, the Mini Hatch (originally known as just the Mini) is unequivocally also one of the most iconic and popular cars to have been ever built. The first Mini was the mastermind of the late Sir Alec Issigonis, and was produced by the then auto giant British Motor Corporation. It was released for the public in 1959 and in the coming years, soon started garnering attention from all across the globe. Spanning several years and after many iterations later, the original Mini was discontinued in 2000. However, soon after BMW entered the scene, the German marque once again reignited the Mini blaze, much to everyone’s delight. However, Mini was now a brand of its own, and the name and car that started it all, was now known as the Mini Hatch.

Over the next three generations, the Mini Hatch was modernized with better engines, technology and safety equipment - resulting in the (almost) complete package that it’s today. The outgoing avatar of the Mini Hatch was launched in 2013, and is built upon BMW’s UKL platform. In the UAE, the Mini Hatch is available in three-door and five-door variants, and competes with cars like the Volkswagen Beetle, BMW 1-Series, and Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

Exterior

For those that are familiar with the Mini Hatch, it comes as no surprise that it’s small yet plucky little hatchback. Even in its practical five-door form, the Mini Hatch measures 4.005 meters in length, 1.727 meters in width and 1.428 meters in height. The three-door version is even smaller, with its width remaining the same, but length being cut short to 3.821 meters, height to 1.414 meters and wheelbase is down too, at 2.495 meters. The five-door and three-door Hatch both have a boot space of just 278 liters and 211 liters, respectively. As for the design, the front of the Mini Hatch gets a sloping, flush design for the hood, trademark circular headlamps with LED detailing, low-mounted split grille, and an air inlet along with two large fog lamps built into the bumper.

Along the sides, the contrasting theme amalgamates well with the Mini Hatch’s two-tone paint job and all-black door pillars. Then there are the chic alloy wheels, funky door-mounted mirrors, sleek door handles, metallic fuel cap and mildly flared fenders. Meanwhile, the rear gets a protruding spoiler, trademark Mini LED tail lights with chrome surrounds, and in the case of the spirited S trim, a sporty rear bumper with faux vents, fog lamps and twin exhausts.

Interior

The interior of the Mini Hatch is full of interesting and stylish design elements that are bound to catch your attention every time you step inside this car. Some of the most fascinating bits include the meaty steering wheel, motorcycle-inspired instrument cluster, large circular housing for the infotainment display and its associated controls, quirky door handles and gear selector, and sophisticated airplane-styled toggle switches on the center pedestal. Build quality and materials are good, too, however, what isn’t that great in this cabin is space for fully-grown adults. If your passengers are taller than 5’6”, they’re going to have a tough time feeling comfortable in this rather tight interior.

However, Mini tries to woo you by offering some modern features, including keyless-entry with toggle-switch engine start, adaptive LED headlights, rain-sensing wipers, dual-zone automatic climate control, head-up display, leather-upholstered sports seats, ambient LED lighting, adaptive cruise control, MINI driving modes, 8.8-inch touch-infotainment display with navigation, Apple CarPlay and Bluetooth, electronic parking brake etc.

Engine and performance

The most potent variant of the Mini Hatch is the John Cooper Works (JCW) three-door, as it packs 228hp and 320Nm from its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-popper and comes mated to an automatic gearbox. This means you can go from 0-100 km/h in 6.1 seconds and on to a maximum velocity of 246 km/h.

Verdict