By John Oxley

I had a choice of cars for the Christmas break – the new BMW 2-Series Active Tourer, or a five-door Mini Cooper. It was no contest really, since most of my motoring would be local, and I wasn’t expecting to have to carry lots of stuff around with me.

The Mini won hands down.

Not that there’s anything wrong with the Active Tourer – which shares most of its underpinnings with the Mini anyway. It’s just that I’d rather drive a car that looks and feels exciting rather that one which looks like an imposter wearing a BMW grille and badge …

OK, so you get more engine choices in the AT than you do in the Mini, but who cares? I rather enjoyed the 1.5-litre three-cylinder in the Mini Cooper, and with 100kW and 220Nm, it’s certainly no sluggard, especially when the roads get tight and exciting. Colleague Damien O’Carroll took the AT, and complained about understeer. But there wasn’t any in the Mini!

Purists will argue that a five-door Mini goes against the Mini’s long tradition, but since that mould has already been well and truly cracked by other, bigger (and uglier) Minis such as the Countryman et al, one has to concede that if the original Mini had stayed in production, a five-door would have had to be produced.

In fact, maybe if it had been built, instead of the dreadful Austin Allegro, perhaps the Austin-Rover group would have survived? As it was, BMW bought Rover (for a pittance) and gained Mini and Land Rover; in the end the only one BMW kept was Mini.

 And it’s been a good choice, with the Oxford factory running at peak performance, and a few more Mini versions on the way. But for now, let’s stick to the five-door.

If you were to put one alongside the three-door, you would immediately notice that the five-door is longer. Well, it would have to be, wouldn’t it?

Yet the proportions remain the same, and quite frankly, we loved it!

The overall length of the car is up 161mm over the new three-door, while the wheelbase is up 72mm. This translates into 72mm more rear legroom and (somehow) 61mm more interior width (at elbow height), despite the exterior width being the same as the three-door.

We live in an area where just going to the shop entails driving along winding coastal roads, and there are a couple of corners which are, shall we say, challenging if you’re pressing on a bit. But in the Mini, it’s always smiles all the way. It just takes the bends in its stride, as it does everything else you throw at it.

And that new engine!

The Mini Cooper has a turbo-charged three-cylinder 1.5-litre motor that growls like an angry pitbull when you put the pedal down, yet is sweet as a kitten when you’re cruising gently down the freeway.

It’s not angry like an M3 – it’s not going to bite – but, with 100kW/220Nm it’s an absolute joy, and still manages to cover zero to 100km/h in 8.2 seconds. That’s in the six-speed manual, as tested. At the same time (and the reason why BMW has gone to a three-cylinder ) is that it really delivers on fuel economy, with claimed overall consumption of less than 5L/100km (although we got slightly more than that).

The gearbox is six on the floor manual, and it comes complete with an on-off clutch pedal that is fine once you’ve got used to it!

Where it really scores, of course is with that extra room, and now it IS possible to carry four people (five if the ones in the back are not too big) in a Mini, Plus a fair amount of luggage.

Or if you’re a two-people family but need more luggage, the rear seat can flop down to give you more.

We’ve touched on the handling, but this newest Mini scores on ride quality, with the slightly longer wheelbase translating into a less-choppy ride and better

Naturally it comes with lots of goodies (and you can add more, the accessories jar is full to overflowing), but in the standard trim as tested you get electric mirrors and windows, climate aircon, Bluetooth and USB, three-spoke leather-rimmed multi-function steering wheel with satellite controls for radio and cruise control, height adjustable front seats, parking sensors (front and rear), rain sensor and auto headlights, a trip computer, and nice alloy wheels.

All-in-all, a neat package, and with five doors, a much more family-friendly package, too. With room for your friends as well!

Specifications:

Body type                        Five-door hatch                     

Drive                               Front wheels

Engine type                     three-cyl. turbo petrol            

Engine capacity               1,499cc

Max power                       100kW/4,500-6,000rpm

Max torque                      220Nm/1,250rpm

Fuel consumption             4.9L/100km

C02 emissions                 114g/km

0-100km/h                        8.2secs

Front suspension             MacPherson strut

Rear suspension              Multi-link independent

Roof rack                        No

ABS brakes                     Yes

Air bags                           Six

Stability programme         Yes

Air conditioning                Climate

Lap/diagonal belts            Five

Satellite navigation           No

Electric seats                   No

Burglar alarm                    Yes  

Boot capacity                  278/719 litres

Wheel type                       Alloy

Spare tyre                        Run-flats

ANCAP rating                   Five stars

Price                                $37,200