LA MOTOR SHOW: 2014 MINI revealed

The next all-new MINI will be longer, wider and more spacious, but will use less fuel thanks to the introduction of an all-new three-cylinder engine, MINI has announced.

The F56 three-door hatch will lead the third generation of the ‘new’ MINI, headed in performance by the 141kW Cooper S and in economy by the 3.5L/100km Cooper D.

A critical car for both MINI and parent company BMW, the all-new MINI will provide the underpinnings, codenamed UKL, for up to 22 different models, including the BMW 1- and 2-Series along with SUVs, coupes, hatches, convertibles, sedans and even baby people-movers from both brands.

It will be available with four- and three-cylinder turbo-petrol engines from its launch, along with a three-cylinder turbo-diesel for the Cooper D, but MINI will follow that up with a stronger four-banger for the John Cooper Works versions and a four-cylinder turbo-diesel.

BMW will also look to electrify the MINI’s powertrain, so expect it to carry a plug-in hybrid layout at some point, along with a full-electric model to follow up from the trial run it did with the existing model.

MINI will sell around 300,000 cars this year and it expects its new car to add to that, so much so that it has organised to soak up the capacity of a privately-owned plant in the Netherlands to add capacity.

It will, however, kill off the Coupe and the Roadster for good at the end of this model cycle and replace them with a stand-alone, front-drive MINI sports car.

The new MINI will be 98mm longer than the current model at 3821mm, while the Cooper S will be longer again at 3850mm.

Its wheelbase has been stretched by 28mm to 2495mm, too, largely to deliver increased rear legroom and greater practicality, with the luggage capacity leaping 51 litres to 211 litres, with MINI adding a 60-40 split/folding rear seat.

Every dimension is larger, with height also jumping by 7mm to 1414mm, while it’s now 44mm wider at 1727mm. The track widths are also larger, with 42mm added at the front and 34mm at the rear, taking them both to 1501mm.

Where most car companies are trying to pull weight out of their cars with each generational change, the extra everything the new MINI receives has added 20kg to the outgoing Cooper S’s 1140kg.

Besides being longer, wider, heavier and generally a lot less “mini” than the current MINI, the new model also has more options, including full LED headlights, wheels ranging from 15- to 18-inche and a green mode for maximising fuel efficiency.

While the exterior is all-new, it is heavily influenced by the MINI Vision concept car and retains traditional round headlights and a ‘floating’ roof, along with a chiseled greenhouse. MINI’s traditional rounded body panels run contrary to the current trend for crisp feature lines.

MINI has invested heavily in the interior, with a central speedo still dominating the cabin along with an 8.8-inch TFT multi-media screen. There’s now a head-up display, greater range of fore/aft adjustment for the front seats and 23mm more rear seat cushion, along with added shoulder, knee and legroom in all seats. The driver also gets a camera-based cruise control system, a pedestrian warning system and near-autonomous parking.

Moving away from the shared technology of the current 1.6-litre turbo range, the new MINI Cooper S will generate 141kW of power between 4700 and 6000rpm from its 2.0-litre capacity, while it backs that up with 280Nm of torque from just 1250rpm, then holds it to 4750rpm. For giggles, it can overboost that to 300Nm for short bursts.

That’s a step up of 6kW and 40Nm on the current car -- enough to sprint to 100km/h in 6.8 seconds in six-speed manual guise (the automatic is 0.1 seconds faster), while BMW claims it stretches out to 233km/h.

The new engine, with direct fuel-injection, variable valve timing and lift and twin-scroll turbocharging, is good for 5.7L/100km on the NEDC combined cycle, though the auto is 0.3L/100km more economical. That’s partly thanks to double VANOS, which BMW M cars got just a decade ago.

The stock Cooper has had its powertrain downsized to three cylinders and 1.5 litres, but it has barely dented its performance. At 100kW (between 4500 and 6000rpm), the three-pot is 10kW stronger than the outgoing four and delivers 220Nm (or 230Nm in an overboost surge) from just 1250rpm.

That’s enough to get the Cooper to 100km/h in 7.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 210km/h, but it’s the 4.6L/100km consumption figure that MINI will be pushing.

It uses the same per-cylinder technology as the Cooper S’s four, but switches to a variable geometry turbocharger, as does the three-cylinder Cooper D.

The new MINI’s starting 1.5-litre diesel musters up 85kW of power at 4000rpm, but will really be driven on its 270Nm of torque from 1750rpm.

MINI claims a 9.2-second sprint to 100km/h, but it is very proud of the car’s NEDC figure of just 3.5L/100km for CO2 emissions of 92g/km. At 1135kg, it’s also lighter than the Cooper S, though it falls 50kg heavier than the Cooper’s petrol three-cylinder.

While the six-speed manual gearbox has had its share of tweaks (including lower weight, faster shifting and lower vibration levels), the choice of a six-speed auto for the front-drive MINI is perplexing.

When BMW itself has eight-speed autos to choose from and at least two rivals have production nine-speed units in the wings, launching the all-new MINI with only six ratios seems underdone. To make life a little more palatable, there is also the option of a sports automatic transmission for faster, paddle-mounted shifting.

All MINIs will have the option of a two-stage damping system, known as Dynamic Damper Control, to mate to the MacPherson strut front-end and four-link rear. Governed by the opening and closing of hydraulic valves, it lets people enjoy the taut suspension feel of a MINI when they’re cornering, but switches back to a less jarring set-up when they’re cruising.

While the MkIII MINI was officially unveiled in London and at the factory in Oxford on Monday (November 18), it will make its official global public debut at this week’s Los Angeles motor show.

By the Paris motor show in September, the range will have been fleshed out with the F55 five-door hatch, which MINI expects to be a huge seller.

The Clubman replacement will be code-named F54 and should arrive in time for the 2015 Geneva show, while the Convertible (F57, based on the F56 three-door hatch) will arrive later in 2015.

Sources insist the MINI model range will also have an F53 model – a MINI sedan – in response to current trends amongst premium makers Audi, Mercedes-Benz and, soon, BMW to fill four-door vacancies beneath their traditional sedan ranges.

While production of the F53 MINI sedan will initially be at Oxford, sources say the car, which will be pushed heavily in traditional sedan markets like North America and China, could also be built in either India or Malaysia.

Sources have yet to put a date on a replacement for the current Countryman and Paceman crossovers, though both are likely to see out their planned seven-year life cycles.

The new Countryman (F60) and Paceman (F61) will sit on different architecture to the rest of the MINI family. A MINI people-mover will join the two soft-road MINIs, but all three have to wait for the larger version of BMW’s new, front-drive architecture to debut in the X1.

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...

Don't forget to register to comment on this article.