MINI Cooper S Paceman 2013 Review - International

Based on the Countryman SUV, the MINI Paceman – as the name suggests – is a sporty little number with a lower ride height, two-less doors and an edgier silhouette than its SUV relative. It's also a more entertaining drive.

Hitting Australian showrooms in mid-March 2013, the idea of a three-door SUV seems to fly in the face of rationality. A high-riding sports hatch? Really? But for all its peculiarity, it is a fun-to-drive and somewhat practical car that is a more appropriate vehicle to wear MINI badges than the Countryman.

It's not until you drive it that the car's charm begins to make their presence felt. It has a certain x factor that its five-door relative lacks, and as a stylish and distinctive vehicle with a tenacious personality, the Paceman is a curious creature that represents a return to form for MINI.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT

With the MINI Countryman priced from $33,700, the Paceman is expected to start at around $35,500 for the regular Cooper model, fitted as standard with a six-speed manual. The Cooper S Countryman starts at $42,300 so it's likely pricing will be around $44,000 for the more powerful Cooper S Paceman.

MINI Australia says standard equipment will mirror Cooper S Countryman models, so that means 17-inch alloy wheels, reverse parking sensors, USB socket, Bluetooth connectivity, a six-speaker CD/MP3 stereo, leather steering wheel, rain sensing wipers, and a tyre pressure monitor.

Throttle response is very good from the twin-scroll turbo intercooled powerplant and, with a tight steering rack and firm damper settings, the Paceman lives up to its name and is a lot of fun on curvy roads. The six-speed manual we tested did its job, but lacks the involvement the rest of the car offers, due to a dull shift feel. It's efficient though, using a claimed 6.1 litres of fuel per 100km travelled.

Paceman rides 10mm lower than the Countryman, which gives a slightly lower centre of gravity, but the Paceman still provides a high riding position thanks to the elevated seats, and the commanding view of the road ahead is a welcome one. It's also a no-cost option to pass on the lowered suspension, which comprises MacPherson struts at the front, multi-link independent at the rear.

Two and four-wheel drive versions of the Paceman are offered, but the only model we drove was the front-wheel drive Cooper S, and MINI Australia is unlikely to offer the ALL4 models here due to sluggish take up (around 10 per cent) of the AWD Countryman models. Even on damp roads the front-wheel drive Paceman wasn't lacking grip and standing starts were speedy.

Brake rotor diameters are 307mm  front, 280mm rear, and with a range of electronic helpers – cornering brake control, stability control, anti lock brakes – they are surprisingly effective stoppers.

Measuring the same 4110mm long and 1789mm wide as the Countryman, the Paceman is clearly from the same gene pool, but it's strictly a four seat vehicle, so if you plan on shifting more than three passengers, bad luck Chuck. At the same time, there's something a little bit special about having two form-fitting rear seats that match the fronts, and rear seat room was surprisingly roomy, with more than enough head room for taller passengers despite the sloping roofline.

The giant central speedo dominates interior proceedings and the cabin retains MINI's somewhat eccentric interior design, which is a good thing when car interiors often adopt copycat designs. The electric window controls have been moved from the central stack to the doors, which improves ergonomics, and the sat nav and infotainment system with its 'iDrive light' joystick input works well.

The Paceman's biggest talking point will be its exterior design and though it looks eerily similar to the Countryman front on (they share headlights, bonnet, bumpers etc), from the B-pillar back it's all new metal. The sloping roofline and rising waist add a sporty flavour to the design, and the finer details like brake lights are new.

BMW Australia's Head of Corporate Communications, Piers Scott, agrees the Paceman doesn't have any direct competitors, but reckons the Range Rover Evoque is on the radar "In Australia we've got Evoque in our sights. It is a bigger car but it's realistic to assume that customers would be shopping the two against each other. On the basis of price alone I think we've got a good story to tell. In terms of its proportions, [Evoque] is not that much bigger."

Feeling more like a hot hatch than an SUV, the Paceman is a return to form for MINI. The direct steering works nicely with the MacPherson-sprung front end to deliver sharp turn-in and a balanced mid-corner demeanour. Indeed, the car can generate a surprising amount of corner speed.

The best part of the equation is that the 1.6-litre 135kW turbo-petrol engine has more than enough mumbo to make everything a little more exciting, and though there is some body roll when you really start hoofing it into corners, it's a car that can be properly driven, something that can't be said of the Countryman.

The six-speed manual transmission facilitates quick – if dull – changes, while the brakes do a bang-up job of washing off speed hurriedly, giving confidence to the driver to push deeper into corners. The whole package feels neat and tidy, like any self-respecting MINI should.

The Paceman is an involving, sporty, fun-to-drive vehicle that is – in dynamic terms – in sync with the MINI ethos. Granted, the Countryman will outsell Paceman, but this new model will reassure the MINI faithful the company is not just chasing coin in its search for new model types.

The view of the road from the captain's chair is a good one due to the slightly elevated seating position, and this is something that will appeal to drivers who may have owned SUVs in the past. The commanding view of the road is perhaps the only real 'SUV' element in the package however. There may be some SUV genetics in the Paceman somewhere, but beyond a plain old dirt road one wonders how effective it would be off-road, due to its firm ride, sporty tyres etc.

As the launch drive was purely on asphalt we'll have to wait for a local drive in early 2013 for a better idea of its bush-bashing ability.

When the MINI experiment began in 2001, who would have guessed that a decade later the company would be peddling a three-door SUV coupe? That it's a well-sorted, entertaining car with a larger, more useful interior than the hatch is a pleasant surprise. What the Paceman does is return MINI to its core values of distinctive design and hot-hatch handling, while delivering a bit more practicality.