MINI Space Test

MINI Space Test

Real-life bottoms, baby capsules, booster seats and quality three-ply put the MINI brand to the ultimate test. Ignoring its go-kart handling and youthful character, we size-up the MINI range to see if, in fact, these pint-sized retro heroes have more to offer than their great personalities.

Testing a MINI for space, practicality and versatility seems a little unfair, but with a growing family top of mind, all too often the adorable hatch is prematurely cast aside. We’re batting for team MINI.

We’ve gathered four MINI body types – three-door, five-door, Clubman and Convertible – to see how they shape up when it comes to second-row accommodation – getting in and fitting in – as well as boot space.

Getting into and out of our three-door and convertible MINIs was a test of patience and flexibility for adults – but it’s fine for young, flexible kids.

While at the other end of the scale we had no trouble at all with our five-door and Clubman models, mimicking the entry and egress of any regular small car in this regard. No surprises there, really.

Our five-door and Clubman offerings take a more realistic step towards practical motoring, with more acceptable proportions. There’s provision for three passengers (albeit tight).

It was when we got out the measuring tape that things got more interesting.

Second-row seat width in the convertible and three-door was 111cm, the five-door grew to 122cm and the Clubman 135cm. Noticeable differences when considered in the context – i.e. not much space to start with!

Seat-base depths saw favour sway towards our two smallest vehicles, both proffering 50cm, while the Clubman allows 47cm and the five-door just 46cm.

But it’s knee and headroom that draw the most complaints from your average second-row citizens. At 99cm from seat base to roof, it’s our convertible that takes the headroom win (yes, with the roof on!), it shrinks a little to 94cm in the other three.

The Clubman is well ahead in terms of legroom, measuring 37cm (seat back to base), the five-door 31cm and three-door and convertible just 29cm (maybe those large seat bases weren’t such a good idea after all).

Before you reach for your calculator, the upshot of that is, if you’ve got two flexible friends, they’ll probably be quite happy in the second row of the convertible or three-door MINI.

But for the most part, additional doors will win you more friends and fewer woes.

With a baby on board it’s reasonable thinking to avoid staircases, open fires, pitbulls and balconies – but a MINI? Not necessarily.

All four MINIs feature two ISOFIX child-seat anchor points, top-tether child-seat anchor points and three-point seatbelts all round.

Our three-door has the space you need to accommodate a baby capsule, but it’s the access that creates the problem. We found loading a baby capsule verging on the ridiculous, and no amount of forceful enthusiasm fixed this. A booster seat, on the other hand, is completely doable.

Likewise for our convertible, the capsule is not happening – roof-down mode alleviates access problems, but it’s a fair-weather solution only. Nothing kills a cool convertible quite like a child booster seat, but it too is feasible, if only just.

Loading baby capsules and child seats into our five-door and Clubman proved to be a cinch.

For the ultimate packing test, we took our four MINIs on a trip to CostCo and filled them with the most valuable commodity for any family – toilet paper!

Our three-door’s 211-litre cargo capacity is on par with most light cars, packing 125 toilet rolls. That’s slightly more than a Kia Picanto and slightly less than a Suzuki Celerio.

The cool Convertible’s 160 litres will squeeze in just 100 rolls, clearly suffering from the roof mechanism occupying valuable boot space. It’s still more than Mazda’s popular drop-top, the MX-5 at 130 litres, but well under the Holden Cascada’s 280 litres.

Somewhere in the middle is the five-door’s 278 litres – that’s 173 rolls.  And the Clubman packs 236 toilet rolls, thanks to a generous 360-litre boot – just 10 litres less than a BMW 3 Series.

The test of real-life bums on seats, baby capsules, boosters and boot full of three-ply doesn’t lie. If we’ve learnt anything, it’s don’t judge a book by its cover… or a MINI by its name.

Team MINI's loyal following may actually be onto something.