The third-generation Mini will arrive in New Zealand next year sporting a range of three- and four-cylinder engines and more high-tech equipment than ever before.
The car goes into production in England this week – 107 years after the birth of original Mini designer Sir Alec Issigonis.
It’s bigger allround than the outgoing Mini – 98mm longer, 44mm wider and 7mm taller.
The bigger footprint allows for a 28mm-longer wheelbase and a track widened by 42mm at the
front and 34mm at the rear.
Mini also comes with a bigger boot – up from 160 to 211 litres. There’s an optional storage package, too, offering a multi-level boot floor and rear seats that can be tilted to boost boot space.
Mini says the net effect is a car that is not only more spacious inside but rides and handles better, too.
The new model promises improved safety with head-up display, plus variable damper control for the first time.
It also debuts BMW’s new front-wheel-drive platform architecture – called UKL1 – which will underpin 10 Mini and BMW models.
A major design change is to the centrally mounted circular speedo – the outer speedo ring has been replaced by LEDs that have a multi-mode function.
Another change is to the window controls – Mini has moved them from the centre console to the armrests like on most other cars.
Yet casino online another is the start-stop button – it has moved to the centre console, in the form of a red switch that pulses like a heartbeat as the driver steps into the cabin.
The new Mini gets new, more powerful but cleaner burning engines. The 1.6-litre family has been replaced by 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol and diesel units for the Cooper and Cooper D (diesel), and a new 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol for the Cooper S.
Buyers now have a choice of three six-speed gearboxes: manual or automatic, or a dual-clutch unit that comes complete with shorter shift times and rev-matching downshifts.
There’s more standard kit too, such keyless go, isofix seats in the front and rear, and Bluetooth, and even more scope for personalisation.
Cooper D, Cooper and Cooper S models will go on sale first. Others, like the go-faster John Cooper Works specials, will follow.
