Big changes underneath

After months of teasing, the new Mini has been revealed in full at the company’s Oxford plant. Its subtle styling tweaks hide bigger changes underneath. Among the big news is a range of three- and four-cylinder turbocharged engines, which will cover a broader range of performance than the model’s current mix of naturally aspirated and turbocharged four-cylinder units.

At launch, petrol choices will be a 1.5-litre three-cylinder with 134bhp and 170lb ft maximums, badged Mini Cooper, and a 2-litre fourcylinder – the biggest petrol engine ever seen in a production Mini – with 189bhp and 221lb ft and badged Cooper S.

Expect the new Cooper S to offer improved performance, with a 0- 60 time of around 6.5sec and a top speed of 150mph. Fuel economy should also improve, despite its engine being bigger than the current Cooper S’s 1.6 turbo. A claimed figure north of 50mpg is likely.

The engine gets stop/ start technology. A six-speed manual gearbox, with revmatching on downchanges, is standard fit while a six-speed automatic transmission is optional. A third option is a sports auto, with rev-matching downchanges and steering-wheel paddles for manual operation of the gears.

The suspension has had an overhaul, too. It continues with a single-link front and multi-link rear setup, but with new lighter aluminium and steel components and wider track widths, as well as – for the first time in a Mini – Variable Damper Control.

An electronic setup, it will possess sport and comfort settings activated via a dashboard button. The former is described as ‘emphatically sporty.

While the new Mini has grown in size ( its 3821mm length is up nearly 100mm, with 28mm of this i n the wheelbase), it will be lighter too, though the car’s most structural areas will gain new high-strength steel construction. Pedestrian safety will improve with a new active bonnet, which rises via pyrotechnics when a collision is detected in an attempt to lessen the injuries suffered.

Other technologies previewed by BMW include an advanced braking system, which aims to boost the car’s efficiency while offering greater endurance thanks to new brake coatings, caliper protection and cooling.

A new electric power steering system is speed variable, and will offer a fight against torque-steer as well as a new park assist system.

Inside, the interior has had a greater overhaul than the exterior. There is a new, more stylised starter button, the sport button is now a toggle wrapped around the bottom of the gear lever and the infotainment controls look to have a touch pad.

Perhaps most crucially, ergonomic niggles have been ironed out, with electric window switches moved to the doors and a more traditional, speedometer sitting with the steering wheel rather than dominating the dashboard.