#mini launch

All you need to know about the new BMW MINI including design, spec, economy, launch details & model range

We don’t know about you, but the BMW MINI was starting to feel a bit old hat. This, of course, is not surprising given the fact that it has been around for some 12 years.

We’ve had a whole range of innovate MINIs including the MINI Clubman, the MINI Countryman, the MINI Coupe, the MINI Clubvan, the MINI Paceman and even the MINI Roadster. But the poor old MINI Hatchback has remained quite the same.

It is safe to say that the MINI has needed a revamp for quite some time but this has not been an easy thing for BMW to do. And this is the reason that it has taken them so long.

Reworking an Icon

Reworking an instantly recognisable model - that to many, represents chic city driving at its best - is a risk. But BMW managed it with the original Mini, so this should be a breeze, right?

Well, no, not really.

Overdo changes and you can alienate an audience. You can also bomb out residual values for the outgoing model and in turn, devalue the brand.

New MINI Launch Date 18th November 2013 at Cowley

So, first things first, BMW cleverly dubbed the latest incarnation of the MINI “the new original”.

The eagerly awaited launch at Cowley also coincided with the 107th anniversary of the birth of Sir Alec Issigonis (who was the original “original” designer).

There’s the history out of the way, anyway. Good start.

Now to changing the MINI so that it is still recognisable as a MINI but maintaining a balance with the changes made so that it is obviously a completely new generation… here’s how they’ve done it:

New BMW MINI: The Basics

The shape – as you can see from the pictures – is different. Different enough for us to know it’s a MINI but also for others to recognise that it is a new model

The new MINI features an interesting LED daylight driving circular formation and the rear lights are also LED

The New MINI is bigger; the standard MINI is nearly 10cm longer, 4.4cm wider and 0.7cm higher than the outgoing model;

There is more room inside the cabin

The boot is much bigger, too (by nearly 1/3)

There are many customisation options for the New MINI including new colours and the addition of roof rails as a cost option. Like the outgoing model, it will still be possible to personalise your MINI with mirror caps, roof contrasts and bonnet decals.

The Interior has received a quality overhaul and includes a new interior LED display model; there is an all-new interior dash-display 

New MINI Fuel Economy and Performance

Here is the most important part – as far as we’re concerned, anyway.

Even if the car cuts the mustard design-wise it just has to be economical and it has to be low emission. If it’s not, it’s going nowhere in the long-run; the market is just too fierce (one of the reasons used MINIs don’t achieve the sort of prices that they used to is down to economy - they are just too costly to run).

There are only three models to compare in the new MINI range at present (as yet, there are no MINI One D details). Here you go:

Mini Cooper D

The new MINI Cooper D 1.5-litre turbo diesel returns an astonishing 80.7mpg combined and boasts CO2 emissions of just 92g/km

Mini Cooper

The new MINI Cooper 1.5-litre (Twin Power Turbo three-cylinder model ) will get you to 62mph in 7.9 seconds and it has a top speed of  130mph. But this model will return 62.8mpg combined and emits a very low 105g/km CO2 Emissions.

Mini Cooper S

The new MINI Cooper S 189hp 2.0-litre turbo, is super quick - it will go from 0-62mph in just 6.8 seconds – but it will return 49.6mpg.

Will the new BMW MINI sell?

Love it or loathe it, that’s just a silly question. Of course it will. Expect to see them - in quite some numbers – next year.

Oh, and if you’re in the market for a new Supermini then place your bets on this one; forward ordering a new MINI should secure some great resale values.