I don't like it at all. Reminds me of a stretched limo. Just doesn't look right. I also don't see the point of adding yet ANOTHER model. They're overdoing it now IMO.

I had the same limo thought! Stretched mini.
I'm not sure how I feel on it, I'd have to see one in person. I can understand the reasoning on it, wanting a Mini with a bit more space and 4 doors, but not the more crossover style vehicle of the Countryman. I wouldn't begrudge anyone who finds this 4-door is the perfect car for them for any reason.

Hardtop, Coupe, Convertible, Roadster, Paceman, Countryman, Clubman, Hardtop 5-door. That's a heck of line up, and it seems like a lot of overlap in the Paceman/Clubman/this new 5-door in sizing and function. I wonder if one of them will be on the chopping block soon.

+ the front door doesn't have that nice look on the side like the F56

New five-door Mini hatchback revealed


Mk3 Mini hatchback gets a new five-door model; on sale in the UK in October priced from £15,900
http://images.cdn.autocar.co.uk/site...79557258-O.jpgSales of the five-door Mini hatchback are due to get under way in October

The new five-door Mini hatchback has been revealed, and is set to give the brand the biggest sales boost of any single model so far when it goes on sale in October. BMW insiders believe it could outsell today’s three-door model by a factor of three to one.
It is thought that this new model could account for around 150,000 units annually, massively boosting Mini’s sales overall.
The five-door Mini will go on sale initially with the choice of three-cylinder Cooper petrol and three-cylinder Cooper D diesel engines and in four-cylinder Cooper S petrol and Cooper SD form. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard while the six-speed Steptronic torque converter automatic transmission is optional.
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/ne...tudio-pictures

From AROnline:
"The five-door styling strongly evokes memories of the Issigonis XC9001 prototype of the late-1950s, as well as recalling the work done on four-door Minis between 1958 and 1962."
http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/news...open-business/

XC9001 Pictures:
http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars...pment-history/

I'm assuming Mini will be dropping the Clubman for this.

I see so many MINI's on the road already. Don't really want them to sell more. This IMO is really just them not understanding why people buy their product. When in North America it seems like every other car is a MINI isn't it time to buy another brand?

What car manufacturer would strive to sell less?

I'm only looking at it from my point of view. There is however something called saturation. These cars are so "stand out in a crowd" that there is a threshold to when they are no longer cool. You know "look it's Mabo1UK's MINI" ... as opposed to "here is that MINI driven by Mabo1UK". If this car sells the way they think I wouldn't mind betting it will hurt rather than help the brand.

I've owned rare cars, a Z3 M Coupe among them, and guess what, they don't make those anymore. I'd guess the recent Coupe and Roadster will also go that way.

Personally, this is understanding their customer. At least me. I don't want the larger Countryman and I don't want the half door of the Clubman, I'd just like the narrow body of the Cooper, but with a functional rear seat and an easy way to get things (kid seats and co-workers) into and out of that space.

For me, it's this or a 5 door Golf R, at least until some manufacturer sorts out a small (smaller than an F30) rwd sedan/wagon with a manual.

I get your point, but disagree. MINI's are an iconic car. Their followers like the design and handling that has dominated them for 50 years. Ok, some people like the look but want more space - hence the Clubman/Countryman/Paceman.

But now with the F56/55 they are messing with the fundamental elements of the original car that MINI traditionalists want. They created the bigger cars to appeal to the masses, but now they are no longer appealing to the core base of fans and there is no longer a model that fits that criteria. Why not keep at least the original MINI "original" so at least us MINI purists can have a car we love? Everyone else can have the other models and both sides are satisfied.

I feel if the bigger MINI models also don't work, then maybe a MINI is not for you since they are already becoming like every other car out there with a MINI skin pulled over them...

Anyway, I don't see this as understanding their customer and feel the F55 is overkill. Ok, rant over ;)

ugh..... why didnt they have electric blue on the r56... it has so much pop at night when it's clean

A lot of that has to do with the new European pedestrian safety requirements doesn't it? The expanded nose on the F56/55 and change to hood weight were for that as I understood it. Economic realities make it less feasible to change the body structure for US vs European cars, so US gets the slightly expanded front end as well. Not much that can be done there, cannot keep the original body styling 100% in tact if it doesn't line up with legal requirements of a large portion of their market! I think it looks very much in line all things considered.

The best selling MINI for the past 2-3 months has been the Countryman.
True,there has been a low inventory of Coopers but still,there's definitely a market for a 4 door MINI and up to now only the Countryman was available.
This car will be bought by people who want a 4 door MINI but don't like/need a Countryman.
It will sell well IMO.

Perhaps we're arguing two different things, for one, the F56 is softer than the previous R generations. I agree with that. But the F55 essentially providing the same thing as the previous Clubman (with rumor that the F series Clubman will grow in width) doesn't seem like a dilution of the brand (the BMW one, the originals are an entirely different beast).

At least on the surface, this doesn't seem like a large change from the old Clubman, it's still slightly longer than the 3 door Cooper, but simply has shorter front doors and conventionally hung rear doors as opposed to the traditional 3 door front doors with a single suicide door. Same car, different door configuration.

Now if they bring out a Clubman that's just an F55 with suicide doors and split rear barn doors, then I'll join the pitchfork and burning torch set.

As for a modicum of practicality killing the essence of BMW's MINI, the OG Mini, Morris, had tons of practical models and did quite well until they stopped putting money into developing new models.

I guess I'm referring more to the interior than exterior. Obviously the exterior has to change as certain requirements become law over time, but some of the size increases are probably not necessary though.

However, there is no reason to change the interior on the hardtop in terms of central speedometer, window/lock location, etc. when there are other models which already have those changes.

All I'm saying is, with so many different variations available now why can't they just keep the hardtop the 'original'? If people want a model with features more like a conventional car, there are plenty of other MINI models to choose from already!

lOOks to me like the F55 4 door is the new Clubman.
Don't be surprised to see the old Club disappear.

I would've thought that too, but the Motorfile article says: "The larger six door Clubman (which will go into production in June of 2015) will take this formula up a segment competing directly with the four door VW Golf and Ford Focus."

So already apparently plans in motion on a new version of the Clubman.

For example:
http://www.motoringfile.com/2014/04/...-hit-the-ring/

Also consider that BMW needs to be selling as many MINIs as it can to meet the CAFE regulations. Forgot what year ( within 8-10 I think ) it is but before long they need to be averaging 40 MPG as a Manufacture. Not sure if any of the BMWs currently can come close to that but with them owning MINI they are part of their average, and will be able to meet that MPG much easier than the BMW cars.. Not sure how all that works but that is the jest of it..

Hi guys, my first post outside of the 1st gear section, just want to let you know i found some specs of the SD engine on the swedish mini website, that SD sure looks tempting with 170 diesel horses... :)

This is just following BMW's philosophy of filling every possible nitch. Now if they could just bring that diesel to the US....

This probably doesn't bode well for the F54 as there will probably need to be some huge differentiator between it and the F55, either price, size, regional availability or all three.

I'd still take the F54 over the F55 any day of the week.

I wouldn't worry to much if i was you. :wink:

Looks to be about the same size, maybe a little wider. I would be surprised if they didn't bring it to the states.

http://s3.motoringfile.com.s3.amazon...LE-640x425.jpg

Yup, it's definitely for real. I have a bad feeling that a modestly equipped one will be in the low to mid 30s though based on the increased size bringing it into Countryman territory. Guess it's time to start saving now.

It would be pretty cool if they ended up calling it the Traveller, though :)

Attachment 150073

Concepts and prototypes : Mini four-door
The launch of the MINI 5-Door Hatch has sparked memories of a similar product that BMC could have launched, right at the dawn of ADO15 production, in the early 1960s. A more practical Mini seemingly has been on the cards ever since Alec Issigonis devised his clever 10ft (and a quarter inch) long baby car.

According to John Pressnell’s epochal book, Mini: The Definitive History, the idea of a four-door Mini had been floating around Longbridge since 1957, once the ADO15 project was underway. However, little work was done on the car, as the priority was just to get the two-door to market, but it was the arrival of the commercial and load-carrying variations that had the designers thinking more seriously about the idea of a more practical Mini.

The 1960-1961 Morris Mini van, Countryman, Pick-up and the Austin Se7en Traveller’s new underpinnings would potentially form the perfect basis for the new four-door Mini. They received a much-needed four-inch stretch of the wheelbase (from 80in to 84in), giving the car more rear room and a worthwhile extension in the luggage area.

According to one ex-Austin apprentice who helped with the Mini’s 20th anniversary celebrations in 1979, when he was researching the Mini’s early life, he came across the above interesting image of a four-door Mini produced by the Longbridge engineering team as a possible upwards extension of the Mini saloon range.

He said that the approach back then was very much a case of ‘suck it and see’, with many one-offs being produced as the result of a ‘good idea’. The four-door Mini in the image was built in 1962-1963 and, as can be seen from the accompanying image (note the gap between the rear wheelarch and the rear corner flange), it was based on the longer-wheelbase platform and was photographed at the Longbridge development shops behind Austin’s HQ, known by one and all as the Kremlin.

The fate of this car is unknown, but it almost certainly did not survive. There was a rather unfortunate policy at Longbridge of scrapping most ‘non-standard’ prototypes like this, so it probably didn’t survive very long, or was stuffed into one of the infamous tunnels and got burnt in the fire in the late-1980s.

John Pressnell said that Ron Dovey of the experimental body shop remembered the single running prototype. Consideration was also given to a long-wheelbase two-door saloon and it seems possible that a car was also built to that specification. The fate of that car remains unknown.

More on AROnline:
http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars...ini-four-door/