I'd love to see the Paceman with a rear bench seat that accommodates three like the Countryman. Any idea if Mini will offer this option going forward? The rail experiment failed in the Countryman as Mini now offers a bench seat standard. Why not for the Paceman? I'd definitely pull the trigger on the Paceman if it would seat 5!

 

Ditto!!

pac

 

First, the "rail experiment" did not "fail" in the Countryman. It is still quite popular. MINI received feedback that people would like the option of having a bench seat, and responded accordingly. Initially, the rear buckets were the default, with the bench as a no cost option. Since more people were ordering the bench in the US, for 2013, MINI reversed the default. Now it is the bench, with the buckets as a no cost option. That doesn't mean the bucket seats/rail have "failed".

With regard to the original point of the post, the Paceman is narrower in back than the Countryman, and would not be able to fit a bench. There are minimum width standards in the US that bench seats must meet (which is why the bench in the Countryman did not arrive until 2012), and the inside of the Paceman is apparently too narrow to make this feasible.

 

At 161.7 inches in total length, the Paceman is exactly the same size as the boxier Countryman crossover. Overall height of the Paceman is nearly two inches lower, however, thanks to its sleeker roofline. Passenger room is identical, since the wheelbase stays the same between the two models, though the Countryman should maintain a notable edge in rear headroom compared to the Paceman. Mini has opted to equip the Paceman with two individual rear seats, separated by a center rail storage and attachment system, versus a more traditional bench seat arrangement. Mini says this creates a "lounge style ambience."

 

Not going to happen. If you have sat in the rear of a Paceman, it feels narrower than the R60 and the US took a year to approve the width on the inside of the R60. I doubt you will get to seat 5 people in a R61 legally in the US with our fat butts.

 

I guess time will tell.

 

I would take a compromise however....

Lose the rail and have 2 rear bucket seats (like a hardtop) that fold FLAT

Have you seen how far the rear seats on the Paceman fold?

Strange engineering that they could not design a flat fold...

pac

 

+1, I would actually order one if the rail could be optioned out. Not going to work for the dogs. That rail is just a poor design, style or not.

 

Indeed. I just ordered a Countryman with the bucket seats and Paceman style split rail. Where else will the rear cupholders go?

And to Braminator's point on rear headroom, don't the bucket seats give potentially more flexibility as they can move forward/backward and recline slightly?

I still think the bench should be an option, but I'd wager it would only be useful to people in their early teenage years. Full size adults back there would have a rough time.

 

I'm 6 foot and got in the back of a Paceman. Had plenty of headroom and legroom back there with the set in the normal position. I wouldn't call it spacious, but it's seemed like a good sized seat space to me.