Mini Hatch

Mini Hatch at a glance

Mini uses "Hatch" for the body style and "Cooper" for the most common version, so the car is widely called the Mini Cooper. The third generation is covered in depth in our article on the Mini Cooper F56, and the faster versions have their own Mini Cooper S hub. The story of the brand from 1959 is in the history of Mini.

First generation: R50 and R53 (2001–2006)

Production began at Cowley, Oxford, on 26 April 2001, and the car went on sale in July 2001. Body panels came from BMW's Swindon pressings plant. The One and Cooper used the 1.6-litre Tritec engine, and some European One models had a 1.4. The Cooper S (R53) had a supercharged version of the 1.6, and the One D a Toyota 1ND-TV diesel.

Gearboxes were a ZF continuously variable transmission or a five-speed manual, from 2005 a Getrag five-speed; the Cooper S had a six-speed Getrag manual or an Aisin six-speed automatic. A facelift came in July 2004, together with the R52 convertible. The final Cooper S GP of 2006 reached 160 kW (218 PS) and 250 Nm. The Cooper and Cooper S were named North American Car of the Year 2003, and in Europe the Mini One came fourth in the 2002 Car of the Year contest.

Second generation: R56 (2006–2013)

The R56 arrived in November 2006 for the 2007 model year. It looked like its predecessor but was 60 mm longer, and the boot gained 10 litres. Its engines came from the Prince family, built at Hams Hall in Warwickshire.

In 2011 BMW's N47 diesels of 1.6 and 2.0 litres replaced the earlier PSA unit. Stability control became standard on all Minis from September 2008, and a facelift followed in August 2010. Only 2,000 of the second-generation GP were made. The R57 convertible was built on this base from 2009.

Third generation: F56 and F55 (2014–2024)

The third generation was unveiled in November 2013 and went on sale in 2014. It was 98 mm longer, 44 mm wider and 7 mm taller than the R56, with a 28 mm longer wheelbase. The boot grew to 211 litres, or 731 litres with the rear seats folded. For the first time a five-door body was offered: the F55 is 3,982 mm long with a 2,567 mm wheelbase. The three-door F56 was built at Oxford and at VDL Nedcar in Born, the Netherlands, from July 2014 to February 2024; the five-door was built only at Oxford. Its soft-top sister is described in our article on the Mini Convertible F57.

With the first update in 2018 most versions switched from the six-speed automatic to a seven-speed DCT. The second, in 2021, made LED headlights standard and added a particulate filter that cost the Cooper S a little power. The JCW GP of 2020 was limited to 3,000 cars and came only with an automatic. Converting these outputs between kW, PS and hp is quick with the power converter.

Electric Minis: Cooper SE and J01

The first series-built electric Mini hatch was the F56-based Cooper SE, sold from 2020 with 135 kW (184 PS), 270 Nm and a 32.6 kWh battery. It reached 100 km/h in 7.3 seconds and 150 km/h.

Its successor, the J01, was unveiled on 1 September 2023. It comes from Zhangjiagang in China, where Spotlight Automotive, owned jointly by BMW and Great Wall, assembles it; the first cars came off the line on 14 October 2023. A planned start of production at Oxford in 2026 was paused in 2025. The J01 is a three-door only, with front-wheel drive and 11 kW AC charging.

The J01 Cooper SE carries 66 per cent more battery than the old Cooper SE (54.2 against 32.6 kWh). Wikipedia does not name the test cycle for the range figures. In Germany the Cooper E started at €32,900 and the Cooper SE at €36,900 in the Essential trim, according to a January 2024 price list. More battery cars are on our electric cars page.

Fourth-generation petrol: F66

The petrol hatch, coded F66, was revealed online on 6 February 2024. It is built at Oxford and is heavily based on the F56. All versions use a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. In Europe the Cooper C has a 1.5-litre three-cylinder with 115 kW (156 PS) and 230 Nm, and the Cooper S a 2.0-litre four-cylinder with 150 kW (204 PS) and 300 Nm. The North American Cooper uses a 2.0-litre engine with 120 kW instead.

Safety across the generations

For the R56, Wikipedia EN reports five stars in the 2007 Euro NCAP test. The source gives percentages only for the later tests, so no star ratings are given here for them.