LA Live - MINI Cooper five-door

Hits the US market early next year.

MINI has debuted the US-spec Mini Cooper 5-door at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show. The car is almost the same as the European version which world premiered in October at the Paris Motor Show, and was launched in India yesterday.

The Mini Cooper five-door measures 3,982-4,005 mm long, 1,727 mm wide and 1,425 mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,567 mm. This leaves the car with a length increment of 161 mm, height increment of 11 mm, and a wheelbase increment of 72 mm.

American customers can choose their Mini in four non-metallic and nine metallic body colours that includes a new finish called 'Lapisluxury Blue'.

The interior, virtually similar to the European spec, features Head-Up Display and a MINI Connected infotainment system. The boot capacity is at 278 liters which can be expanded to 941 liters when the rear seats fold down.

Coming to the powerplants, the base model is equipped with a 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine that makes 134 bhp and 220 Nm (230 with overboost). The 0-96 kph sprint can be completed in 7.6 seconds with the six-speed manual gearbox and in 7.7 seconds with the optional six-speed automatic transmission.

The Cooper S variant comes with the 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder engine that develops 189 bhp and 280 Nm of torque (300 Nm with overboost). 0-96 kph is dispatched in 6.6 seconds with the six-speed manual and in 6.5 seconds with the optional six-speed automatic transmission.

Prices starts at $21,700 (INR 13.44 lakhs) for the Cooper and $25,100 (INR 15.55 lakhs) for the Cooper S variant (not inclusive of the $850 Destination and Handling charge).