The game of hatchbacks started from down-the-line segment in India. The reason was demand of an urban car with the seating capacity of sedan, but friendly on pocket and parking space. Unimaginably, the trend hyped intensively and made way to an all new level where nowadays they are being seen have moved upmarket with makers like Mercedes, BMW and MINI aren’t shying from rolling-in their ‘smallest stuffs’ with the ‘biggest price tags’. The interesting piece of story is despite being priced against to the top-end trims of C-Class sedans (against the likes of Toyota, Honda and such) and SUVs (like Fortuner, Endeavour and more) those niche hatchbacks are selling in numbers and are craving more from the segment. The last launch of MINI Cooper D 5-Door in India had surprisingly added more spark to the plot, which mean that go-karting feel behind the steering and modern-retro looking hatchback leaped a step ahead just to be roomier for serving the lifestyle buyers with a utilitarian purpose.
Here, mentioned is an account of comparison between MINI 5-Door hatchback against the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and BMW 1-Series. Read more to learn about them in detail.
Engine
MINI is almost mini (smaller) than the rest under the hoods. Yet, it wins the race over Mercedes-Benz’s A. The 1.5-litre 3-cylinder diesel engine (of MINI Cooper) produces max power of 118PS and 270Nm whereas the Merc’s 2.2-litre (biggest in the comparison) consisted of 4-cylinder produces the least output of 109PS and 250Nm of torque. Here, BMW takes the cake away. From a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder diesel unit 1-Series churns out a whopping 145PS of max power and 320Nm of peak torque.
Even on the transmission side, BMW 1-Series is powered by ultimate 8-speed automatic, MINI by a six-speed automatic and Mercedes-Benz uses 7-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Dimension
In an attempt to stretch a bit, the 5-door Cooper still falls shorter than the rest on length, width and wheelbase. BMW 1-Series and Mercedes-Benz A-Class are large enough to gain the max of space inside and even manage most of passenger’s luggage. There’s one point where the MINI gets an upper hand, and that’s the ‘weight’. Tipping the scale at 1190kg, it attains comparatively better power to weight ratio which the A-Class is found extensively low of. Hence, the driving may bring to notice that MINI is still the same go-kart vehicle which it was with the three-door and those plunging springs underneath has just fared better.
Overall
When talking diesel, the performance may be a bit low from their petrol counterparts. And fuel-efficiency is always on the top of mind of buyers. So, based on that derivation MINI Cooper D 5-door rates the best than all – ample of power and good fuel-economy makes it stand for a better equation. Style is also enticing to catch everyone’s attention and stands out from the crowd. On the other side, BMW 1-Series and Mercedes-Benz A-Class delivers almost the similar fuel-economy. But as BMW is comparatively lighter in weight and boasts more power the Merc fails to cope up here and loses the league.
Hence, this is an on-paper comparison which is subjected to differ than the real-time driving experience.
