I didn’t get a chance to really lean on the Cooper S 5 Door as the heavily trafficked roads prevented any real hooning (as did the fact that the steering wheel was on the wrong side and the hedgerow-lined lanes left zero room for error), but as far as I could tell this lengthened Mini felt pretty much like the 3-door Cooper S.

The fact that many of the rough edges have been smoothed out on this third-gen car does not take away from its essential Mini-ness. The steering is still direct and super quick – but not as nervous. There is less torque steer and the cabin is quieter. With the available adaptive damping (my advice: pony up for this), the Mini now has an acceptable ride. Even in the firmest Sport mode it doesn’t crash over the rough stuff like the previous model. But it sure does handle. The Mini is still one of the more entertaining devices for unraveling a twisty road.

The Cooper and Cooper S come with standard six-speed manual transmission, but these cars were fitted with the optional six-speed automatic transmission. In the Cooper, it’s an additional $1,400. Only for Cooper S is the $1,650 Steptronic Sport with paddle shifters. It shifts smoothly and responds to paddle inputs with useful alacrity.

There are three drive modes – Green, Mid and Sport. Green dulls the throttle response and optimizes the climate control for max efficiency. If fitted with the auto tranny it enables a coasting function wherein the engine will decouple from the transmission and drop to idle at speeds between 50 and 160 km/h. Sport mode sharpens the throttle response, wakes up the tranny, gives the exhaust more bark and firms up the steering and the dampers if fitted with optional Dynamic Damper Control.

We didn’t drive the three-cylinder Cooper 5 Door model, but having experienced the 134 hp, 162 lb-ft (from 1,250 rpm) turbo three-pot in the regular Mini hatch, I can attest to its terrific power delivery, smoothness and fabulous fuel economy. For those looking at this interesting new offering from Mini, I’d suggest the 1.5L three cylinder is all the engine you’ll ever need.

2015 Mini 5 Door cargo area, rearseats, front seats, with Countryman. Click image to enlarge

The Mini 5 Door can be optioned up to luxury car levels, now that such things as camera-based adaptive cruise-control with forward collision mitigation, dual-zone climate control, full LED adaptive headlights, park assist, Harman/Kardon sound and head up display are available. Similarly, it is fully customizable with a dizzying array of colours, wheels, seat upholsteries, interior surfaces, decorative trims for the mirrors and bonnet stripes.

As far as variations on the Mini theme go, this new 5 Door stands up pretty well to scrutiny. It looks good, it’s much more useful than the quirky Clubman and avoids the bloated crossover-ness of the Countryman. Additionally, with this third-gen Mini being marginally bigger and a whole lot more refined, it makes a fine jumping off point for all future Minis.