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Big savings on small car

Mini Hatch still has the quintessential go-kart handling on the road.

_THOUGH _ you might struggle to see the differences when you glance over it in showrooms, the new Mini Hatch has arrived in Australia. The third version to hit the market since BMW took control of the iconic British marque in the early 2000s, it's brand spanking new, from the platform to the body to the engines on offer.

While the external differences may be minimal - tweaked lights and a differently shaped bonnet being the most notable changes to its predecessor - there have been a lot of alterations.

A lot of them we've known about since the car's unveiling late last year: it's a fair bit bigger (7mm taller, 44mm wider, 98mm longer) and it will have three new engines available: a 100kW 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol in the entry model Mini Cooper, frugal 85kW 1.5-litre diesel three-cylinder in the Cooper D and a 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder petrol-generating 141kW in the range-topping Cooper S.

But the vehicle's local launch has revealed some new aspects of the car, namely the pricing.

It will now cost a lot less to get into a Mini. The Cooper hits the market at $26,650 plus on-road costs, down a whopping $5000 on the current entry level model, while the Cooper D ($31,800) and Cooper S ($36,950) are down $3000 and $3750 respectively.

But the question when any new-generation Mini arrives, particularly as it continues to grow in size, is will it still have the joyous, go-kart-like Mini handling? Well, in the interests of full disclosure, I can't offer judgment on that.

Thanks to a really ill-timed bout of gastro forcing yours truly off the plane before making it to the car's Gold Coast launch (sincerest apologies to all those onboard VA 678 on Monday morning . . .) I missed out on getting behind the wheel, which I'm filthy about.

But, Mini has been at pains to state the car will still be Mini-like to drive despite its larger dimensions, and an increase to the front and rear wheel track and a stiffer body should help to keep the car flat, plus BMW certainly knows a thing or two about great-handling cars.

The increase in size is to make the Mini less mini inside, with the biggest beneficiary being the rear cargo area which has grown by 51 litres - though to be fair, you won't be cramming a whole heap of stuff into its 211 litres.

Up front, things remain similar to Minis , with a big circular interface on the centre console ensuring you know exactly what car you're in. The info is displayed via either a four-line TFT display or a colour screen up to 8.8 inches depending on the spec.

And the spec you choose will be important, for while you're able to get into the Cooper for less than before, you're going to miss out on a fair bit of stuff if you go for the "poverty pack". All cars have a six-speed manual as standard with a six-speed auto costing an extra $3055. But - quite annoyingly for a sporty car - paddle shifters are only available in the Cooper S.

But the biggest omission is a reversing camera, which even on the Cooper S is only available as a $600 extra. Now, if you'll excuse me I have to hassle some car company reps to get one of these over to WA so I can drive one, pronto . . .