Urban Jungle Warrior. The MINI Urbanite Edition review!

Getting behind of the wheel of the F55 MINI 5 door has brought back fond memories of when I had my first MINI experience in my aunt’s  R50 MINI One.

That was when BMW took on the huge task of reinventing the automotive icon when they took over the company in 2000 and after almost two decades later, the brand is still going strong.

Over the relatively short period of three model generations, I must say that MINI has improved overall build quality tremendously as I could recall the previous two generations wasn’t that great.

Just like Porsche with their 911 sports car, you cannot mistaken the MINI to be anything else but a MINI. The design of the MINI is modern yet unmistakably recognizable with its round headlights, and even more so with the additional “rally-inspired” headlights featured on our Urbanite Edition test car.

The MINI Urbanite Edition is a locally offered, limited edition (less than a thousand units) variant which is based on the regular MINI Cooper 5-door but with added aesthetic goodies.

Namely the aforementioned extra headlights, black painted 16-inch Victory Spoke rims, stripes decals, and gloss black trims all around the car. Offered alongside the Urbanite Edition is the aptly named Amplified Edition which is based on the more powerful Cooper S.

Under the hood the Urbanite Edition retains the familiar 1.5 liter 3-cylinder engine TwinPower Turbo engine which produces 136hp and 220Nm of torque mated to a 6-speed automatic gearbox.

While that might not sound like a lot of power, it’s more than sufficient to propel this 1.2 ton car from 0-100km/h in around 8 seconds and up to a top speed of 207km/h. The car is ideal for day to day driving and during my road trip to Johor where we covered a total of 513km, the tiny 3-cylinder engine really shined through by consuming an average of 6.5L/100km throughout the whole journey.

But does it still drive like a MINI? The Mini 5-door may be slightly longer and heavier than the 3-door variant, but it still offers that unmistakable go-kart-like handling on the road. The only trade off is that the ride is not as pliant as I would have preferred, despite having three different settings on the driving modes.

As for practicality, it’s fair to say that MINI emphasizes more on style rather than practicality and ergonomics. With that in mind, the MINI surprised me with respectable practicality as we managed to fit two full size adults comfortably in the rear seats.

We also fitted everyone’s luggage at the back of the 271 liters trunk space without the seats folded down. With the seats folded down, the boot space increases from 271 liters to a more usable 941 liters of space.

When it comes to driving assistance and electronics, this MINI Urbanite variant is equipped with cruise control with braking function, reverse camera, lights package which includes the interior ambient lighting together with the LED headlamps, multi-function steering wheel wrapped in leather, dual zone climate control and radio MINI Visual Boost with 6.5” LCD display with 5-key controller.

On the exterior, the Urbanite Edition gets the following visual treatment:

• 16” Victory Spoke Black.
• Piano Black trims & grille.
• Racing Stripes: Black/Red.
• Rally-inspired additional headlights.
• Roof and mirror caps in black.
• Urbanite Edition emblems.

So is this car for you?

If you are looking for a compact and stylish lifestyle car that drives as fun as it looks then the MINI will not disappoint. If you want added practicality without sacrificing MINI’s desirability then you should check out the larger MINI Countryman.

As for the Urbanite Edition, this limited-run variant is completely sold out according to MINI Malaysia. Don’t fret however, as MINI Malaysia very recently launched the new and improved MINI range with an even higher degree of customization options.

You could technically get one of those and customize it with MINI’s extensive genuine accessories to replicate the Urbanite Edition or simply spec it exactly to your taste. Win win!

Big thanks to Jonathan for the review!