Concept Car: Mini Paceman Cooper 2013

 2013 Mini Paceman Cooper the seventh model in the ever-expanding Mini line-up. There is now a Sports Activity Coupe in the Premium Small and Compact car segment! Sometimes concept cars offer brilliant, creative solutions to transportation challenges while seducing the eye on an auto-show turntable. Previewed a year ago at the Detroit Motor Show of 2011.

 The cute Mini Paceman is essentially a three-door, coupe-ish version of the Countryman, apparently “with a character all of its own”. When BMW picked up the Mini ball, boy did they run with it. And run. A three-door-hatch version of the Countryman, the Paceman shares the Mini crossover’s big-boned chassis and styling. The wheelbase, length, and width are identical to the five-door, while the Paceman loses only about an inch of height.

 Mechanically, the only difference between the two is that the concept’s turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder gets the John Cooper Works treatment, which cranks output up to the same 211 hp and 192 lb-ft of torque (207 lb-ft in overboost mode) it makes in the JCW versions of the Cooper and Clubman. At the car’s launch, you’ll be able to choose from four engine variants: a Cooper Paceman (1.6-litre petrol, 122bhp, 0-62mph in 10.4 secs), a Cooper S Paceman (1.6-litre turbo petrol, 184bhp, 0-62mph in 7.5 secs), a Cooper D Paceman (1.6-litre diesel, 112bhp, 0-62mph in 10.8 secs), and a Cooper SD Paceman (2.0-litre diesel, 143bhp, 0-62mph in 9.2 secs).