The Mini Cooper SD Is A Dirty Diesel Hot Hatch We Actually Want

There was one nugget of news that caught our eye when the new five-door Mini was unveiled, and that was the mention of a new Cooper SD model. It has now been revealed in three-door form, and we’re still intrigued.

When we drove the petrol Cooper S it left us a little underwhelmed, mostly because while it’s fast on paper, it doesn’t feel all that swift. With 168bhp from a 2.0-litre four-pot diesel the SD is 21bhp down on its petrol-powered sibling, but with 265lb ft of torque versus the petrol’s 208lb ft, it’ll give a much bigger in-gear wallop.

That’ll make it seem much quicker than its 7.3 second 0-62mph time (7.2sec in the automatic) might otherwise suggest, while being considerably more economical. The combined mpg figure is 68.9 - compared to 49mpg in the S - and it’ll puff out just 107g/km of carbon dioxide.

Prices for the Cooper SD start from £19,450, which makes it £795 more expensive than the base Cooper S. It’ll be available in the UK from July.