MINI Paceman gets a raked roof and removes rear doors from the Countryman

The MINI Paceman is officialy unveiled. Built on the Countryman platform, the car measures 4,109 mm in length. The bulging horizontal lines and dynamic curved surfaces give the Paceman a touch of sportiness yet retaining its elegance and simplicity.

Upfront you are greeted by an upright hexagonal-shaped radiator grille surrounded by ample chrome bits. Its coupe-style features long doors, while MINI claims the darkened pillars create a 'floating' roof akin to the MINI Coupe. The rakish roof gives a similar profile stance to a Suziki Swift or Nissan GTR and is available in either black, white or body colour. The rear lights dominate the car's width and the rear nameplate is only available in the Paceman, a first among the MINI range.

The interior of the MINI has been totally re-designed for this model like the rear seats, which are styled around a lounge concept. Two individual chairs provide generous room for the rear occupants with armrests built into the sides of the car.

The MINI Paceman has 300 litres of storage which can be expanded to an ample 1,080 litres by folding down the rear seats. The instrument panel retains the iconic large round central speedo finished in a new black surround and decorative inner rings in high-gloss black or chrome. Other subtle changes include moving the buttons for the power windows to the door trim panel.

MINI's trademark go-kart handling is retained for the Paceman with an optional all-wheel drive transmission. The lowered sports suspension comes standard though regular suspension and ride height are available as a no-cost option. The Paceman rides on light alloy wheels in 16 or 17-inch sizes as standard, or with optional 18 or 19-inch.

The Paceman can be powered by one of four four-cylinder engines - two petrol and two diesel. All drive the wheels through a six-speed manual or automatic with Steptronic.

The petrol engines feature a 1.6-litre 122bhp good for a sprint time of 10.4 seconds, fuel economy of 20km/L and CO2 emissions of 140g/km. The MINI Cooper S Paceman uses a similar engine that is tuned to deliver 184bhp and will sprint to 100km/h in 7.5 seconds while returning 19.7km/L and emitting 143g/km.

The MINI Cooper D Paceman powered by a pair of diesel powertrains use a 1.6-litre 112bhp turbocharged engine with a sprint time of 10.8 seconds. It will do 27.3km/L while emitting 115g/km. The flagship diesel - the MINI Cooper SD Paceman, gets a bigger 2.0-litre 143bhp engine good for a sprint time of 9.2 seconds while returning 26.1km/L and emitting 122g/km.

Other extra's include the MINI minimalism environmental systems, Auto Start/Stop, shift point display, brake energy regeneration and on-demand operation of ancillary units, all of which help cut fuel use and reduce emissions. The Paceman can be finished in one of eight exterior paint shades including the new brilliant copper and blazing red. The starlight blue is unique to the Paceman.

The optional four-wheel drive, ALL4 system is available on the D, SD and S Paceman models and if none of the four models entice, keep your cheque books away as a more hardcore John Cooper Works Paceman is in development.