MINI Cooper Diesels May Be U.S. Bound: Report

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MINI Cooper Diesels May Be U.S. Bound: Report

Kurt Ernst

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Kurt has been fascinated by anything with wheels and a motor for a long time. Growing up, he spent his spare time turning wrenches and pumping gas in... More

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The MINI Cooper SD diesel

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Contrary to the myth that U.S. buyers don’t want diesels, MINI head Dr. Kay Segler reports that diesel MINI models are the most common request from its U.S. customers.

Segler told Car and Driver that, “We’re delighted to hear it,” before confirming that the brand is seriously looking into the possibility of importing diesels into the United States.

Don’t expect this to happen with the current, second-generation MINIs, since Segler admits that U.S. diesel models are a “medium term” consideration, not a short term one.

If that sounds vaguely ambiguous, there’s probably a good reason for it. At the moment, emission standards for diesel passenger cars differ between the U.S. and the E.U., but that changes in 2014 when the E.U. adopts the current (stricter) U.S. standard.

The MINI Cooper SD diesel

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It’s not economical for manufacturers to certify diesels just for the U.S. market, especially when they won’t sell in the same volume as gasoline-powered equivalents. That changes in 2014, which is why we expect to see more diesel options in the future.

The MINI diesel sold in Europe is powered by a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbodiesel that produces 143 horsepower and 225 pound-feet of torque. In European cycle testing, which can be up to 20 percent optimistic, the car yields fuel economy of 54.7 mpg.

The MINI Cooper SD diesel

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That’s a pretty significant gain over the 37 mpg highway achieved by the current MINI fuel economy champs, the base MINI Cooper and the MINI Cooper Coupe.

We’re big fans of diesel motors, and are confident the diesel MINI would sell well in the United States. We don’t expect to see it any sooner than 2014, but it sounds like the car will be worth the wait.

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Comments (3)

John Briggs Posted: 1/27/2012 8:13am PST

The 54.7 mpg Diesel Euro vs 37 mpg gasoline USA is a really misleading apple and orange comparison.

Are there Euro numbers for both the Diesel and Gasoline Mini's? that would be a more apples to apples comparison.

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Kurt Ernst Posted: 1/27/2012 10:14am PST

@John, MINI rates the gas-powered Cooper at 6.1 liters per 100km combined in the EU, which translates to 38.6 mpg. The EPA says to expect 32 mpg combined, which is roughly the 20 percent difference cited in the article.

Obviously, no EPA data on the MINI diesel is available.

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John Briggs Posted: 1/27/2012 12:14pm PST

Thanks for the added info. These are impressive claims, but it seems like there is more to this than just diesel including the addition of start/stop technology, a detachable alternator, and electronic power steering, for the diesel version. Still impressive.

Researching the Euro combined numbers I found.

Mini 43.5 mpg (US) 129 g/km
Mini D 60.3 mpg (US) 104 g/km
Prius 54.7 mpg (US) 104 g/km

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