MINI Aceman

Interior and Cabin Experience

The Mini Aceman on sale in the Philippines comes standard with Dark Petrol Viscena artificial leather upholstery, which is a mix of an all-black theme with blue inserts. The Aceman also has an anthracite headliner for a completely sporty feel on the inside, which is further complemented by vibrant ambient lighting themes across the dashboard and door panels.

Like other modern-day Mini offerings, the Aceman also has a large rounded touchscreen infotainment system, while missing out on a conventional instrument console. Instead, it gets a head-up display, while the instrument console data is now displayed in the infotainment system. The rounded rectangular housing for the drive mode controller, engine start-stop button and transmission sits below the infotainment system, with the Aceman getting a long tray for the wireless charger in the lower centre console.   

Pros and Cons:

Pro: Vibrant theme for the cabin with a modern infotainment system

Con: Head-up display in place of a conventional instrument console might not appeal to everyone  

Features and Technology

The Mini Aceman SE sold in the Philippines is available solely with the Favoured trim package from Mini as standard, which has its list of comfort and convenience features. This compact electric crossover SUV from Mini comes packed with features like a 9.44-inch centrally-placed rounded touchscreen infotainment system, which also doubles up as the instrument console and interface for the climate control system.

The Mini Aceman doesn’t get a conventional instrument console but has a head-up display in place of it. The other features offered in the Aceman are wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless phone charging, dual-zone automatic climate control with rear AC vents, keyless entry with digital key, innovative ambient lighting, heated steering wheel, four USB-C charging ports, two 12V charging outlets, a 10-speaker Harman-Kardon audio system, heated front seats, panoramic glass roof, powered front seats with memory function for the driver’s seat and a front centre armrest. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Several features are offered as standard

Con: No ventilated front seats

Boot Space and Storage

Despite its large proportions, which are larger than the Mini hatchback, the Mini Aceman offers a boot space of just 300 litres with the rear seats up, which is less for a compact crossover SUV of its size. However, after folding down the 60:40 split rear seats, the Mini Aceman offers a commendable boot capacity of 1,005 litres. 

A car that has been designed with driving enthusiasts in mind, the Mini Aceman has a few practical storage spaces in the cabin, including the conventional glovebox in the co-passenger side, a front centre armrest with storage bin, cup holders in the lower front centre console and rear seat centre armrest and door pockets.

Pros and cons:

Pro: Spacious boot compartment after folding down the rear seats

Con: Limited boot space with rear seats up

The Aceman is one of the newest offerings from Mini, and that is pretty evident in the way it looks. The fresh design language is a slight departure from the traditional Mini offerings, which makes it one of the sharpest-looking offerings from Mini ever. 

Gone is the round-theme design language from Mini for the elements on the outside, and in comes a sharper-looking influence for them. The Mini Aceman has large hexagonal headlamps on the corners of the fascia, which have tapered edges and come with angular, and not rounded, LED DRLs within them, that surround the LED projectors.

The body-coloured closed grille in the middle has golden-coloured surrounds, while the front bumper also gets a golden-coloured skid plate in the middle of the rugged-looking body cladding. This body cladding extends to the side and rear profiles of the Mini Aceman, giving it the much-needed stance and tough appearance of an SUV.

The contrast golden accents are further visible in the Mini badging on the side cladding, 19-inch Hexagon spoke dual-tone alloy wheels and the thick rear skid plate. The Mini Aceman also has gloss black-coloured door-mounted rearview mirrors, pillars and roof rails, with it also featuring flap-type door handles that are also offered in other new-age BMW offerings. 

At the back, the appearance of the Mini Aceman is a mix of simplicity and youthfulness, with the crossover SUV having a clean-looking tailgate and vertically aligned tail lamps with curved outer edges and striking-looking LED inserts within them. The Aceman also has a roof-mounted spoiler with LED brake light, roof rails and rear wiper, washer and defogger. 

As with other of its offerings, Mini has a range of dynamic-looking colour options for the Aceman, including Melting Silver III with Jet Black Roof, Rebel Red with Jet Black Roof, Indigo Sunset Blue with Jet Black Roof, Nanuq White with Jet Black Roof, Midnight Black II, Blazing Blue with Glazed White Roof, Blazing Blue with Jet Black Roof, British Racing Green IV with Glazed White Roof, British Racing Green IV with Jet Black Roof, Chilli Red II with Glazed White Roof and Chilli Red II with Jet Black Roof.

Pros and cons:

Pro: Attractive design with youthful-looking colours

Cons: Could have had a higher ground clearance for a more imposing stance

The Mini Aceman shares its suspension setup of Macpherson struts at the front and multi-link at the rear with the Countryman SE. This suspension setup has been tuned for a dynamic driving experience, with the crossover SUV having a slightly stiffer ride quality.

There are three driving modes on offer in the Mini Aceman – “Green” for an economical drive, “Sport” for better agility and responsiveness and “Mid” which offers the best of both worlds. Besides these three driving modes, the Aceman also has an adaptive mode that alters the driving dynamics and regenerative braking based on the terrain. While the suspension is nicely tuned for enthusiasts, the steering feedback doesn’t feel as precise as Minis with internal combustion engines from the past. 

Pros and Cons:

Pro: Nicely-tuned suspension setup

Con: Steering could have been more communicative

Performance and Driving Dynamics

The Mini Aceman SE sold in the Philippines comes standard with a single-motor configuration, with the front-mounted electric motor generation 215 bhp of maximum power and 330 Nm of maximum torque. This electric motor channels the power produced to the front wheels, and gives the Aceman a top speed of 170 kmph and a 0-100 kmph sprint time of 7.1 seconds. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Energetic acceleration 

Con: Top speed could have been higher

Safety Features 

Mini has packed the Aceman SE with a host of conventional and advanced safety features, which are available in this compact electric crossover SUV as standard. The Aceman has features like six airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, cornering brake control, autonomous emergency braking, blind spot warning with lane change warning, dynamic stability control, exit warning, intelligent emergency call, rear collision prevention and rear crossing traffic warning with brake intervention. 

The other more advanced driver assistance functions offered in the Mini Aceman are attentiveness assistant, high beam assist, auto-dimming inside rearview mirror, speed limiter, rain-sensing wipers, auto headlamps, tyre pressure monitoring system, adaptive cruise control, parking assistant plus with surround view, automatic speed limit assistant, steering and lane control assistant, Mini Augmented reality navigation and head-up display. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Several ADAS features are offered as standard

Con: Nothing much actually

Competitor Comparison

Being a compact luxury all-electric crossover, the direct rivals of the Mini Aceman are the BMW iX1, Mercedes-Benz EQA, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Zeekr 001, BYD Tang, Volvo EX30 and Lexus UX, all of which are priced in the vicinity of the Aceman.

Conclusion and Final Verdict

Being one of the latest models from Mini globally, the Mini Aceman takes a fresh approach to styling, equipment levels and performance, which makes it one of the most modern and technically advanced offerings from Mini. It looks youthful and has a dynamic interior and driving experience, while also having loads of features to make one feel pampered. That said, it is not perfect too, with a limited range from its battery and limited boot space hampering its practicality a bit.