What is it?
The Countryman is Mini’s new and much-anticipated fourth model, the first Mini to boast a four-door layout–something officials are banking on to appeal to a wider buyer audience. It is also the first Mini to offer four-wheel drive as an option. But while the Countryman is billed a crossover, the emphasis is clearly skewed more toward on-road than off-road driving.
The Countryman will be sold in two versions, the Cooper and the Cooper S. A higher-performance Cooper S Works version is in the final development stages at BMW but isn’t expected to reach North American showrooms until a year from now.
Pictures fail to convey the real size of the Countryman. But at 161.3 inches long and 61.5 inches tall, the car is 15.6 inches longer and 6.1 inches taller than a Mini Cooper S.
The added dimensions provide the basis for the Countryman’s four-door hatchback layout. It is the first Mini model to offer space for four adults–or five on European versions, which gets a no-cost optional three-seat rear bench. The rear seat slides fore and aft, allowing you to vary the amount of legroom and luggage space.
The Countryman gets updated versions of today’s naturally aspirated (Cooper) and turbocharged (Cooper S) 1.6-liter, four-cylinder direct-injection gasoline engine.
Peak power for the turbo motor is put at 181 hp, while torque tops out at 177 lb-ft at 1,600 rpm, or 192 lb-ft for short bursts of full throttle acceleration, where the turbocharger boost pressure increases from 20.3 psi to 23.2 psi.
While standard versions of the Countryman come with front-wheel drive, buyers can opt for a four-wheel-drive system known as ALL4. Developed in an engineering partnership among BMW, Getrag and GKN, it uses an electrohydraulic center differential to constantly vary the drive to the end with the most traction.
Under normal conditions, up to 50 percent of the engine’s power can go to the rear wheels, but up to 100 percent can be sent to either end when required. Under a trailing throttle, the clutch for the rear differential cuts drive to the rear wheels–a measure Mini says is aimed at providing predictable cornering properties.
A six-speed manual gearbox is standard, and a six-speed automatic with steering-wheel-mounted paddles is optional.
How’s it drive?
With large door openings, the Countryman is easy to enter. The cabin is similar to other Mini models, thanks to the familiar dashboard and switchgear.
The big difference from other Mini models is the height of the driver’s seat. It is set 2.8 inches higher than in the Hardtop. It provides you with a commanding view of the road, which is not something you could say about other Mini models. A more heavily raked windscreen also places the driver further back in the cabin.
We weren’t allowed to take the lightly disguised prototypes out on the open road, but a combination of low-speed handling and high-speed track work revealed the Countryman to be easy to drive with a taut ride and responsive steering feel.
But with a curb weight of 3,042 pounds, the Cooper S Countryman never feels as nimble or quite as edgy as the Mini Cooper S. The Countryman’s larger body and greater ride height contributes to greater levels of roll in corners. However, the inclusion of four-wheel drive ensured that grip remained strong, both in wet and dry conditions. Pushing hard induces predictable understeer that can be easily controlled via the throttle.
Mini claims a 0-to-62-mph time of 7.9 seconds and a top speed of 131mph for the Countryman–0.9 second and 11 mph slower than the Mini Cooper S. However, the willing nature of the engine and well-matched gearing makes it quite entertaining to run hard.
One thing that affected the preproduction prototypes was poor shift quality. The action of the six-speed manual on examples we drove felt rather notchy and lacked the weighty springing of other Mini models.
Do I want it?
It’s an interesting alternative to Europe’s traditional hatchbacks. The Cooper S Countryman offers satisfying performance and is quite engaging to drive quickly. Still, we can’t help but wonder how much better it might be if Mini dispensed with the allusion that it is capable of heading off-road in any big way and simply concentrated on honing the on-road qualities even more.
With 5.7 inches of ground clearance, the Countryman sits 0.7 inch higher than the Mini Cooper S for no apparent reason other than to give Mini’s marketing department the ability to call it a crossover. Lowering the ride height would clearly bring dynamic benefits, the likes of which we’ll likely see on the upcoming Cooper S Works Countryman.
For many prospective buyers, however, all this will be beside the point. The fact that the Countryman has four conventionally hinged doors, sufficient space for four adults and a good deal of luggage capacity will be enough reason to lay down their hard earned cash. Image is everything, right? It’s a Mini after all.
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