Where Size Matters

Where Size Matters

The new Mini Cooper Countryman is MINI’s biggest one yet. Based on the same architecture as the BMW X1, the new Countryman has many expectations to meet, but can it?

OneShift Editorial Team
OneShift Editorial Team
01 Aug 2017
We do love the car, as it is quirky, and a step away from how others have designed their SUVs / Crossovers
What we like:
pros
Build quality
pros
Styling
pros
Boot Space
What we dislike:
cons
Handling is a mixed bag with a little too much roll

Start the 1.5 litre, three-cylindered turbocharged engine, even on idle, you’d not be able to tell that it’s a 3-banger. The only hint, comes to you when the car restarts itself when start-stop is on, where there is a notable slight wobble from the front. Step out of the car when the engine is on, and you can hear the characteristic popping noise from the three-pot.

With 136bhp on tap, the Cooper Countryman hits 100km/h in a respectable 9.6 seconds. While there are sport settings on the Countryman, these only affect the way the engine and transmission behaves. The Cooper model does not come with the S model’s trick suspension.

As go-kart-ish MINI would want to make the Cooper Countryman, it truly is a compromise with this car, and we felt it around some tight corners and bumpy surfaces. The dampening feels a little soft, which is good for comfort, though the springs could have been softer for a more comfortable ride. This would have been good in “Comfort” and “Eco” modes, but flick the car to “Sport” and drive it harder, and it would wallow around the bends. A harder damper setup, would have been ideal in this case, but drop it back into “Comfort” mode, and the car would then be rather uncomfortable. This really is a slippery slope of attempting to meet people’s needs and expectations.

Turn in hard into a corner, and you can feel the large MINI plough forward a little, with not much of a hint of feeling ‘go-karty’. Drive it at more normal speeds, and it does reward you with a very controlled drive. There is however a little more roll compared to other MINIs due to the added ride height.


The Countryman feels very un-SUV like, the moment you hop in, it feels all MINI, apart from the added body roll. We do love the car, as it is quirky, and a step away from how others have designed their SUVs / Crossovers. The practical passenger and cargo room is actually good, not just for a MINI, but as a car in general. It may not be extremely fast, nor does it handle the best, that would be the job of the Cooper S Countryman variant. But even with the BMW underpinnings, MINI had managed to create a car that is still with a soul of a MINI.

What Do We Think

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