The new MINI Countryman; some strident MINI fans cannot warm to it. And they may never warm to it. Others are willing to embrace MINI’s move into four-door territory. Here at AUSmotive we’ve kept an open mind and, in photos at least, we reckon if MINI has to go forward by upsizing its range then the Countryman is a pretty good first up effort.
Now that the Countryman has arrived in Australia we can really begin to form a solid opinion. So, after seeing the car for the first time today, and enjoying a brief test drive, we’re leaning towards loving the love-or-hate four-door MINI. It’s not a full on love affair yet, but we’ve seen enough to warrant a second date.
We were granted time in a Countryman Cooper S fitted with a 6-speed manual transmission. Thanks to its 70kg weight saving over the All4 model, this is the fastest route to 100km/h in the Countryman range, with a claimed time of 7.6 seconds. The all-wheel drive version takes a further 0.3 seconds.
In truth, the Countryman Cooper S doesn’t feel that rapid. It’s not slow by any means and the 135kW 1.6 litre turbocharged engine, lifted from the regular Cooper S hardtop, is still refreshingly responsive, especially in lower gears. It’s economical, too, with a combined fuel consumption figure of 6.6l/100km.
We didn’t have enough time in the car to experience all of the Countryman’s handling characteristics in detail. However, we did learn that it is actually quite odd, at first, to be sitting so high in a MINI. Despite that, the Countryman still maintains a degree of the fun and lightness offered by its little brother. The laws of physics dictate the 1310kg Countryman Cooper S, with its 149mm ground clearance, will never match the now iconic 1140kg Cooper S for pure driving thrills. But, really, that’s not part of the Countryman’s brief.
