Sometimes you get the feeling that product planners just decide what to do using darts. The old MINI Countryman looked like a dud at first, but it turned out to be their bullseye, racking up more sales than anything else. But the Brits have had to change lots of things for the second generation because quirky styling wasn't going to cut it by itself.
The platform of the new Countryman might be the same as that of the smaller hardtop, but it has more in common with the BMW X1. It's about 20 centimeters longer, has a bigger boot and packs more tech.
The old Countryman seemed fun to some people, but this one is polished in the true sense of the word. Ginny Buckley is a mom, and you get the feeling that she's looking at the new Countryman with the eye of a future buyer.
The "chunky front with the new, angular headlights" is the first thing that catches her eye. However, we're not blown away by this particular dark green color. The fact that this is your average Cooper D doesn't help either. But from the engine point of view, we couldn't be happier with the D. Instead of 1.6-liter like you got before, this has the 2-liter out of the BMW X1 18d, packing 150 ponies.
You can forget about tuning the engine for now, because the Countryman lets you tune the space. What? Let us explain. Because the rear passengers in the back have been given so much more legroom, you can ask them to slide their seats forward if you want to carry longer items.
While we're back there, let's mention the kick-opening system for the trunk and the "picnic bench," both of which are features that we've talked about in detail before.
There are nine models to chose from in the Countryman range, starting from the basic Cooper with a 1.5-liter 3-cylinder and working up to the John Cooper Works or that funky new plug-in hybrid. What we took away from this review is that it's an all-rounder that doesn't force you into a compromise. You can have all the space you need, a comfortable ride and bags of character. It is expensive, but all models come with sat-nav, parking sensors, and cruise control, so it's not that bad.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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