My take on the MINI Cooper Countryman

So, here we have it. What started at a reasonably well-kept secret over the last couple of years when rumblings of a "bigger" MINI started up, and finally last week, a motoring magazine (who will likely get a sharp thwack on the wrists) broke the embargo and released official pictures early.

Basically, what we're talking about is a 4-door, bigger MINI. That isn't that big. Whew. What I was personally afraid of when I heard about the project (R60 in MINI-speak) was that it would be a duplicate of the upcoming BMW X1, which is a solid wagon-sized vehicle. The numbers are in, and it's 0.4m longer than the current MINI Cooper, that comes out to be 161 inches... which is a whopping 4 inches longer than a Mazda MX-5 Miata. That's not so big. This is good.

Now that I'm no longer afraid of the size of the car getting too enormously large, I can proceed to my opinions on the rest of it.

I think it's a good looking car. The shape is distinctly MINI. Flat roof, very short overhangs over the wheels, and fun, bulbous, round front and rear. Because it has four real doors, I think it will open the small-car market to a lot of people that don't want to shop around for what's currently out there - the Kia Sportages, the Ford Fiestas, the Toyota Yarises, the Honda Fits... with four doors, it will be more easy to throw stuff and people in the back. MINI have also decided to ditch the rear bench seat, and instead put buckets in the back on sliders. So, you get the same seating in the back that you get in the front. Very cool. I'm sure this will cause some friction for some buyers, but if you think about it, there's no way anyone would fit in the center, had they put a bench seat in there. So no, it won't seat five, but I really doubt it ever would anyway. Basically, I think the car is functionally cute. I hate those wheels on the standard Countryman, though.

The interior has a slightly redesigned front, but the rear features a really cool slidey rail thing, where you can clip in various cup holders, phone holders, or any myriad gadgets. I'm sure the accessories will cost an arm and a leg, but just the fact that they are available, and completely adjustable is just very neat.

Power isn't quite hammered out yet, but since I really doubt they will bring a diesel over to the States just yet, I'm pretty sure it will be the standard 1.6L, and the 1.6L turbo from the current Cooper S (which will be pumping out 184hp when it comes out). The big(ger) news from the drivetrain, though, is that MINI will be offering an "ALL4" all-wheel-drive system for the countryman. In Texas, like Subarus, it probably won't be make-or-break for anyone because it doesn't really snow, but the interesting thing from the press release is the torque split. It will go from 50:50 in normal driving (like a Subaru), but in extreme situations, the car will go 100% power to the BACK wheels. The market is flooded with cars that are 100% front in normal driving, and 50:50 in extreme situations. If that doesn't mean anything to you, basically what I'm trying to say is that it should prove to be an entirely entertaining driving experience, with some back-wheel smoky fun. I think this feature will open up the market to the Northeast and Northwest, where people currently DO buy MINIs, but tend to garage them for the winter.

The styling may not be the bee's knees to everyone, but I think it's pretty sharp. If I were in the market for a 4-door, slightly larger vehicle, brand loyalty aside, I would take a serious look at it, based on the feature set alone. Of course, I say all this without knowing the price. It hasn't been announced yet. MINI is a 'premium' brand, whatever that means, so it will probably end up being on the upper end of comparable cars, in terms of cost. I can almost guarantee you it will be a little higher than a 4-door Volkswagen GTI, but then the GTI doesn't have 4-wheel drive as an option. The biggest selling points to me right now are the four REAL doors. So long as the car hasn't gained more than, oh, 500 pounds (arbitrary number alert!), I think the driving dynamics should still be quintessentially MINI.

So, what do you think? Could it be the new small-family city-mover? Might it replace the "need" people have for a BMW X3, or other larger wagon? For a family of 3 or 4, I really can't imagine why not, but we know how that goes... answers on a post-code only.