The Mini Cooper Countryman gets larger and more creative!
This new iteration of the Mini Cooper is the most spacious Mini to date, having grown both in length and width slightly this past year. With this comes more headroom, more cargo room and more rear seat leg room, all of which works well with the American motoring public.
The company claims the vehicle will comfortably seat 5 adults, we were not so sure about that but definitely 4 could ride in relative comfort. In fact with he extended cargo space, 4 adults could make a long trip with the Countryman and all have carry on sized luggage in the rear along with other necessities like drinks and food for the trip.
Our week with the Mini included one of the first warm weekends in May, and with the warmer weather came yard work, on one trip to the hardware store we were able to pack 3-50 pound bags of pea gravel, a roll of weed block and various garden plants into the rear compartment. We really liked the way that the floor lifted out and tilted up make the space even deeper and more accommodating for all our garden necessities.
The rear seats were designed with cargo in mind as instead of the usual 40-60 split, those in the Mini would split 40-20-40 making it easier to take longer items up the middle if needed and still seat two folks in the rear. This came in handy as we packed some tomato cages up the middle and could have still had two persons in the back seats.
One of the coolest things that we noticed our first night with the Mini was how cool the lighting was throughout the vehicle and even on the outside. The designers have taken led ambient lighting to an extreme in the Countryman with all kinds of different applications of colored lighting.
All the ambient lights throughout the interior were programmable to give off different colors through a customer set up menu in the center circle console where the touch screen is located. The circle around this screen would also change to all kinds of different colors depending on what was being adjusted, a nice orange for volume as it was increased on the left side that would change to a red on the right and the light would dance to the beat of the music.
The center ring would produce a different color during hard acceleration keeping track of the engine engagement; all in all it defined the experience in driving the Mini. Then later that night we arrived at home, exited the vehicle in the dark, and literally low and behold the puddle lamp on the driver’s side projected the Mini logo onto our driveway, how cool is that?
So the Mini inside is not all about the light show that it came equipped with, there are some very nice luxurious features included. The seats were of a fine brown quilted leather material that was very comfortable and included push-outs to extend the front seats under our legs for the longer ride. The front seats in our test ride were manual, but very easy to adjust to a comfort level we liked, Mini does offer an option for power front seats.
The rear seats along with being versatile in how the back came up and down would also slide back and forth and recline, a nice option for those in the back making it easier to get comfortable in what from the outside looks like a very small vehicle.
The front seats were heated of course, which we actually got to use the first two days of our drive as morning temperatures were just above freezing, the dual zone climate control was also nice keeping us both happy no matter what the weather was doing outside. The panoramic moon roof was a great addition really giving the Mini and open look from inside as almost the entire roof was a window.
Without doubt we would expect something different from a company like Mini Cooper and that is exactly what we encountered in the layout of the dashboard. The signature round circle in the center of the dash is still there, but now houses a 8.8 inch touchscreen, something new from designers as before it was totally controlled form a wheel located between the seats. The wheel is still there and can control everything, but the touchscreen is sometimes easier to work with.
That put the speedometer and tachometer in front of the driver instead of center of the dash, and the design works well, still encased in circles there is no mistaking the Mini look. The addition of a $2,250 technology package added a couple of great items to our test ride, first was the color heads up display that popped out of the top of the steering column, somewhat like the new offering from Mazda, that gave speed, directions and other critical information. This new design although not right in the window still works very well and keeps the drivers eyes on the road.
The other option we like from this package was the parking assist information given by the car when getting close to an object large or small, even in a vehicle of this size it’s nice to have that kind of advantage when parking.
Under the hood the Mini comes with a very nice 2- liter twin power turbo 4- cylinder engine that produces and adequate 189 horsepower and 207 ft.-pd. of torque. We found the Countryman to be very spirted in handling and performance through the week, there are 3 different drive modes, Green which was not much fun, Mid which is where the Mini starts and is great for everyday driving, and Sport which would hold the engine to higher revs and tightened up the shocks making it where Craig spent most of his time in the SUV. We did manage to get a little better mileage than the EPA said at 27.5 mpg combined for the week.
The exterior of the Mini is still all ‘Mini’ even though it has grown some over the years; the designers have kept that look we all have come to associate with a Mini. It makes it very easy to identify when it comes down the road, there is no wondering ‘what kind of car is that’.
Underneath the new athletic look is an all-wheel drive system that would come in very handy in the winters in Utah. It would also make adventuring off the pavement an easier task, and also give the SUV more mojo in tackling some of the beautiful back roads of Utah.
Heated mirrors, a rear view camera and rain sensing wipers were all part of the package in our test ride. About the only thing that we could have asked for would be more safety features such as blind spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control.
Our week with the Countryman was a complete joy as we each found ourselves wanting to take the Mini to work, and use it for the day. See the new version of Mini technology at Mini of Murray, 4767 State Street in Murray, 801-262-9475.
Base price: $31,100
Price as Driven: $38,450
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