MINI Countryman

The new for 2017 MINI Countryman sees the largest MINI grow in every dimension, it’s 200mm longer, 30mm wider, has a 75mm longer wheelbase and instead of being little more than four metres long, it’s now around 4.3 metres in length. The boot has increased in size by 100 litres, which at 450 litres is 70 litres larger than a Volkswagen Golf and 20 more than a Nissan Qashqai. The Countryman is built upon the same UKL2 platform as its stablemate, the quirky, wide and surprisingly handsome MINI Clubman as well as its cousin, the BMW X1.

There is no escaping the Countryman is a MINI, it has all the branding you would expect internally and externally, the instrumentation and materials used are all high quality and as with all MINI’s it drives incredibly well. But there is an elephant in the room, in making the Countryman more practical (larger) the designers have created a car that looks more awkward than the outgoing car, particularly the bulbous rear-end with its longer overhang. The quote the looks may ‘divide opinion’ is simply being kind in our opinion.

To Motability customers the Countryman is avaialble in Classic or Sport or Exclusive trim. Classic cars have a 6.5 inch screen with sat nav and apple carplay and DAB radio and rear parking sensors. Sport cars include 18″ John Cooper alloy wheels in two-tone, rear spoiler, sport seats, leather steering wheel, cruise control and the option to have sports suspension. Exclusive cars have 18 inch alloy wheels, chrome detailing and leather seats. The option exists to add the Comfort Nav+ which adds Automatic air conditioning, rear parking sensors, passenger seat height adjustment storage compartment pack, floor mats, front centre armrest, heated seats, wireless charging and an upgraded touchscreen to 8.8 inch. This adds £750 to the Advance payment price.

The Cooper uses the same 1.5 litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine found in the MINI hatch and Clubman, with 134bhp and a decent 220Nm of torque it can reach 62 miles per hour in 9.6 seconds and return 51.4 miles per gallon.  The warmer Cooper S has a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine producing 176bhp and 280Nm of torque, reaching 62 mph in 7.5 seconds but only returns 45.6 mpg. The All4, automatic all wheel drive system, is an option on all engines.

Prices increased by £1000 in Q1 2022.

 Winter Best Buy – MINI Countryman Cooper Classic (134bhp 1.5 litre Petrol) Manual  –  £1999 Advance Payment (£843 wpms) or £2249 (£1093 wpms) as Automatic

Winter Best Buy – MINI Countryman Cooper Classic (176bhp 2.0 litre Petrol) Manual  – £2249 Advance Payment (£1093 wpms) or £2499 (£1343 wpms) as Automatic