DRIVEN: New Mini Countryman is still fun to drive despite growing in size and stature
With apologies to Fatboy Slim, you’ve come a long way, baby.
That’s certainly the case when it comes to the Mini. First released in 1959 and quickly becoming a 60s icon in popular British culture, the little three door measured 3.05 metres long, 1.41 metres wide and stood 1.35 metres tall.
Enter the latest Mini Countryman with its pasta and steroids diet over the years and it’s grown to 4.297 metres in length, 1.822 metres wide and 1.557 metres high.
At its heart though it’s still fundamentally a Mini with its short front and rear overhangs and won’t be confused with anything else on our roads.
There are four versions of the Countryman available: Countryman C, Countryman Cooper S, Countryman John Cooper Works and the all-electric Countryman Cooper SE.
For now the Countryman C and Cooper S are available with the JCW and SE set to be released later this year.
The entry level C is fitted with a three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine producing 115kW and 240Nm driving the front wheels while the Cooper S upgrades to a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine with 150kW and 320Nm driving all four wheels with both using a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
When the JCW arrives the same 2-0-litre engine has been tuned to deliver 223kW and 400Nm while the EV Countryman will have outputs of 230kW and 494Nm with an electric motor on each axle with a claimed range of just over 400 kilometres.
Our first drive was in the Countryman C and the first thing that dominates your view is the new 240mm round OLED display in the centre of the dash as you would expect from a Mini.
We tried using the “Hey Mini” voice assistant but you needed to have a Mini log-in which we didn’t, but as an owner it wouldn’t be a problem.
We also had a good feel of the dash and for something made out of 150 recycled 500ml plastic bottles it’s pretty impressive. Not as smooth as leather or faux-leather but it’s good for the environment so it’s probably not a bad thing.
Because it’s now a rather large vehicle, seating is comfortable and with a few adjustments of the steering wheel it takes a while to get used to having to adjust your view to see the OLED display for all the driver information.
The engine is smooth once the turbo has spooled up and without the thrum associated with a three-pod motor but don’t expect lightning response but rather more tame and measured, keeping in mind it has to haul around just over 1.5 tons.
Still, it will easily cruise at the national speed limit and pass slower traffic with ease as we headed out on the N4 towards Graskop in Mpumalanga.
Off the highway and on the twisty road towards Sabie and Mac Mac falls it provides a fun, if not, ripping ride. It sits comfortably around the bends with direct steering providing decent feedback.
We also toggled between the various settings on the OLED display (Core, Go-Kart, Green, Vivid, Timeless, Balance, Personal and Trail) which provide a rather intrusive jingle everytime you select.
Apart from Go-Kart which tightens things up slightly and is the only selection with a rev-counter, the rest have a charging meter, which is somewhat moot because we aren’t getting any 48-volt mild hybrid variations.
Behind the wheel of the Cooper S with a JCW sticker pack, heading back the following day it felt a lot more like you would imagine a Mini should.
The 2.0-litre engine, though not entirely grin-inducing, and all wheel drive make a significant difference to the overall package.
Like the C, the smallish steering wheel is fantastic to grip and sits comfortably in your hands giving you confidence to throw it around.
In Go-Kart there's a pleasant growl from the exhaust with quick and smooth throttle response once you thrash it a bit and with all four wheels providing grip it doesn’t mind getting close to the edge of its handling characteristics.
Again, acceleration doesn’t push you back into the seat but it’s linear and smooth and like I said, once up to speed it will gladly respond to steering inputs.
After this, we’re looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the JCW and even the SE with its immediate torque on tap.
Mini Countryman Pricing (June 2024)
Countryman C: R724 819
Countryman Cooper S: R795 074
Countryman John Cooper Works: R965 767
Countryman Cooper SE: R1 086 000