The biggest-ever Mini is better with a really small engine
<div id="91032263" class="landscapephoto"><img class="photoborder" title="" src="https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/i/7/4/x/z/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1i4bbf.png/1490929898692.jpg" alt="New Mini Countryman is a big deal: strong seller for the brand and its largest-ever model." /> <div class="photocredit"><span class="photocredittext">DAVID LINKLATER</span></div> <div class="photocaption"> <p>New Mini Countryman is a big deal: strong seller for the brand and its largest-ever model.</p> </div> <div class="hdivider"> </div> </div> <p><strong>MINI COUNTRYMAN COOPER<br />Base price:</strong> $44,900.<br /><strong>Powertrain and performance: </strong>1.5-litre petrol-turbo three-cylinder, 100kW/220Nm, 6-speed automatic, FWD, Combined economy 5.4 litres per 100km, 0-100kmh 9.6 seconds.<br /><strong>Vital statistics:</strong> 4299mm long, 1557mm high, 2670mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 450-1390 litres, 17-inch alloy wheels (test car on optional $1500 18in rims).<br /><strong>We like:</strong> Tiny engine bursting with character, fun chassis, first BMW-Mini that's genuinely practical.<br /><strong>We don't like:</strong> Too many cheesy details for what's now quite a grown-up car, still very expensive.</p> <p>Should we really be that worried about the new-generation Mini getting bigger and bigger? In 17 years under BMW, Mini (or MINI as the German company nonsensically insists we write it, so we won't) has grown in so many ways. </p> <p>Mini is a noun, not an adjective. More so today than ever. As a brand, it's going in all sorts of different directions.</p> <div id="91032259" class="landscapephoto"><img class="photoborder" title="" src="https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/i/7/4/x/v/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1i4bbf.png/1490929898692.jpg" alt="Under that distinctive clamshell bonnet is a fizzy three-cylinder turbo engine." /> <div class="photocredit"><span class="photocredittext">DAVID LINKLATER</span></div> <div class="photocaption"> <p>Under that distinctive clamshell bonnet is a fizzy three-cylinder turbo engine.</p> </div> <div class="hdivider"> </div> </div> <p>The new Countryman SUV is the biggest Mini ever made. It's actually longer and taller than a Mazda CX-3, so size-wise it's very much in the mainstream of small SUVs.</p> <p><strong>READ MORE<br /> <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/road-tests/89265654/new-mini-countryman-is-a-big-deal-in-all-kinds-of-ways" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">We drive Countryman Cooper S on and off-road</a><br /> <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/lifestyle-vehicles/88702078/2017-mini-countryman-jcw-is-the-least-mini-yet" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">JCW version will be fastest Countryman by far</a><br />* <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/trends-in-suvs-and-vans/89412604/small-suv-market-set-for-strong-competition" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fierce competition in NZ small SUV segment</a></strong></p> <p>The one real danger of a substantially upsized Mini like this is that it could lose some of the cheeky character that the brand is famous for. In the world of the Countryman SUV, there's a simple solution: the entry-level Cooper version has BMW's excellent 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol powerplant, as previously seen in everything from the 2-series Active Tourer to the i8 plug-in sports car to... other Minis.</p> <div id="91032261" class="landscapephoto"><img class="photoborder" title="" src="https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/i/7/4/x/x/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1i4bbf.png/1490929898692.jpg" alt="Step up in size and style most evident in profile: Countryman is now an SUV rather than simply a tall Mini." /> <div class="photocredit"><span class="photocredittext">DAVID LINKLATER</span></div> <div class="photocaption"> <p>Step up in size and style most evident in profile: Countryman is now an SUV rather than simply a tall Mini.</p> </div> <div class="hdivider"> </div> </div> <p>So while you can still have a Countryman Cooper S with a punchy, high(ish)-performance 2.0-litre turbo, the sweet and earnest machinations of the three-pot engine actually inject an endearing quality back into Mini's SUV.</p> <p>With 100kW/220Nm the triple-pot engine is modest but certainly not slow, getting the Countryman to 100kmh just under the benchmark 10 seconds.</p> <p>More importantly, it's a hoot. Three-cylinder engines have a distinctively thrummy sound and this one spins smoothly right up to the redline. You'll want to take it there quite a lot.</p> <div id="91032258" class="landscapephoto"><img class="photoborder" title="" src="https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/i/7/4/x/u/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1i4bbf.png/1490929898692.jpg" alt="Enough with the big round dials already, Mini. Professional sat-nav $2700 and has a touch-screen, just like a 7-series." /> <div class="photocredit"><span class="photocredittext">DAVID LINKLATER</span></div> <div class="photocaption"> <p>Enough with the big round dials already, Mini. Professional sat-nav $2700 and has a touch-screen, just like a 7-series.</p> </div> <div class="hdivider"> </div> </div> <p>The small engine only gets a six-speed automatic compared with the eight-ratio transmission of the 2.0-litre. Not a deal-breaker, although the more closely stacked ratios would prevent some of the around-town hesitation you get from the Cooper's shifter as it struggles to meet rapidly changing driver demands in heavy traffic.</p> <div class="display-ad story_body_advert"> <div id="storybodycontainer"> <div id="storybody" class="storybody mbl" data-google-query-id="COqtyqTogNMCFUU3lgodIY8CSA"><br /> <div id="google_ads_iframe_/6674/onl.stuff.motoring/roadtests_3container__"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p>At speed, it's not an issue: the six-speed steps between gears in satisfyingly quick and smooth fashion.</p> <p>The Countryman has also retained a perky demeanour on the road. The steering is quick, the chassis surprisingly nimble. It still feels much more like a Mini than a generic baby-SUV, in other words.</p>
