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Published January 22, 2011
Mini on steroids
The Mini Cooper S Countryman offers a roomy cabin with easy ingress and egress. By Samuel Ee
THE first time you see a Mini Cooper S Countryman in the metal is probably the first time you realise how big it is. It may have the familiar Mini styling but it is nowhere near as dinky as the Mini three-door hatch you're used to. Most strikingly, the Countryman is high. Not so much in the way that it is 1.56 metres tall and 4.1 metres long, but in that its front end is substantially higher and more imposing than most of the other cars it is parked beside.
The Countryman is the iconic brand's crossover model. With five doors and a wider body riding higher, it offers an uncharacteristically roomy cabin with easy ingress and egress. This Mini has maximum space, with excellent headroom and legroom all round. It also has maximum flair.
The premium cabin includes a very cool blacked out steering wheel and centre console. Some piano black trim is artfully applied as a highlight but it is the matte black treatment, like on the steering wheel-mounted shift paddles, that makes the interior stand out.
As with other Minis, the Countryman has the familiar pod-like tachometer attached to the steering wheel column, plus the oversized speedo in the centre of the dashboard. The latter now houses a 6.5-inch display called the Visual Boost, via which everything from the audio and telephone, vehicle information, and settings is controlled using three small and unobtrusive buttons on the lower centre console. The sound system, by the way, is excellent.
But that is not the only interesting design aspect of the Cooper S Countryman's interior. The car can be ordered with four individual seats, with a Centre Rail running from the front to the back of the cabin to separate the seats on the left from those on the right.
Apart from being a visual treat, the Centre Rail also allows for 'fun' attachments such as a sunglasses box, smartphone holder, individual cupholders, and centre armrest. Of course, if practicality is preferred, the Centre Rail is an option that can be dropped for a five-seater interior with a single rear-seat bench.
Under all that stylish packaging, the Cooper S Countryman is a compact SUV with ALL4 permanent all-wheel-drive, with the power distributed between the front and rear wheels by an electromagnetic centre differential located directly on the final drive.
Supplying the juice is Mini's familiar 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine with twin-scroll turbo. It pumps out a maximum of 184 horses and 240 Newton-metres of torque. An Overboost function will briefly take that up to 260Nm under hard acceleration, thus endowing the maxi Mini with both performance and traction.
The 1,480kg kerb weight makes the Countryman feel less explosive than the three-door hatch with the same drivetrain, although playing with the shift paddles to manually change the sweet six-speed auto transmission helps.
The steering of this bigger Mini variant - with its enlarged platform, wider stance, and bigger 18-inch rims - also means it feels different compared with the smaller Minis. It is less direct but on the other hand, more forgiving. Overall, it is befitting of the cushioned ride that the less kart-like Countryman offers.
Apart from the clever design, the Countryman is not your typical Mini. First, there is the spacious cabin. Then there is the generous luggage capacity. The tall boot can also be split into two compartments with a clever flip-down floor. Or if required, the rear seats can be folded flat for even more space. This Mini has grown up.
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SPECS
Mini Cooper S Countryman ALL4
Engine 1,598cc turbocharged
Transmission 6-speed automatic
Max power 184 hp @ 5,500 rpm
Max torque 240 Nm @ 1,600-5,000 rpm (260 Nm with Overboost)
0-100 kmh 8.3 secs
Top speed 205 kmh
Price $189,800 (with COE)
Distributor Eurokars Habitat
Tel: 6473-3777
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with lots of spare change, notwithstanding the fact that her family has bigger model high powered BMWs and Mercs in its stable of cars which she has access to all the time. BMW 320?? She was already sharing that car with her sister back in college, for god's sake, and it was the E46 inline 6, not today's anemic sputtering 4 banger.
Originally Posted by Regulators
It's also fun to beat Subarus who cannot cut in because they are just bigger.
