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I don’t know what is more absurd; the fact there are 89 vehicles sold in Canada classified as sport-utes — according to the auto sales tracking website Good Car Bad Car at least — or the fact the Mini Cooper Countryman is considered one of them. The pint-sized Countryman is about as peripheral an SUV as they come; it’s entry into this ever-expanding segment courtesy of its All4 all-wheel-drive system and a slightly elevated ride height (a concept that worked surprisingly well for the original Subaru Outback and Volvo XC70 Cross Country). Yet, for those who prefer genuine sport — rather than utility — in their sport-ute/crossover, there are few models this side of a Porsche Macan that can plaster as big a grin on your face, as long as you don’t mind the compromises. Funnily enough, when the Countryman first arrived in the spring of 2011, it was quickly pegged the Maxi Mini, it being the first model in the Mini range to exceed four metres in length (4.11 m to be exact). It was also the first Mini with four doors, all-wheel drive and a wide-opening rear liftgate, all ostensibly adding an air of practicality to the cute-as-a-bug, fun-to-drive Mini squad. The formula has proven successful; so far this year the Countryman is the most popular model Mini Canada sells.
The biggest change for 2015 isn’t what’s new, but what is no longer available. Gone from the Countryman lineup is the base Cooper model, the one with the normally aspirated 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine. Also no longer available is front-wheel drive; All4 is standard for both the (now-base model) Cooper S and high-performance John Cooper Works. That means a 1.6L turbocharged four-cylinder engine powering the two versions — 181 horsepower for the Cooper S versus 208 for the JCW — mated to a six-speed manual or optional six-speed manumatic.
The tester was fitted with the manumatic; a tragedy, in my opinion, for one of the joys of any Mini, no matter the model, is the intimacy and pleasure of hand/foot shifter/clutch interaction. Lacking this ability, I took solace in the fact that, in manual mode, the console gear lever is properly configured to upshift with a pull, downshift with a push (I’m amazed by the number of car companies who can’t get this right). As for the paddle shifters, they’re old style — instead of the left paddle downshifting while the right upshifts, both downshift with a thumb push, upshift with a finger pull. No matter what lever is used, though, the transmission shifts briskly and cleanly. Also, one can avoid self-shifting and still get a measure of performance by activating the Sport button. So, given that the Countryman weights but 1,475 kilograms — light by compact sport-ute standards — the turbo four will willingly propel it to 100 kilometres an hour in the low-eight-second range, made seemingly speedier by the Mini being built close to the ground. Most turbo engines require gas with a higher octane rating than regular, and the Countryman is no exception. The minimum suggested rating is 89 octane, which was guzzled down to the tune of 11.0 litres per 100 km/h during a week of mixed suburban and highway driving. While not horrid, the Countryman is as thirsty if not more so than many larger-sized compact SUVs.
Naturally, being a Mini, handling is the Countryman’s forte. Only those who have come from another model within the brand’s range will notice the crossover’s increased weight, size and ride height having any detrimental effect on the go-kart feeling Minis engender. For anyone else, the Countryman fairly zips through traffic and attacks on-ramps and off-ramps with playful abandon. With wheels pushed to all four corners, handling is superb, the ride not as much. It’s still classically firm, the increase in wheelbase only slightly mollifying the effects of tarmac irregularities.
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