Mini Cooper S Countryman

Stretching boundaries, the all-new 2011 Mini Cooper Countryman is notably larger than other Coopers.

When is a Mini not a Mini?

Some might argue when it is four inches wider, six inches taller and fifteen inches longer than the Cooper Hatchback.

Welcome to the “big” Mini: the Cooper Countryman.

As Mini continues to redefine itself, working to overcome the one-trick-pony impression many consumers have of it, it is creating products appealing to an ever-wider audience.

Its latest effort is a crossover-like vehicle that, while still smallish, provides Mini-philes requiring more carrying capacity a reason to buy a Mini.

Practical and utilitarian

Humongous and colossal aren’t adjectives you will hear paired with the Countryman, but practical and utilitarian are. And being able to describe any Cooper as utilitarian or practical is a huge leap forward.

My test Cooper was the flagship $27,650 S Countryman ALL4. Decoding the nomenclature reveals that the S signals the turbocharged engine under the hood. ALL4 is Mini-speak for all-wheel drive, which is all that really separates it from the S trim level.

At the bottom of the trim-level heap is the $22,350 Base model with its normally aspirated engine and FWD. Staking out the middle ground is the $29,950 S Countryman with the turbocharged engine and FWD.

There is no getting around the fact that Coopers of any ilk are pricey. Two competitors that consumers may well shop against the Countryman are the Mazda CX-7 and the Kia Sportage.

The Sportage is roughly $3,000 less than Countryman. Although the CX-7 costs $300 more, it comes standard with a 5-speed, driver-shiftable automatic transmission. A 6-speed, driver-shiftable automatic is a $1,125 option on the Countryman.

Both these competitors have considerably more horsepower and interior space than the entry-level Countryman.

BMW makes Mini after all, so the sticker shouldn’t be that much of a shock.

In the Countryman, however, you get BMW’s road-holding expertise and a fun-to-drive quality that most crossovers at any price point have difficulty matching.

A 1.6-liter inline 4-cylinder engine powers every Countryman. In the Base, it delivers 121 hp and an Environmental Protection Agency-estimated fuel economy of 28 mpg in the city and 35 mpg on the highway. If you opt to replace the 6-speed manual with the 6-speed automatic tranny, the numbers are knocked down to 25 mpg city and 30 mpg highway.

The S designation brings with it the turbocharged version of the same engine. It generates 181 hp. S editions are simply quicker than the Base car. Reflected in the EPA’s estimated fuel numbers, the extra performance drops the numbers to 26 mpg in the city and 32 mpg for the manual tranny with FWD.

The automatic is rated at 23 mpg city and 30 mpg highway. My test AWD Countryman with manual transmission had EPA-estimated stats of 25 mpg city and 31 mpg highway.

In keeping with the competitors listed earlier, every Countryman has a 4-wheel independent suspension with MacPherson struts fore and a multi-link arrangement aft. In the Countryman, the suspension tuning is focused on handling. The trade-off for Countryman’s cool demeanor in the corners is a less pliant ride. Far from jarring, it is firm.

Anti-lock disc brakes are standard, as are traction control, stability control, electronic brake-force distribution, and emergency brake assist.

Inside the Countryman

Inside, the quirky gauge and control layout found in other Coopers was incorporated into the Countryman. A few months have passed since my last session with a Cooper, so I had to do a little hunting to find the power window controls among the switches located across the bottom of the center stack.

The wall-clock-size speedometer occupies center stage in the dashboard while the smaller tachometer sits directly in front of the driver. If you spring for the $1,750 navigation system, its 6.5-inch display is in the center of the speedometer.

Furnished for four, all seats reach around their occupants, providing scads of lateral support. A no-cost option, a 60-40 split bench seat is available that makes room for a fifth person.

As with other Coopers, front-seat passengers have plenty of room. Rear-seat passengers will appreciate the more than four inches of extra legroom over the Cooper Hatchback and more than an inch over the Cooper Clubman. With the rear seat folded down, the Countryman has 41.3 cubic feet of cargo space.

Standard content on the Base Countryman is decent and includes full power accessories, air conditioning, tilt-and-telescoping leather-wrapped steering wheel with redundant audio controls, six airbags, cruise control, trip computer, cooled storage box, and a six-speaker audio system with CD player, satellite radio, and auxiliary input jack.

Ponying up the cash to move up to the S not only adds the turbocharged engine, but fog lamps and upgraded seats.

Before ever walking into a Mini showroom, you should have a firm idea of which options, if any, you want to add. The list is longer than one of your grandfather’s stories.

My test Countryman had $7,750 worth of add-ons. They were both packages and stand-alone items that ran the gamut from $200 for a cargo net to $1,750 for the Premium Package with a panoramic sunroof, automatic climate control, and a Harman-Kardon sound system.

For pure driving fun, the Cooper S Countryman ALL4 is tough to beat. That you can now include up to four friends in on the fun just makes it all the better.