For the 2015 model year Mini has given its popular Countryman crossover SUV a mid-cycle refresh, and due to only the subtlest
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
of changes it’s safe to assume the British brand is happy with how the last four years of sales went down.
And they should be. Here in Canada Mini sold 2,018 Cooper Countryman models in 2014, resulting in the model’s second best year. It didn’t miss toppling its old record by much either, 2013’s Countryman sales the highest on record at 2,067 units, while 2012’s deliveries reached 1,731 and 2011 the lowest at 1,563, not unusual for an all-new model’s first year. If you compare its success to the regular Mini Cooper it doesn’t look quite as popular at first glance, that model selling 3,365 units last year, but what the Cooper sales statistic doesn’t tell you is that all models based on the new three door hatchback, and even those still running on the
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
old platform architecture, are lumped under the single Cooper category, which includes the new third-generation 3 Door and even newer 5 Door based on BMW/Mini’s UKL platform, as well as the Convertible, Clubman, Coupe and Roadster based on the outgoing architecture. Then again, Mini Canada doesn’t report its Paceman sales separately either, so what is likely a small 200-something number (about 10-percent of U.S. sales) can be subtracted from overall Countryman sales if we want to get technical. Either way you look at it, if the Countryman isn’t Mini Canada’s best-selling model it’s managing a very close second.
The
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
idea of a crossover SUV enjoying sales success is nothing new, even within a compact premium brand like Mini. Driving around my city makes it clear that the Countryman is a popular model on the left coast. I pay attention to the cars in my general vicinity, especially Minis that remain distinctive enough to stand out from the comparatively mundane crowd like bright yellow happy face stickers at a Death Cab for Cutie concert (although the Bellingham boys’ latest album, Kintsugi, is more upbeat than usual – even the album name is inspiring, The Ghosts of Beverly Drive and Little Wanderer sounding awesome on this Mini’s audio system, but I digress), and it seems as if most Minis passing me by wear this model’s more serious frowning grille and larger ovoid headlamps, more rugged body cladding below the bumpers, over the wheel arches and down each side, stronger more
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
muscular shoulders, unique slash-style front fender garnish, taller ride height, meatier tires, supersized vertical taillights, bigger winged Mini emblems and chunky block-lettered “COUNTRYMAN” script across their backsides.
Changes for this latest model year include a new chrome strikethrough across the grille, classy new satin-silver underride guard elements on the front apron, side sills and rear apron (I really like these), new exterior paint finishes in Jungle Green metallic, Starlight Blue metallic and my tester’s Midnight Grey metallic, plus new optional contrasting colours for the roof and exterior mirror caps, bonnet stripes, sport stripes and a new piano black exterior upgrade. Other than the chrome strip across the grille and underride guards I needed to look more than twice to notice the other modifications, the supposed new alloys wheels that Mini’s global press release spoke of looking identical to the 17-inch five-star double-spoke
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
light alloy wheels on last year’s Cooper S Countryman ALL4 tester. Heck, even the 205/55R17 all-season runflat Continental ContiProContact SSR rubber is carryover, which got me to thinking that some markets took the new wheels and others, like Canada, have remained with the status quo.
In last year’s review I dubbed it Mini XXL, and while it’s large by Mini standards the Countryman is still diminutive within the compact CUV class. It spans 4,108 mm (161.7 inches) from nose to tail, which makes it the shortest CUV on the market. It’s even more condensed than Nissan’s oddball Juke, Fiat’s even quirkier 500L, GM’s Buick Encore and Chevy Trax twins, Jeep’s new Fiat-based Renegade and the upcoming Fiat 500X that shares the Renegade’s underpinnings. Compared to a regular compact CUV like the Honda CR-V, the Countryman is downright exiguous
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
at a full 422 mm (16.6 inches) shorter, but it’s hardly cramped inside. Certainly if you’re coming out of a larger compact like the CR-V the Countryman’s interior might seem lacking, but put it beside a true subcompact competitor like some of those just mentioned and its passenger compartment feels roomy while its cargo hold sits about mid-pack at 467 litres (16.5 cubic feet) behind its ultimately handy 40/20/40-split folding rear seatbacks, and 1,170 litres (41.3 cubic feet) when they’re laid low.
It looks great in new Midnight Grey metallic, an understated yet classically sporty shade. The white hood stripes on bright True Blue metallic paint covering last year’s Cooper S Countryman ALL4 tester might have pulled more eyeballs, but that’s not necessarily a good thing when trying to fly under the radar with something as fun to drive as the Countryman. To be clear, all Countryman trims are
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
now fun to drive, being that Mini has done away with the old base model that was only capable of producing 121 horsepower and 114 lb-ft of torque. While adequate for a subcompact city car like the old Cooper hatch, the base 1.6-litre four was never enough to keep up to Mini’s go-fast image in the weightier Countryman, so it gets tossed in favour of the much more enticing Cooper S powertrain.
The 2015 Cooper S Countryman ALL4’s engine hasn’t changed one iota from last year’s mill, which while not as rip-snortin’ fun as the new upgraded 3 and 5 Door Cooper S four-pot mill it’s nevertheless an exciting little engine, the direct-injected and twin-scroll turbocharged 1.6-litre four producing a satisfying 181 horsepower and 177 lb-ft of torque, not to mention up to 192 lb-ft of twist on overboost. An exuberant
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
blat from the twin exhaust pipes accompanies each tug on the six-speed automatic’s steering wheel paddles, the new base Countryman darting forward at an enthusiastic rate despite its 1,475 kilo curb weight, although don’t go revving your engine at stoplights when a similarly sized BMW X1 xDrive35i is sitting next to you as the auto-equipped Mini’s 8.2-second sprint to 100 km/h won’t exactly win you any pink slips – the six-speed manual will do the job in 7.9 seconds. The revised Countryman can still be had in John Cooper Works trim, and while no match for the wee little Bimmer it’ll certainly make some of the more mainstream cute utes feel inadequate thanks to 208 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque plus 207 lb-ft on overboost, the end result being a very respectable 7.0-second dash to 100 km/h with either transmission and no penalty in fuel economy over the base Cooper S ALL4’s five-cycle
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
EnerGuide rating of 9.5 L/100km in the city, 7.6 on the highway and 8.6 combined with the manual or 10.1 city, 7.8 highway and 9.0 combined with the auto.
All these numbers in mind, I’m going to go out on a limb while taking a stab in the dark by guessing most Countryman buyers don’t have straight-line performance as their collective key goal, but quite possibly will be more interested in the 12 digits and six decimals that followed. After all, if you’re buying a Countryman there’s a reasonable chance you’re trading in something smaller like a Cooper 3 Door in order to make more space for an expanding family, or at the very least you have plans to stick a larger paddleboard on top while packing more of your “active lifestyle” gear in the back. In other words, getting off the line quickly probably doesn’t matter as much to you now as it did in years’ past, as long as you’re
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
not required to give up too much performance in the transition. So don’t worry, as the Cooper S Countryman ALL4 is still plenty fun to drive, especially when the road starts to wind.
This is where Minis shine, no matter the model. Put the Countryman up against any compact CUV competitor on any stretch of serpentine roadway and it’ll make you proud while leaving a grin plastered across your face. Such was the case with my Cooper S ALL4 tester, not that I was foolish enough to race it. Just the same I enjoyed every minute behind the wheel, whether weaving my way along a mountainside road or zipping in and out of heavy downtown traffic, it’s the go-kart of SUVs yet it’s absolutely rock stable on the freeway too, easily capable of ramping up long comfortable road trip miles to wherever life’s highways take you, your partner, and whoever or whatever you stuff in behind.
Stuff
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
isn’t the appropriate word, as the Countryman’s rear seats aren’t only suitable for kids, whether newborns in reverse facing safety seats or lanky teens, but it’ll seat sizable adults comfortably too. Shotgun is still the best spot for the largest family member who isn’t driving, but nobody should complain about lack of room unless forced to squeeze into the rear centre position.
That’s the best spot to view the entire instrument panel, mind you, which is mostly unchanged yet still a feast for the eyes. Mini talks about “refined details” and “optimized acoustic comfort”, and of course we all appreciate a bit of the good life, but the line “reinforced premium characteristics” tells the tale best. Reinforced is one of those words marketing folks like to use when telling us the vehicle they’re pitching hasn’t changed much at all, like “proven”. Again, this wasn’t
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
an issue for me as the British brand does interiors especially well, while I particularly like the models still incorporating the dinner plate-sized central speedometer. My loaner was upgraded with an infotainment system including navigation, so within that speedometer’s core was a large full-colour high-resolution display, the speedometer’s needle spinning around the circumference in an oh-so cool way.
Yes, nobody does details like Mini, the rest of the cabin kitted out with retro-chic chromed toggle switches, pod-like analog instrumentation that can now be had with dark grey dials to match optional piano black lacquer accents, all surrounded by premium-level soft-touch synthetic surfaces just about everywhere. The Countryman, like all Minis, comes pretty close to upper crust luxury status, with fewer hard plastic surfaces than most competitors, although the dash top-mounted
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
vent casings are finished in a disturbingly shiny hard plastic. The door panels, however, are padded from the very top to the very bottom, which is best in this model’s class not to mention many other segments above, even most premium compacts going without such pampering.
The Countryman doesn’t include cloth-wrapped pillars, however, a bit of a disappointment for a car that does everything else so well, while the sides of the centre stack and lower console are made up of a harder plastic. Of course the armrests are padded and soft to the touch, as is the substantive parking brake’s handle.
Now that the base Countryman wears a red “S” badge (or more specifically four of them) its standard equipment list is even more generous than last year’s entry-level
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
model, with dynamic traction control along with all-wheel drive and of course the more powerful engine included. The instrument panel and other parts of the cabin get trimmed in dark anthracite for sportier style, while you also have the option of upgrading to a dark anthracite (black) roofliner as per my tester, and/or the same 18-inch twin-spoke black burnished light alloy wheels that come standard on the JCW. Previously you had to move up from the base model to get the Cooper S model’s comfortable and supportive sport seats as well as the slick rooftop spoiler, but now these join the other features that last year’s base model offered including pushbutton ignition, a tilt and telescopic multi-function leather-wrapped sport steering wheel with cruise, powered windows with auto up/down all-round, heated powered mirrors, air conditioning, AM/FM/CD/MP3 audio with a high definition radio and an aux plug, an on-board computer, genuine looking Carbon Black leatherette upholstery, multi-coloured
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
ambient lighting, the aforementioned 17-inch five-spoke rims, body-colour mirror caps, roof and fuel door, chrome door handles, roof rails, four-wheel discs with ABS, emergency brake assist and Cornering Brake Control (CBC), dynamic stability control, seven airbags including one for the front passenger’s knees, and a crash sensor that shuts off the fuel, turns the lights on and unlocks the doors if needed.
My tester was fitted with a nice complement of options, starting with black mirror caps and roof at no additional charge, the aforementioned $1,400 automatic transmission with paddle shifters, the $1,450 Essentials Package that includes LED fog lamps, heated front seats, a panoramic glass sunroof, and a button for sport mode; the $1,150 Loaded Package that adds white turn signals, proximity sensing keyless
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
Comfort Access, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, rain-sensing wipers, automatic HID headlamps, automatic climate control, and a front centre armrest; and the $1,450 Wired Package that adds the brilliant MINI Connected infotainment display with navigation I mentioned earlier, plus full smartphone integration, voice recognition, Bluetooth streaming audio and USB input. All of these options add $5,000 to the Cooper S Countryman ALL4’s very accessible $29,950 base price for a total of $34,950, plus $2,325 in freight and pre-delivery prep charges.
You can add yet more extras if so inclined, a $550 Style Package with Chrome Line and Piano Black enhancing both exterior and interior trims, or the $2,900 JCW
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| Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
Package that also includes Piano Black exterior and interior accents, plus the previously noted 18-inch alloys and anthracite roofliner, as well as a sport suspension, a John Cooper Works aero kit, JCW leather steering wheel, and power-folding side mirrors with auto-dimming.
There are so many options that it’s unlikely you’ll ever see an identical Mini Cooper S Countryman ALL4 pulling up beside you, especially when factoring in its 11 exterior colour choices, myriad wheel styles and sizes, various stripes for the hood and sides, optional decals for the mirror caps and roof, and much more, the ability to customize seeming endless.
While some might have been looking for more from Mini in this fifth-year mid-cycle makeover, the Countryman remains a totally unique and particularly wonderful offering in its ever-burgeoning subcompact crossover segment, and will likely continue to enjoy strong sales.
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