The Mini Countryman is a compact crossover and the first car of that type sold under the Mini marque. It was previewed by the Crossover Concept at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, went on sale in 2010 with optional ALL4 all-wheel drive, and by 2023 was in its third generation. In Japan it was sold as the Mini Crossover until 2024.
Mini Countryman at a glance
| Maker | Mini, a BMW marque |
|---|---|
| Class | compact crossover SUV |
| First shown | Crossover Concept, Paris 2008; production car Geneva 2010 |
| On sale | 18 September 2010 in the UK |
| First generation | R60, 2010–2016 |
| Drivetrain | front-wheel drive, ALL4 all-wheel drive as an option |
| ALL4 | power to the rear axle varied up to 50 percent, up to 100 percent in extremes |
| Early models | One, Cooper, Cooper S, Cooper D and their ALL4 versions |
| John Cooper Works | 218 PS, from autumn 2012 |
| Safety | five stars from Euro NCAP, November 2010 |
| Facelift | New York 2014, on sale July 2014 |
| Second generation | F60, shown at Los Angeles 2016, on sale 2017 |
| Third generation | 2023 |
The article is based on one source, the English Wikipedia page on the Countryman.
History of the Mini Countryman
Crossover Concept to production
The Mini Crossover Concept shown at Paris in 2008 set the shape of the Countryman: four doors opened in three different ways and four separate seats. A second concept, the Beachcomber of 2010, took the idea further with no doors and no roof, ALL4 drive and off-road wheels. The production Countryman was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2010 and went on sale in Britain on 18 September that year.
The first generation, coded R60, was Mini’s first five-door crossover. Not every market took the full range: the United States and Russia did not offer the One versions or the diesels. The ALL4 system used an electro-hydraulic differential on the final drive of the gearbox; in normal driving up to half the engine’s power went to the rear wheels, and in extreme conditions up to all of it.
John Cooper Works and reception
A John Cooper Works version followed in 2012, with 218 PS and 280 Nm, or 300 Nm on overboost, plus modified steering, suspension and wheels. US cars were detuned to 211 PS and 260 Nm. In November 2010 Euro NCAP gave the Countryman five stars.
Not everyone was pleased. The automotive journalist Dan Neil argued that a longer, wider and taller Mini had abandoned the point of the brand, and titled his 2011 review “What Part of ‘Mini’ Did You Not Grasp, BMW?” Buyers disagreed: the Countryman became Mini’s second most popular model after the hatchback, selling almost 50 percent more in its first year than the Clubman, Convertible and Coupé together, and making up about one in three Minis sold in the United States in 2011 and 2012.
Second and third generations
A facelift arrived at the New York show in 2014 with a new hexagonal grille and extra body colours. The second generation, coded F60, was shown in Los Angeles in November 2016 and went on sale in Europe in February 2017, 203 mm longer and 25 mm wider than before. It came as Cooper or Cooper S with front or ALL4 drive, and from June 2017 as the Cooper S E ALL4 plug-in hybrid, which combined a 134 hp three-cylinder petrol engine with an 88 PS electric motor for 221 hp and 385 Nm. A third generation followed in 2023.
Design and features
- First Mini crossover: five doors and a high body, a class the marque had not entered before.
- ALL4: an electro-hydraulic differential that could send up to half the power to the rear axle, and all of it in extremes.
- Centre Rail: a rail running between the seats for storing things, dropped from the rear seats of US 2014 cars.
- Five-star safety: Euro NCAP gave the first generation five stars in November 2010.
- Plug-in hybrid: the Cooper S E ALL4 of 2017 paired a petrol triple with an electric motor.
Mini Countryman versions
- One and Cooper: the front-wheel-drive entry models, not sold in every market.
- Cooper S and Cooper S ALL4: the quicker petrol versions, with all-wheel drive optional.
- Cooper D and Cooper SD: diesels, with SD added in spring 2011 and not offered in the US or Russia.
- John Cooper Works (2012–2016): 218 PS, based on the Cooper S ALL4.
- Cooper S E ALL4 (2017): the plug-in hybrid of the second generation.
- Beachcomber concept (2010): a doorless, roofless study on Countryman mechanicals.
The hatchback it is based on is the Mini Hatch, the estate is the Mini Clubman, and the concept ideas behind it are collected under Mini concept cars. More cars are in the Mini collection.
Video: Mini Countryman – Erste Fahrt im neuen Mini SUV
Video by AUTO BILD on YouTube.
Sources
- Mini Countryman, English Wikipedia: generations, ALL4, JCW, reception
