The BMW-owned Mini brand has been a cult classic for a long time, and Mr Bean’s iconic classic Mini will surely bring out the child in you. The brand has since branched out into the SUV department with its Countryman, which debuted in 2010. The current base variant is on sale for $32,650 and goes all the way up to $48,300 for the John Cooper Works edition with its 300+ hp in the relatively small but spacious package.
The Mini Cooper has always been a sporty, small, urban commuter, making it the perfect fit for the Italian Job, but what most people don’t know is the character and the attention to detail this car strives for. Here we’ll be exploring some quirks and features of the Mini Countryman, if you can get over 5 of these right, then chances are you probably own one.
10. A Mini Countryman Quirk: Circular Infotainment Screen
If you’ve ever set foot inside a Mini, the circle infotainment screen in the center has surely caught your eye. A distinct Mini quirk is the shape of this screen and the light strip that surrounds it. Even though a circular form factor is hard to pull off, Mini has managed to squeeze in a lot of character and information here.
The Mini Countryman infotainment screen is only 6.5 inches, but the circular light that surrounds it handles a lot of communication, for instance it indicates the volume, the fan speed and climate temperature when they are increased or decreased. It also gives the car an ambient color that you can change easily according to your mood, i.e. red for sport, obviously.
9. A Mini Countryman Feature: 1.5 Liter 3-Cylinder Engine
The Mini Cooper is smaller than the Countryman, but the Countryman is still a small car. It may be a shock to see that the base model Countryman still has a twin turbo 1.5 liter 3-cylinder engine that outputs 135 hp and 162 lb-ft of torque. The 3,500 lb car barely makes it to 60 mph under 10 seconds, which is a bit slow for our standards.
On the other end of the spectrum is the Mini Cooper Countryman John Cooper Works ALL4 which has a twin turbo, 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder engine that has more than double the power of the base variant with its 300 hp, similarly the 0-60 mph time is halved to be 4.9 seconds, now that’s more like it from a small sporty crossover.
8.A Mini Countryman Quirk: Toggle Switches And Door Handles
The Mini Cooper S Countryman John Cooper Works has a great distinguishing feature in that instead of the fancy touch ʙuттons, it has toggles instead. These include everything from the engine on/off to the sunroof, making you feel like you’re in a rocket ready to reach out for the stars.
Keeping in line with the stylish curves are the door handles, which combine the locking and opening functions into a neat semicircular design that is both unique but blends in with the cars’ interior. The design involved a fair bit of engineering but turned out well to be a great quirk you will hardly find on another car.
7. A Mini Countryman Feature: The Uncharted Edition
The latest iteration of the Mini Countryman is an all new edition known as the Uncharted Edition. Some noticeable features for this edition include the two-tone paint and the orange stripe going all the way from the front bumper to the rear one, rounded off nicely by uncharted badges around the exterior.
On the spec side, the Mini Cooper S Countryman ALL4 Uncharted Edition has a 4-cylinder TwinPower Turbo for sporty fun thanks to its 178 hp power rating and all-wheel drive. Inside you’ll notice the black leather seats and gloss trim with orange Uncharted badging on the steering wheel and doors. The Mini Countryman is as versatile as ever on any terrain thanks to these Uncharted upgrades.
6. A Mini Countryman Quirk: Cool Lights
Noticeable on all Minis is the external light design that gives off a cool look. The LED daytime running lights are circular, like the interior features, and they are surrounded by a chrome border that shines in the sun. The large hexagonal grill accentuates these, making the front of the car a treat to look at.
An interesting quirk here is that the headlights stay fixed in place when you lift the hood, leaving two eye-like holes. Another quirk that you may notice when looking from the back is the taillights have arrow turn signals pointing in them, albeit in opposite directions to the side itself, but still an interesting feature to see in action as long as you don’t get confused by which direction the driver is about to turn.
5. A Mini Countryman Feature: Memory Seats
The Mini Countryman has electrical seat adjustment with memory that remembers your seating position, so you can instantly set it when you get into the car. The same goes for another driver that may be using your Mini Countryman, you can hold 2 seating positions. The seats are made of luxurious alcantara and so are the headrests, even the rear seats as well.
Surprisingly enough, the Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works has neither memory nor power seats, which is probably a weight saving feature even though the car still has a hefty curb weight of 3,688 lbs. But no matter which Mini Countryman you choose there will be 4 doors and seating for 5, that is a promise.
4. A Mini Countryman Quirk: Made For Camping
A difference between the Mini Cooper and the Countryman is that the latter has a roof rail. Thanks to this, you can set up your very own rooftop tent and go camping when you wish, uninhibited by the room inside the vehicle. When one thinks of the Mini, camping isn’t what comes to mind usually.
The AUTOHOME rooftop tent is a great option for 2 people aching to camp in the wilderness, it weighs 128 lbs and has an inner height of 37 inches. It comes with an aluminum folding ladder and its own mattress, along with 2 windows to be at one with the wilderness.
3. A Mini Countryman Feature: Space For Days
Though the car seems confined on the outside, it offers quite a lot of luggage space, the boot is 17.6 cu-ft, and it goes up to 47.6 cu-ft when you fold the seats. An additional advantage is the 40/20/40 rear seat folding, meaning you can have more flexibility for your pᴀssengers and cargo.
The 105.1 in wheelbase means there is room for 5 people with sufficient legroom. The hatchback style opening allows you to load stuff in and out of the car easily as well. And when you’re lacking space, you can always load up the roof using the rack that comes with. All this means you can take the Mini out for days without needing to stop for supplies, true independence.
2.A Mini Countryman Quirk: Extra Internals
Once you set foot inside the Mini Countryman, you will notice some things that illustrate the manufacturer’s attention to detail. An example is the Mini Countryman JCW’s speedometer, which has a checkered flag after 120 mph encouraging you to go fast. Or the bright red automatic gear shift ʙuттon making you feel like you’re in a zippy compact SUV.
Like a lot of cars, the Mini Countryman has microphones to let you speak on the phone while driving, but if you look at the roof you will see the cutout for it in the shape of a microphone symbol. A similar emphasis on detail is in the wireless charging for your phone, to prevent it from sliding around it has a fixable slider that holds it in place.
- A Mini Countryman Feature: A 221 Hp PHEV Option
For $42,700 you can get a hybrid version of the Mini Countryman! This features the same 1.5-liter 3-cylinder engine in the base Countryman but now with an eDrive electric motor that adds 87 hp, which brings up the total for the Countryman SE to 221 hp. This lowers the 0-60 mph to 6.5 seconds, and the Countryman SE still manages a great 73 MPGe. The only disadvantage is that the car weighs closer to 4,000 lbs but takes no significant hits in terms of storage space.
Come 2025 the Mini Countryman SE will debut as a fully electric SUV that will put the Tesla Model Y on notice with its 308 hp and estimated 280 miles of range for a price that will be lesser than the Model Y, stay tuned.
