2011 MINI Countryman Review by Autoblog

Here’s an interesting review of the 2011 MINI Countryman by Autoblog. Mini boasts that the Countryman offers and entirely new dimension. This crossover is said to combine the classic Mini concept and the modern Sports Activity Vehicle idea into the perfect crossover. The 2011 Mini Countryman is the very first to have four doors, capable of carrying four occupants, and slightly longer than the other vehicles in the Mini fleet. It will be launched in September 18, 2010.

Autoblog seems to agree that the 2011 Mini Countryman is a brilliant idea. Here’s an excerpt of their review:

In an effort to show Mini owners and enthusiasts that the Countryman is indeed worthy of a Cooper badge, the automaker brought a few of the new crossovers out on its 2010 Mini Takes The States cross-country road rally. Mini is wholly confident that people will be impressed with what the Countryman has to offer, not only with functionality, but with driving dynamics, as well. We saddled up to find out for ourselves.

Overall fit and finish is on par with what you’d expect in a Mini. No drastic changes have been made to the major touchable surfaces and the seats remain comfortable and supportive. The standard Mini toggle switches still continue to amuse and confuse, but we’re happy the interior refinement has largely been left alone. We never really had major complaints before – save minor things like the placement of the audio volume controls – and we don’t have any new ones to speak of. Instead, there’s a wealth of newfound elbow room and headroom, thanks to the substantial increase in width and height over the rest of the Mini range.

When we first hopped into the Countryman with Mini’s McDowell riding shotgun, he told us that the most important part of the development process was making sure that the driving dynamics stay true to what people have come to expect from the brand. After all, our biggest fear with the Countryman was that it might not be fitting of the Mini badge, and not just in terms of size. Mini has created some of the best-handling cars on the planet, and its latest crossover – amazingly – delivers.

All of the things that we’ve grown to love about Mini remain in the Countryman, just with a bit of added bulk. The steering is nicely weighted and has a crisp feel at turn-in with immediate response from the wheels. Our All4-equipped tester was actually quite engaging – the torque steer and mild amounts of understeer that we’ve come to expect from a normal Cooper S are gone. There’s a lot more weight being thrown around and the higher ground clearance gives you a slightly more disconnected feeling from the road, but it’s easy to adjust to. The manual gearbox feels just as good as it ever did in any other Cooper variation, and while the clutch pedal isn’t ever spongy or springy, it can begin to feel very heavy after excessive use.

Like all other Minis, the Countryman has a Sport mode that tightens up the steering rack, improves the throttle response and stiffens the suspension to provide a more engaging feel on the road. But unlike the smaller Cooper, Sport mode isn’t nearly as crashy on city streets or broken pavement, even with the large 18-inch alloys of our All4 S. We actually prefer to just leave the Countryman in Sport – the improved dynamics really make it feel more like a smaller Clubman, which not only makes us happy out on the road, but makes us feel better about the Countryman’s size. It’s far more lively than we ever expected.

Source: Autoblog