SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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MINI the large: 2017 MINI Cooper Countryman Steptronic

Decently impressive

Pics by BMW-Group press
Posted: 14 June 2017

The numbers
Base price including CO2 tax: R442 052
Engine: 1499cc, DOHC, 12-valve, inline three with single scroll turbo
Power: 100 kW between 4400 and 6000 rpm
Torque: 220 Nm between 1400 and 4300 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 9.6 seconds
Maximum speed: 200 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 8.1 l/100 km
Tank: 51 litres
Luggage: 450 – 1309 litres
Warranty: 2 years / unlimited km

It’s a mindset we need to embrace: MINI, in all-caps, is a brand not a size. And the buzzy little Austin-Morris Mini we welcomed into the world in 1959 is history.

That mental head-smack is necesary because the newest Countryman is not only larger than its sisters but is also the biggest MINI yet. It’s 20 centimetres longer, on a wheelbase stretched by 7.5 cm and about 30 mm wider than its forerunner. That makes it 4299 mm long on a base of 2670, 1822 wide and 1557 mm tall. For perspective, it’s as long as an A-Class Mercedes but noticeably wider and taller although GLA, the A-Class' SUV version, is longer than Countryman.

Who said anything about SUVs? Well, MINI did: Countryman is the brand’s sporty activity range and to emphasise its credibility as such, ground clearance is 165 mm. Although not really high, it’s just 7 mm less than that of Hyundai’s Tucson. Two of the models available now - Cooper (1500cc single scroll turbo) and Cooper S (2.0-litre twin scroll turbo) - are 4x2. JCW Countryman ALL4 has awd. A 4x2 Cooper D with 2.0-litre turbodiesel is expected soon.

Like other SUVs, Countryman is the spacious people mover of the MINI range so the added length and width gives driver and front passenger more head- and shoulder space, permits greater fore- and aft movement of the back seat and translates into as much as 220 litres more luggage volume with increased rear leg space.

Three passengers back there is now a viable possibility while enlarged door openings make entry and exit easier. We never thought we’d say this about a MINI, but our 6’1”tester found the process quite painless. He was further surprised to find enough space to fit his big feet below the fully lowered driver’s chair.

Before loading up your nearest and dearest, you might want to know that Countryman earned a five-star rating in the latest, and progressively more stringent, round of the EuroNCAP tests a few weeks ago. It’s built to be strong and safe; has six airbags, all the expected acronyms (ABS, EBA, EBD, CBC, DSC, DTC), hill start assistance, brake drying, brake fade support, standard collision warning with city braking and an electronic differential lock for stability. Brakes are discs at each end and the McPherson front suspension is complemented by a multi-link setup at the rear.

Our test car was fitted with the optional Comfort Access package so the luggage area boasted a variable load floor that gives about 17 centimetres of hidden depth, four lashing eyelets and a stainless steel scuff plate on the sill. Unfortunately, it let its SUV image down a bit by skipping the spare wheel and substituting a pump and sealant kit, but you can’t have everything.

What it boils down to is that this is no longer a tiny town car for buzzing through traffic, doubling up in supermarket parking bays or running on the smell of an oil rag. MINI Countryman is a fully capable only-car for (fairly affluent) young families or perfectly acceptable as a second car. Its inner space and BMW build quality, a far cry from the early originals, is decently impressive.

Our test unit was the entry-level 1.5-litre triple that puts out 100 kilowatts and 220 Newton-metres, giving it the energy to sprint from zero to 100 km/h in 9.6 seconds and topping out at 200 with the optional six-speed Steptronic. Although performance in normal driving mode was suitably brisk, the car became much more MINI-like in Sport. That’s when accelerator response, transmission, steering and dampers all work together in raucous harmony to make you feel like a kid again. But it’s an option, unfortunately, so you have little choice but to tick that box and convince your accountant that you’re worth it.

Although this car’s Steptronic has “only” half-a-dozen gears, it does its job well thanks to the motor’s broad torque band extending from 1400 to 4300 rpm. We prefer this box, for use with this engine, to the eight-speed ZF unit available with Cooper S and JCW. After trying a BMW 318i with the eight-speeder a year ago we found that, although it worked nicely in ‘Mom’ mode, it wasn’t great when put under the kind of pressure that red blooded MINI drivers might subject it to.

Being essentially a BMW, the number of safety, navigational, entertainment, connectivity and P.A. options is almost endless. Speak to your dealer because we don’t have enough space to list them all.

The mission is to remember that MINI is a luxury brand with all the features, options and financial implications that go with it. Mini, the cute little econobox of your parents’ youth, is history.

Test unit from BMWSA press fleet



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What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

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