MINI has released a slew of details regarding the MINI Countryman, a mini-SUV, if you’ll excuse the pun, that aims to create a whole new market segment of miniature premium soft-roaders. Just by looking at the pictures one can tell that while the heart may be in the right place, the body will not carry through its promise. So don’t go looking for trouble out in the wild bushes with this one.
Instead concentrate on urban excursions and gravel. Of course no BMW-made car (apart from past Land Rovers) is created to bash the bundus. Fact is, those Germans even pride themselves for building cars with such good road manners as to surprise even the tarmac itself.
So it is with Countryman which stands only 1.56m off the ground and barely has an approach angle, two critical ingredients for attacking any form of terrain. What it boasts is something called MINI ALL4 all-wheel-drive which uses a centre differential to distribute power between the front and rear axle. MINI swears their car will still exhibit similar handling characteristics to its front-wheel-drive siblings. We’ll only testify to that claim after driving it.
As for power, several options are available, including a diesel worth 66kW and 270Nm with overboost. We probably won’t be getting this model here in Mzansi. What we should be getting for sure is the Countryman S with 135kW and 240Nm (260Nm with overboost). That little car is said to go from 0 – 100km/h in 7.6 seconds (7.9 for the automatic) and register a top speed of 215km/h (210km/h respectively).
We’ll get the Countryman in South Africa either towards the end of 2010 or at the start of 2011. Prices are obviously still top secret but we can speculate that Countryman versions will cost between R15 000 and R20 000 more than their Clubman counterparts.
MINI has released a slew of details regarding the MINI Countryman, a mini-SUV, if you’ll excuse the pun, that aims to create a whole new market segment of miniature premium soft-roaders. Just by looking at the pictures one can tell that while the heart may be in the right place, the body will not carry through its promise. So don’t go looking for trouble out in the wild bushes with this one. Instead concentrate on urban excursions and gravel. Of course no BMW-made car (apart from past Land Rovers) is created to bash the bundus. Fact is, those Germans even pride themselves for building cars with such good road manners as to surprise even the tarmac itself.
So it is with Countryman which stands only 1.56m off the ground and barely has an approach angle, two critical ingredients for attacking any form of terrain. What it boasts is something called MINI ALL4 all-wheel-drive which uses a centre differential to distribute power between the front and rear axle. MINI swears their car will still exhibit similar handling characteristics to its front-wheel-drive siblings. We’ll only testify to that claim after driving it.
As for power, several options are available, including a diesel worth 66kW and 270Nm with overboost. We probably won’t be getting this model here in Mzansi. What we should be getting for sure is the Countryman S with 135kW and 240Nm (260Nm with overboost). That little car is said to go from 0 – 100km/h in 7.6 seconds (7.9 for the automatic) and register a top speed of 215km/h (210km/h respectively).
We’ll get the Countryman in South Africa either towards the end of 2010 or at the start of 2011. Prices are obviously still top secret but we can speculate that Countryman versions will cost between R15 000 and R20 000 more than their Clubman counterparts.
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