A few days ago three images were leaked of the forthcoming MINI crossover vehicle, now however with the cat well and truly out the bag BMW has decided to release official images as well as details on the car itself.

MINI Countryman

The first piece of information which needed clearing up for BMW was the name, as the car was scheduled to be unveiled at Geneva there was some confusion on what exactly the name was going to be, both Crossman and Countryman were reported. BMW has cleared up the confusion though and as you could see from the headline the fourth model in the MINI family is the Countryman. The root of the confusion was that the name of the car may vary from region to region, but South Africa is definitely going with Countryman.

The Countryman will naturally come with a choice of powertrain options, although a JCW version hasn’t been announced so the engine options may not yet be a complete list. The entry level  MINI One D Countryman with 66 kW/90 hp, which is interesting because until now the MINI One has been considered underpowered for the South African market. The MINI Cooper S Countryman sports a 135 kW/184 hp 1.6L four cylinder petrol motor. In all the Countryman will land in RSA with a choice of three petrol and two diesel engines.

Whilst the Countryman is a MINI at its hearth it does have BMW engineering and thus comes kitted with some very advance if sometimes silly technology. This time round said technology includes Brake Energy Regeneration, Auto Start Stop, a gearshift point indicator, and on-demand management of the engine’s ancillary units. All this is there to save fuel and keep the polar bears on ice but really is little more than marketing. Brake Energy Regeneration for instance doesn’t actually do anything for the environment but it is ‘green’ on the face of it so it must go in.

Unquestionably the most significant element of the Countryman is the ‘All4’, MINI’s first all- wheel drive system. The all-wheel drive system is an option on the MINI Cooper S Countryman and MINI Cooper D Countryman and is a dynamic system meaning power delivery is dependent upon conditions. Under normal conditions for example 50% of the engines power will be sent to the rear wheels but under certain extreme conditions that percentage can be cranked up to a thrill providing 100%.

Now that we have more than three images at more angles we ca make a better decision about the Countryman’s styling. From some angles I think it looks really good but I remain unconvinced from all angles. Make your own mind up though.

Press images provided by www.quickpic.co.za

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