MINI Countryman goes on sale in U.K. this September

It is currently the largest MINI and the first to offer four-wheel drive to the UK market. Countryman is the fourth member of the MINI family following Hatch, Convertible and Clubman in various powertrain and trim levels. The MINI Countryman will be available in five models, three of which will offer ALL4, MINI’s four-wheel drive option.

At launch the Countryman range will include three petrol and two diesel models. Two models in the new Countryman range will offer four-wheel drive, for the very first time in MINI’s 51 year history. ALL4 all-wheel drive models are the Cooper D ALL4 and the Cooper S ALL4.

MINI Countryman One has 98 hp and 153 NM, and emitts 137 g of CO2 per km. It is rather slow, but comes with £16,000 price tag and offers high standard specification.

At such it has a good selling potential as people who buy it would not expect it to be able to race it, but still like the unique MINI styling and practicality of a compact crossover. Add a thousand pounds more and you could get the MINI Countryman One D, even slower, but more energy efficient model with 65,7 mpg.

The petrol engines are the new BMW-PSA developed 1.6 litre power plants and all meet EU5 emissions standards and feature Variable Valve Timing (VVT) similar to the BMW Valvetronic system that produces more torque low down and aids overall efficiency.

The Cooper version has 122 hp, while Cooper S has 184 hp helped by a twin-scroll turbocharger and direct fuel injection. Such combinaion gives much needed performance with modest fuel economy and low CO2 emissions.

the Countryman ALL4 is a front-wheel drive car in most normal circumstances, but when wheel slip on the front wheels is detected or if the car is being driven enthusiastically an electro-magnetic clutch, located on the rear axle, engages drive to the rear wheels to improve traction. To enable this imperceptible change to the driven wheels a propeller shaft from the front axle is driven constantly and is ready to direct drive forces from the front axle to the rear in lightening time. The amount of power fed to the rear wheels is infinitely variable between one per cent and 100, depending upon the driving conditions.