Five things you need to know about the 2017 Mini Cooper Countryman
Cars
Here are the five things you need to know about the 2017 Mini Cooper Countryman.
Mini proudly proclaims the new Countryman is the biggest Mini ever.
So embrace the bigness.
It's just over 14 feet long or three giant steps for mankind.
Over 47 cubic feet for cargo with the rear seats down.
And those rear seats aren't bad to sit in either.
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As with all mini models, the Cooper means a 1.5 liter 3-cylinder engine.
Here we have a Cooper S which gets a turbocharged 2 liter 4-cylinder engine, good for 189 horsepower.
The Countryman's navigation system uses a touchscreen now.
So I can pinch, zoom and drag the map to my heart's content.
No Apple CarPlay or Android Auto yet.
Optional on the Countrymen is Mini's All4 all wheel drive.
The system throws up to 40% of torque to the real wheels at low speeds.
But mostly grabs the front wheels.
Mini says the Countryman has go-cart handling.
That phrase works from about ten years ago.
But that's not the case here.
The Countryman feels reasonably tight and engaging.
But compact SUVs like the Audi Q3 and Mazda TX3 are just as good, if not better.
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