• Mild-hybrid petrols for now
• Plug in hybrid on the way
• Front or four-wheel drive

Petrol engines

The new Countryman is available with a choice of three petrol engines. The cheapest option is a 1.5-litre three-cylinder unit producing 170hp and 280Nm of torque. It’s called the Countryman C, it’s front-wheel drive and a can dash from 0–62mph in 8.3 seconds.

Above that, there’s the four-wheel drive Countryman S ALL4. It’s powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that churns out 218hp and 360Nm of torque. The extra grunt (and traction) can shove the car from 0–62mph in 7.1 seconds.

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At the top of the range, there’s the Countryman John Cooper Works, which you can read about in our dedicated review. For the sake of context, it has a more powerful version of the S’s 2.0-litre four-banger with 300hp and 400Nm of torque. That’s enough for a rather sprightly 0–62mph time of 5.1 seconds.

Every engine is yoked to an automatic gearbox. You can choose between standard and sport specification on non-JCW cars, with the latter trim adding paddle shifters that allow you flick through the gears yourself. That’s the closest you’re getting to a manual option, though – there’s no stick-shift option in the car’s range.

If you’re environmentally conscious (or you’re simply looking to dodge the congestion charge), the Countryman is also available with a pair of pure-electric powertrains. If you’re interested in learning more about them, follow this link to our MINI Electric Countryman review.

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What’s it like to drive?

Brilliant. We sent our biggest MINI sceptic on the UK launch for the Countryman and, after spending a day in the car, he returned a changed man. This initial impression was backed up by other members of the team who experienced it during a two week loan. If you’re serious about driving but you need something practical to carry your family around in, the Countryman should be near the top of your list.

The new Countryman might be larger than the old car, but it’s surprising how much it shrinks around you on the road. This is partly because MINI fitted it with a super-quick steering system. You barely need to use more than a quarter turn of lock once you’re out of the city, which helps to mask the car’s bulk on a twisty road.

The steering is incredibly responsive off-centre, too. It reacts the second you tickle the wheel, so the Countryman feels far more eager and excitable than, say, a SEAT Ateca or Kia Sportage. Plus – and this is increasingly rare in cars these days – MINI hasn’t completely isolated the driver from the road.

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The Countryman transmits the texture of the road through its wheels, along its steering column and into your palms. We won’t regurgitate MINI’s marketing material and try to convince you that it’s anywhere as engaging as an original Mini (or indeed a first-generation MINI Hatch), but the experience is ahead of its competitors.

MINI teamed its stellar steering system with an equally driver-focused suspension setup. The suspension is firm but well damped so the Countryman doesn’t exactly glide over imperfections, but it doesn’t crash into them either. It shrugs over dents with the same sort of deliberate control as an Olympic powerlifter.

And because its suspension is stiff, it corners well. The Countryman’s body remains remarkably level when cornering – and there’s loads of grip, even on the front-wheel drive models. Don’t get us wrong, if you drive like a complete idiot the front end will wash away from the apex of the corner like it’s sitting on the horizon of a strong current. But it’ll hold its line long after the Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage have given up the ghost.

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Apart from the hot JCW, we’ve only tried the Countryman’s 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine thus far. Thankfully, it’s a real cracker. It has a surprising amount of pulling power for such as small unit. Mat the gas on your way out of a bend and, when the turbo wakes up, you’ll ride an entertaining wave of torque to the next corner. The wheel squirms around in your hands with a little bit of torque steer, but it just adds to the fun.

It sounds good, too. MINI hasn’t completely stifled the engine with sound deadening and silencers, so you can hear it yap and whistle on the other side of the firewall when you’re working it hard. MINI also managed to engineer a few charming rattles into the engine and gearbox that magically vanish when you’re not driving like a hoon.

MINI’s drive modes are worth a mention, too. The company tells us they adjust the car’s powertrain, steering and suspension calibrations (if you opt for a car fitted with adaptive dampers). But, having fiddled with the modes extensively, we really struggled to tell them apart. The only one that’s noticeably different is Go Kart mode.