Mini John Cooper Works Countryman All4 first drive review: Cheerful, vibrant and delivers character

This is the new generation Mini Countryman, and let's get the obvious out of the way: It is not mini at all.

Sharing the same platform as the new generation BMW X2 (and consequently launched alongside, together with both their electric twins), the new Countryman is a model with lofty ambitions. 

I spend some time with the top-of-the-line John Cooper Works model in Portugal to try to figure out what kind of car this Mini is exactly.

Maxi, not mini

The new Countryman is a big car — compared to the outgoing model, the new one is 150mm longer, 21mm wider, and 88mm taller, with a 22mm longer wheelbase. Those are significant numbers. I drove past a few previous generation models in Portugal (and those already aren't very small), and they look wistfully compact compared to this new one.

The point of all this additional size is that Mini wants this to be a proper, uncompromised family car. And in this particular sense, it works. The interior delivers good amounts of space, the 505-litre boot is highly usable, and it feels every bit the compact SUV it wants to be. The whole idea is that it can serve as the only car in the family garage. 

The upsized dimensions of course mean that the new Countryman has a much larger visual footprint — one that all the Mini styling cues in the world cannot mask. Thankfully, it still retains much of the traditional Mini visual aesthetic. This JCW model obviously gets additional sporty styling cues, including red accents and a red roof.

Cabin delights

Importantly, it is the interior that delights. Here, Mini's penchant for vibrant and quirky styling shines through. It may be functionally a BMW underneath, but you don't for a moment think that when sitting in the car.

It starts with the round OLED central display. This is the classic Mini design wrought large in the 21st century. Within, it houses the latest MINI Operating System 9, which is quite delightful to use. It feels thoroughly modern and smartphone-like, yet still has some delightfully quirky touches.

Take for example Spike, Mini's Intelligent Personal Assistant (IPA). In every functional way, it works just like the IPA you find in any BMW. However, because this is a Mini, it gets its own quirky twist — there are occasional excited barks that accompany command executions. Cute.

The rest of the cabin has also been simplified. You no longer get an instrument cluster — instead, information is displayed on the centre display, as well as on the head-up display. I particularly like that the head-up display has an accompanying colour graphic that matches whichever Experience Mode you are in, as well as a map display when navigation is turned on.

Speaking of Experience Modes, there are eight of them. In each mode, the car is configured in a distinct and particular way to accentuate that particular 'feeling'. I particularly like the Timeless Mode, which uses some throwback graphics to echo the original 60s models.

Of course, no Mini is complete without some splashes of colour. This JCW model gets a black/red interior trim that combines leather and recycled polyester textile, which together make for a premium yet characterful space.

Performing well

How does the JCW Countryman drive? Exactly how you imagine a BMW-engineered 2.0-litre all-wheel drive crossover would: Lots of grip, plenty of pace.

Go-kart handling? Yeah, let's not even go there. It's great marketing spiel, but in reality there's nothing go-kart-like about a 1.7-tonne crossover (almost 200kg heavier than before). 

Which isn't to say that the Countryman doesn't handle well. It handles accurately and responsively… for what it is. And what this is, is a quick, dynamically capable and well-judged compact family SUV. It's not quite as on-edge as the X2 M35i I drove, but it still retains its sporty character.

Beyond that, the car settles down well enough for normal driving situations. The steering is also a little on the slow side, so you need to be slightly more generous with you inputs. 

Overall, I would say that even in this JCW form, the Countryman is dynamically accomplished, but not particularly memorable. 

Finally Mini

Since it was first launched in 2010, the Mini Countryman has had a slightly confused personality — a Mini that wants to be mini, but also somewhat maxi.

With this new third generation model, there's no longer any confusion: It's a proper-sized compact SUV. And, I actually think it now finally embraces the car it was always meant to be — an uncompromised family-friendly compact SUV, with enough Mini personality.

This begs the all-important question: Is this still a Mini?

There are no simple and easy answers here. With any Mini, it can be easy to get lost amidst the jargon and heritage appeal, and lose a little perspective. After all, this very same question can be levelled at any modern Mini, not just this new Countryman. As cars get bigger and more advanced, they inevitably move further and further away from cars of decades past.

Is it a true 'Mini'? I don't even know how to answer that anymore. You could argue that no Mini is a 'true Mini' anymore. But, as my Gen Z colleagues would probably say, "vibes". And sometimes, that's all that matters. 

It is just perhaps with this Countryman that the brand has been the least shy about embracing a new Mini disposition — one less about the backward-looking attempts to recapture the dynamic personality of the past, but more about the forward-looking attempt to fully embrace a more vibrant, lifestyle-focused attitude. Vibes. 

And when viewed in this particular lens, I think the new Countryman is poised to do well. It is cheerful, vibrant, and delivers character in a segment that can tend towards stale orthodoxy. Yes, while it surely is no longer mini, in all the important ways, it is very much still a Mini.

What we like

• Distinctive cabin design that pops with colour and a real sense of charm
• Round central display is both functional and fun-to-use
• Capable dynamic behaviour
• It's really quite practical

What we dislike

• Artificial soundtrack in sportier settings
• Steering is a tad slow

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This article was first published in sgCarMart.