2nd Gen R60 Countryman Fifth Gear Video Review of Countryman

Good review by Vicki. Now I'd have loved to seen Jason Plato hammer that around the track. Now that would have been a real hoot! My guess is it would have been off track in short order. I'm amazed that it could not pull that hill.

 

I wonder what tires those were, that was pretty sloppy goo. Some more aggressive tires, and a bit more speed:devil: it would likely make it:idea:

Mark

 

I figured that too. But the car is not aimed at the hill climbing crowd, it's target market is centered around the four doors, not the All4, so not such a negative display of what the car can do. I would not be driving my 03 on that road at all.

Mark

 

And there is no space for a spare:confused5:ut:. Why lift the car in the air, and not sling a spare under it:crazy:

Mark

 

I agree, she did not really hit the hill with much speed and from a standing start it would be hard for any car. The base Countryman is meant for the AWD to keep you from getting stuck, not off road racing. Now I'll bet the WRC Countryman would have had no problem at all.

Jim

 

I bet one of us could have gotten that up the incline

 

Me too, momentum is my friend. It would have had a very Duke's of Hazard finish though... :ihih:

 

If we ever got one it would be for around the city for the most part. Very curious to see how it behaves in snow. Our 4Runner, when in 4x4 mode is actually quite good.

 

That was a terrible attempt at that hill. I could have made it easy.....

 

Sounded to me like it had either the non-turbo motor or the small diesel in it - if it had the Turbo like our All4's will, it'd made it up that hill easily....

Bottom line tho, it has it's good points, and fills a gap in the market that they couldn't touch before. Look how many people here either already have one on order or are waiting for one with the bench seat option, and we're such a small cross section of "the faithful".

Having 4 doors opens up the MINI experience to so many more people.....

 

The car in the video is an S, which has the turbo engine.

I would assume that they use that hill as a test for comparisons, and they drove it like they do with other cars. The point is not so much whether it can make it up the hill after a run-up, but how it compares against others. It is a much more meaningful test to try to run each car up slowly. I'd be interested to know which cars do and don't succeed on that climb.

 

No all4 for me!

 

Why not?

 

also curious about snow and ice as this seems to be a big part of what they are trying to sell w/ mini countryman now. I assume there are no videos of this? I will look and post link if I find. (the only time I have ever cursed my beloved clubman was when i spun out and onto someone's front yard on some ice and got stuck ......)

 

I doesn't seem worth it. They said it lacked the umph and sucked up power. Idk. I'm goin test drivin next month when the dealer gets em. I'll see which one prevails.