2nd Gen R60 Countryman MSN Cars.UK - We rally a Mini Countryman (just a little bit)

Inspired by talk of Mini hitting WRC we despatch Joe the workie to the lanes of Hertfordshire...



Joe Breeze writes: It is a well-known fact that despite the chunky (and slightly questionable) styling of the new Mini Countryman, it was engineered to be more at home dropping small people to the gates of their educational establishment than conquering the inclines of the English countryside. So will the Countryman justify the ‘ALL4’ badge it proudly sports on the side, or is it just an excuse for around £22k to make its way directly from the account of Mr & Mrs Moremoneythansense into a bank in Bavaria?

Well before I tell you, let me introduce myself. I’m Joe, a student on work experience here at MSN Cars. More importantly, I have zero experience in off-roading. So despite MSN Cars gaffer Tom’s words of advice still ringing in my ears (which was something along the lines of “crash anything while you’re here and you’re finished before you’ve even startedâ€), I jumped at the chance to take Mini’s latest offering and fling it around the bumpy backroads of Harpenden. I know, they might not be as demanding some Scottish mountain or other, but then again the Countryman is obviously no LR Defender…




So, after finally finding out where the ‘key’ goes – BMW insist on a circular fob being accepted into a slot and the start/stop button being pressed rather than the old-school method of key-in-barrel – the Countryman splutters into life. Despite being the ‘S’ version, it doesn’t have the same raspy note of its Cooper S hatchback sibling, which is a little disappointing. Anyway, an appropriate (ie not too bumpy) dirt track is found and off we go.



The first thing I discover is that throwing a car you don’t know around a single-track dirt road is certainly a good way to get your circulation going after a morning in the office. With Dan's instructions to ‘kick up some dirt’ I chucked the Countryman into the first corner with my right foot near-enough planted – something I momentarily regretted when the back end stepped out.

Despite my limited car control abilities, I somehow managed to catch it in time (see Mum, I told you all those years playing Gran Turismo would pay off!) allowing me to wear a cheeky grin rather than having to call BMW to tell them to collect their shiny new car from around a tree. After another few hairy moments, I thankfully got the Countryman back to base in one (albeit very dirty) piece.



Ok, so the weight of the big Mini is very evident under braking and its rallying abilities are pushed to the limit by a dirt track in Hertfordshire. But while it might not be built to scale a mountain, you can certainly have some fun if the Marmite looks float your boat and you’ve got £22k burning a hole. If you don’t believe me, look for some dusty roads on your way home from dropping little Johnny Moremoneythansense to school and prove me wrong.