Mini Countryman News

Only a German-owned British brand could storm Washington D.C. on the Fourth of July and be greeted with waves, grins and the occasional thumbs up. Minis just make people smile. More than 300 Mini models of all shapes, sizes and years began the first leg of the 11-day Mini Takes the States 2012 campaign on America's birthday, stopping in Philadelphia and ...

The Paceman will join the ever growing American Mini family next year, company officials confirmed Wednesday as they kicked off the first day of this year's Mini Takes the States cross-country rally. "You are the first to hear this, even before the press" Dr. Kay Segler, senior vice president of Mini brand management told the crowd of 1,000 Mini fans ...

When BMW acquired Mg Rover in 1994, the focus of the deal was the Rover and Land Rover brands. Eighteen years later, and ten years in the U.S., Mini, for now, is the only piece left from that deal and the only piece some key executives at BMW wanted in the first place. The idea was for the storied Munich-based automaker to acquire Rover and turn it into ...

When you've been test-driving nearly every new vehicle on the market for as long as I have, you get to the point where you mostly know what to expect. Not that I or most other veteran car reviewers make up our minds about new products before we drive them, but certainly we formulate theories to go about testing once a new car lands in our driveway. More ...

Car and Driver is reporting that Mini has confirmed the three-door version of the Countryman will debut at the September Paris Motor Show. Rechristened "Countryman Coupe," the production version of Mini's 2011 Detroit Auto Show Paceman Concept will go on sale early next year as a late-arrival 2013 model. C&D doubts that the real deal will have the ...

AOL Autos, sister site to Autoblog, is giving away a Mini Countryman to readers who "Like" the AOL Autos Facebook page. AOL Autos and Autoblog have been sharing a Mini Countryman as a long-term tester for about a year. And what with Mini celebrating its tenth anniversary in the U.S., AOL Autos Editor-in-Chief David Kiley thought it a good way to kick off ...

Steampunk is a fashion that always seems to live just around the corner; every time you think it's down to its last copper fitting, it peeks around the corner for another encore. Poland's Carlex Design, which will outfit anything from a Toyota Hilux to a Ferrari FF with sensuous leather and interior trimmings, is the latest to go the copper-toned way with ...

Our long-term 2011 Mini Countryman is nearing the end of its year-long stay in the Autoblog Garage, the past six months of which have been spent bouncing back and forth between the various Detroit-based team members (and Cleveland – we mustn't forget about Herr Neff). And while we've all had plenty of time behind the wheel of the biggest Mini, this ...

The Mini John Cooper Works line is set to get a little more efficient. Engineers have given the turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine a tune-up with new reinforced pistons, a sturdier cylinder head laded with lightweight cams, and sodium-filled exhaust valves. Though the forced-induction four-pot is good for 208 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of ...

April was a busy month for the long-term 2011 Mini Countryman, with over 2,500 miles added to the odometer and a heaping helping of people and things passing through its doors. When I picked up the Countryman, I was impressed by the fact that all four of its winter tires were neatly stowed behind the front seats. However, the biggest of Mini models didn't ...

Mini will launch its seventh model – a two-door version of the Countryman crossover – at the Paris Motor Show later this year, and our trusty spy photographers recently spotted this prototype out testing. Many sources have stated that the car will be dubbed Countryman Coupe when it hits the market, but we've also heard rumors that the vehicle ...

New York Auto Show, Chevrolet Camaro 1LE, 2013 Ford Explorer Sport Episode #276 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Chris, Zach and Dan cover the known knowns so far at the New York Auto Show, the Chevrolet Camaro 1LE, and the 2013 Ford Explorer Sport. Your questions and comments power the end of the 'cast, and for those of you who hung with ...

When Mini first put the 211-horsepower, JCW-equipped Countryman on video, we were told to "expect the unexpected" while watching the taller, all-wheel-drive MINI make donuts and roostertails in snow and sand with a man on the roof. Now the next round of "unexpected" fun has arrived, and as you can see above, it involves a human kite. Follow the jump to ...

It's pretty obvious that automakers' definition of the word 'coupe' these days is a far cry from the traditional meaning. (We do live in the world of the "four-door coupe," after all.) That said, Car and Driver reports that Mini will call the company's two-door Paceman Concept the Countryman Coupe once it hits production. While it's true that both the ...

The Mini Countryman equipped with the John Cooper Works package is the latest diminutive to be loaded into the brand's eccentric ad machine. As if a 211-horsepower, all-wheel-drive crossover on 18-inch alloys from a brand called "Mini" weren't novel enough, we're admonished to "Expect the unexpected" as the most powerful vehicle it makes is flicked ...

It was only a matter of time before Mini spiced up its Countryman crossover with the application of its go-fast John Cooper Works kit, and it's now made an official debut at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. Boasting 211 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque (up to 221 on overboost), the 2013 JCW Countryman is the most powerful production machine ever to ...

I regret to inform you that despite what the image above indicates, Autoblog's long-term Mini Countryman will again be passing hands without having been thoroughly tested in the type of inclement weather for which it's been prepared. While we thought there was no way it would escape a February in Cleveland without slogging through weeks of snowfall, our ...

With a model like the Countryman in its lineup, Mini may not be so mini anymore. At least not in an absolute sense. But since BMW has remade the brand in its own image, Minis have become mini BMWs. That's certainly the case with John Cooper Works – the brand's the performance label – which Mini's CEO, Dr. Kay Segler, intends to expand to ...

Literally two days after my last update about our long-term Mini Countryman, I found myself trudging through a snowstorm at 30 miles per hour on Interstate 94 along Michigan's west coast. I guess Mother Nature had heard my cries about not being able to test our Mini in the snow, and decided to reward me with super slippery roads and poor visibility for ...

It may not be a World Rally Championship event, but Mini is celebrating its first win at an international rally (at least its first such win of the modern era). The event in question was the Qatar International Rally, a fully FIA-sanctioned event that kicks off the 2012 Middle East Rally Championship (MERC). Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (with his brother Nasser ...