Meet the new Mini Countryman

This time round Mini’s SUV contender is heading for the hills with room for five and the dog. It’s 200mm (8 inches) longer than before (a Defender 90 is 250mm shorter) and wider too at 2019 mm.

Size matters for Mini but for this new maxi-version of the Countryman you get more of everything else too, including more kit (standard sat nav and Bluetooth) and much more of what Mini says is a premium car ambience inside. Sorry, there’s still no half-timbered rear end like Countrymans of old, but everywhere else the promise is of a Mini on steroids.

As well as the familiar front or four-wheel drive, auto or manual and petrol or diesel options, there’s a new face in the range – Mini’s first plug-in hybrid. The S E Countryman ALL4  is said to draw on BMW’s iPerformance tech in order to deliver the performance/economy trick that petrol/electric cars can do so well. Like, in the new Mini’s case, 0-62mph in 6.9 seconds and on official figures 134.5mpg and 49g/km of CO₂, with an electric-only range of up to 25 miles.

A neat touch is a “Save Battery” mode so you can conserve the electrical power for emissions-free driving later on. The control software also taps into the sat nav to identify parts of the route than can be run on electric power alone. That’s smart.

Growing up for the Countryman has meant a smaller and more upmarket range when deliveries begin next February (orders are now being taken). There’s no One entry model any more and the larger new version kicks off in 136hp three-cylinder petrol front-drive form at £22,465 – almost £4,000 more than an equivalent outgoing version, but with a lot more standard kit. Cooper S power takes the number of horses to 192 petrol, or 190 in oil-burner form, and with the improved new all-wheel-drive system aboard prices nudge £30k. The hybrid price is yet to be confirmed.

You have to add your options to those prices of course and as ever Mini  tempts like few others. New boxes to tick include Mini’s first touchscreen, hands-free electronic tailgate opening and closing, and the “Mini Picnic Bench”, a fold-out cushion on the boot sill. Event seating? Well, almost…