This Mini takes it to the max

Distinctive and unique, it gets away with finicky touches just for being a Mini.

- Charl Bosch

LEGEND: COUNTRYMAN STAYS TRUE TO BRAND'S ETHOS

The definition of what makes a Mini still mini didn't take too long to surface at the launch of the third-generation Mini Countryman last week.

While jokingly called the "maxi-Mini" since the original's debut 14 years ago, opting for the Maxi denominator maybe didn't receive approval for two reasons.

First, it famously featured on the rather forgettable British Leyland-era Austin Maxi and second, it doesn't really say much about a crossover intended for town and outdoor usage apart from its size.

So opting for a name once used on an estate version of the original Mini was the only option. And while taken to task for being anything but a Mini in the true sense, the Countryman has been a vital model for the Oxford marque as it has remained its sole SUV at a time where no marque can function without such a model.

In its newly conceptualised third iteration, the Countryman takes the term "mini" to the extreme by being significantly longer, wider and taller than the first two generations.

The Countryman has an over-all length of 4 433mm, height of 1 656mm, width of 1 843mm and wheelbase of 2 692mm.

Compared to its F60 predecessor, the U25 Countryman is 136m longer, 99mm taller and 21mm wider with its wheelbase increasing by 22mm.

Besides the benefit of 460 litres of boot space, rear passengers can enjoy a lot more space.

Four variants are on offer - the Countryman C and Countryman Cooper S currently and due by the end of this quarter, the Countryman John Cooper Works (JCW) and the first electric variant, the Countryman Cooper SE.