Mini JCW Countryman: Do we need a Mini SUV? Yes, but …
By J.A. Ackley
Everyone from Toyota to Lamborghini has at least one SUV in its lineup, so do we really need another one with the Mini JCW Countryman All4? The answer is yes, and here’s why.
Let’s first compare the new JCW Countryman SUV to the old JCW wagon. It’s 3.9 inches taller, 0.9 inches wider, 5.3 inches longer, but somehow just 91 pounds heavier than the outgoing wagon model. It’s got 11 more horses at 312 but also 36 lb.-ft. less torque at 295.
Now that you’ve got those numbers, throw them out the window. It doesn’t matter much since you’re probably not buying an SUV for those specs. What matters most to you is the driving experience, right?
To learn more about what it’s like behind the wheel, read our review of the 2025 Mini Cooper JCW 2 Door. Literally. Just copy and paste that for the Countryman, with only a few exceptions–they’re that similar.
The Countryman does push the scales more than the 2 Door–to the tune of a whopping 639 pounds. Yes, it loses some of the nimble, go-kart feeling that Mini prides itself on, and the Countryman does feel more trucklike, even more so than its predecessor wagon. Yet inside, the Countryman offers a nearly identical experience to the JCW 2 Door–and that’s how Mini wants it.
Why? So that as a Mini enthusiast’s life moves on and they have those 2.5 kids, Mini has an option that makes sense for that phase of their life instead of having to refer them to another brand.
Will someone with a Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V or even a Mazda CX-5 switch to a Countryman? Not as likely. People who buy those cars want something different from what a Mini JCW Countryman offers, chiefly something more mainstream. But for those who love the Mini brand and, more importantly, the Mini culture and community, they now have an SUV that can take the whole family to gatherings. That includes that 6-foot-4 uncle.
Yes, he may be weird, but he’s family, too, and he’ll fit comfortably in the back, along with everyone else, and so will his suitcases, too, when you shuffle him off back to the airport.
