Mini Countryman Cooper

Build quality is a term beloved of automotive journalists. The problem is it's a broad term, easily applied to everything from the thunk of a German door shutting to the flimsiness of a French front wing. There you go - I've gone and done it again. Fallen into the usual stereotyping of nationalities' automotive products.

Which brings me to my Mini Countryman which, despite the Mini customers' love of Union Jacks, is built in Austria. The German BMW genes show through strongly in the car, which feels decidedly German, or at the very least bordering on it.

For a car that starts at £16,000 the Countryman is a strikingly well designed and bolted together product. If you start poking around the cabin you will find weaker, cheaper bits here and there, but the overall impression and perception is high grade. The seats wouldn't look out of place in a £50k car.

Everything works, nothing squeaks, nothing rattles and nothing gives you cause to doubt that's the way it will remain. Outside it's much the same story. The slabs of wheelarch plastics beloved of Mini designers are always a weak point. My rear wheelarch has already popped slightly out of place and after a few years this material fades, needing liberal applications of Back-to-black to retard the ageing process.

I know this because I've already owned my own Mini Cooper S for a few years. More noticeable on our Countryman are the larger panel gaps around the bonnet and headlights, but these seem to be a necessity of the ambitious design rather than any build fault.

Going back to my initial stereotypes, I have to admit to being rather impressed with the interior materials and finish on similarly sized Peugeots and Renaults recently. But oh those flimsy plastic front wings! The French could still learn a thing or two from the Germans, it seems

<source> carmagazine.co.uk

An unexciting exterior:Countryman

Has a Mini ever left the factory with no options or upgrades? Parked down my street is a rare example of a bog standard Mini One: solid red paint with black plastic wing mirrors and steel wheels. The owner is a wise man – he got a great car for £12k – but it goes against the whole brand ethos. Picking your bells and whistles is a part of the Mini experience.

Alas I missed out on this part of the process: a bod at BMW head office specified my Countryman’s options so the car arrived ASAP. Low key, if not inexpensive, seems to be the order of the day when it comes to the spec. You can have a 2wd Countryman, but ours uses the ALL4 intelligent four-wheel drive system. This ups the cost by a little over £1000 and downs the official mpg figure by a little over 10%.

Our car, with its 110hp diesel engine, sits in the middle of the oil burning Countryman range, with an underpowered 89bhp base model below it, and the hot new 141bhp Cooper SD topping the range while still returning the same economy figures as the slower cars.

As for the rest, I generally slip by unnoticed in this curious looking vehicle due to the Royal Grey metallic paint (£385 – and not the most exciting colour on offer) and the matching roof (black or white are no-cost options our car doesn’t have). Ditto for the wheels – we have boggo silver. We do have white indicator lenses for £70, but have you noticed them?

Other exterior options fitted such as xenon headlights (£590) and folding, dimming wing mirrors (£215) add function if not flair. It’s all just a bit too grown up for a Mini. Is it possible to retro fit a Union Jack roof and wing mirrors, big black wheels and some body stripes?

Next, the leather-lavished interior...
<source>  carmagazine.co.uk

Breaking the Countryman duck

Hadn't driven the Countryman before, so arranged a swap with keeper Mark Fagelson. It's a curious beast: all standing on tiptoes, familiar Mini motifs stretched into alien shapes, not all of them pleasant. I tried to cast aside much of the hate campaign, I really did. But it was still difficult to approach the Countryman with total neutrality.

Part of the problem lies in the curious package on offer. This car is 4097mm long – on a par with your typical supermini – so its boot is just 350 litres. Which makes life difficult for photographer Fagelson with his myriad boxes, rigs, bags and lengths of scaffolding. They call it the first four-seater Mini, and they're right: space is plentiful in the back seats, but the flipside is that the boot is slightly pathetic. Wouldn't you just buy a Golf estate or Panda 4x4, depending on your priorities of passengering and mud-slinging?

CAR’s long-term test Mini Countryman is an All4 equipped diesel Cooper and seems over-specced with 4wd. The basic FWD Mini hatches only struggle for traction in JCW form, so why should this chunky derv model need all-corner drive? Marketing waffle, I suspect (unless you live in hilly/snowy climes, accepted).

Still, you could level much of the above at the Mini 4x4's competitors. I drove CAR's Skoda Yeti more than most and came to love it. How so? The 300-litre boot felt more accommodating despite the figures and the Skoda's cabin was more premium too – I'm increasingly finding the Countryman's cockpit places cool over can-do. It's an ergonomic mess: you never look at the massive central speedo, whose ‘epicyclic’ needle helpfully obscures your speed and minor buttons are scattered everywhere.

The Countryman's not a complete disaster zone. Once you set off, you quickly realise they've kept the Mini zest intact. The steering is pointy and keen, making the Countryman an athletic partner, and while the ride is fidgety on urban bumps, it settles down nicely at higher speeds when you've snuck that trad Mini gearbox up to sixth. I suspect in petrol guise, or wanton Cooper S spec, the Countryman would drive phenomenally, whereas the diesel feels sporty but never quite delivers the thrills suggested by the chassis.

It's a curious beast, our Countryman. Wannabe hot hatch, yet with a 1.6 diesel that struggles to feel pacey with all that extra heft. The more practical Mini whose boot will struggle to match the load capacity of many small estates. And a poser's interior where the mask is just beginning to slip. I love most of the new Mini generation , but reckon the Countryman might not have quite hit the spot.

<source> carmagazine.co.uk

to our new Mini Countryman in 2011 year

hen my new long-term test car turned up on the Fagelson household’s doorstep I had yet to see a Mini Countryman at close quarters. Yes, I’d viewed the early press shots with curiosity, and even briefly caught sight of one on the road, but I really didn’t know what to expect. In photographs it's difficult to judge the scale of the thing: would it be big and high like a Freelander, or small and dinky like a Panda 4x4?

The reality was somewhere in between. Certainly it is more car-like than I had imagined, but park it next to a regular Mini and it appears far more brutish and pumped-up than its sibling. The styling is odd, with so many design cues lifted the Mk2 hatch that it’s difficult to judge the design on its own terms. I fear it may always just look like a bigger, uglier Mini, but then we all thought the same of BMW’s Mk2 Mini…

To make way for the Countryman we’ve sold our much-loved Golf GTI. The Mini is much the same size as the dearly departed VW, and the Countryman range is priced similarly to the Golf’s too. Expensive price tags will nothing new to current Mini owners, but this is the first grown-up Mini, a Golf rival for people in need of four doors and a boot. With the promise of Golf practicality, BMW build quality, Mini coolness, what’s not to like?

I’ll be putting all of that to the test. Besides the GTI, in the past I’ve also owned a BMW Mini in Mk1 Cooper S guise, so know all about the style and chic that the brand can offer. And beyond that, with a family and my life as a photographer, the Countryman’s load-lugging ability will be tested daily.

I don’t want to judge it too soon, but one thing’s for sure: it’s a strange beast, neither butch SUV nor clever MPV but undeniably different and unique. The Mini qualities of style and character are present and correct, but will the substance of the package leave me wanting my Golf back?

We’ll find out over the next six months or so, and in the next report I’ll be digesting the spec of my Countryman. Made the plunge and already bought one? Click ‘Add your comment’ below and let me know what engine, colour and options you’ve gone for.

<source> carmagezine.co.uk

prices and revised 9-5 range :Saab 9-5 Sportwagon (2011)

Saab has seemingly rushed through a series of upgrades to the 9-5 range just 11 months after going on sale. The UK launch was marred by indifferent reviews in many quarters and the company hopes the latest revisions will give the new 9-5 more of an edge.

Saab also today announced UK pricing for its new 9-5 Sportwagon estate, and a range of revisions for the 9-5 saloons, including revised suspension tuning and more efficient engines.

Saab 9-5 Sportwagon: prices and specifications

The 9-5 Sportwagon was unveiled at the 2011 Geneva motor show, and CAR's Chris Chilton has driven pre-production 9-5 Sportwagons on UK roads. Prices for the 9-5 Sportwagon start at £28,195 for a 9-5 Vector SE, with the 158bhp 2.0TiD turbodiesel engine and six-speed manual transmission.

The upscale Aero spec starts at £30,995 with the 187bhp 2.0TTiD twin turbodiesel/six-speed manual combination. The upper extreme of the 9-5 Sportwagon range is the four-wheel drive, 2.8-litre V6 automatic 9-5 Aero XWD, at £39,195. As confirmed in our pre-production drive story, the 9-5 Sportwagon is priced £1200 above the equivalent saloon.

Revised suspension settings on all Saab 9-5s

Saab engineers have been at work in the UK, retuning the 9-5's standard and optional adaptive damping suspension systems to work more effectively on UK roads. A further revision of front spring rates, damper settings and suspension bushes aims to improve ride quality and steering feel on Vector SE spec cars. Aero specification now brings GM's HiPer Strut front suspension (as used in the Insignia VXR and upcoming Astra GTC to quell torque steer) along with revised power steering and DriveSense adaptive dampers.

Engine tweaks on the Saab 9-5 for greater efficiency

Saab has also fine-tuned its GM-derived four- and six-cylinder engines to deliver an average 4.7% improvement in fuel economy and emissions. The base 2.0TiD diesel now offers 125g/km CO2 emissions in the saloon, 128g/km in the Sportwagon, down from 139g/km in the current 9-5 saloon.

Saab 9-5 interior revisions and upgrades

Inside, the Saab 9-5 saloon and Sportwagon get revised facia trim and a standard eight-inch LCD multifunction display, with sat-nav and DAB digital radio. Options include a reversing camera, radar cruise control and head-up display.

The new Saab 9-5 range will be available from autumn 2011, with orders open from today at Saab dealers
<source> carmagezine.co.uk

first official pictures-Toyota Yaris (2011)

Toyota has issued these first pictures of its new Yaris supermini. It's the third-generation Toyota Yaris and seems to mix some of the Vauxhall Corsa creases with the proportions of a Renault Clio.

It's a pert, very Euro piece of design, neatly incorporating the latest Toyota motifs - and you can judge for yourself when it goes on sale here in summer 2011.

They're not saying much about the new Yaris yet, but Toyota promises it is surprisingly roomy inside despite its compact footprint.

New Toyota Yaris: a hybrid too

Toyota will play catch-up with arch rival Honda when the new Yaris Hybrid arrives in 2012 to compete with the Jazz Hybrid. At launch, UK buyers will pick from the following three engines:

• 1.0-litre VVT-i petrol

• 1.3-litre dual VVT-i petrol

• 1.4-litre D-4D diesel

Yaris: a new multimedia system

Toyota will launch its take on the multimedia touchscreens you'll normally find in Jaguars, Land Rovers and Volkswagen group products. Toyota says 95% of Yaris minis will come equipped with the 6.5in Touch & Go system to govern entertainment and nav systems.

Judging by this cabin photo inside the new 2011 Yaris, the touchscreen protects the dashboard from button overload.

Mission Yaris, by the boss

Toyota's European chief Didier Leroy said: 'New Yaris represents Toyota’s strongest offer yet in the important supermini segment. With its new levels of ingenuity, efficiency and quality, we are confident it can build upon Yaris’s previous success and help Toyota rejuvenate its presence in Europe and move towards one million annual sales in the region in the medium term.'

The new 2011 Toyota Yaris was designed at ED2 in Nice, France, and will be built at Toyota's Valenciennes, further north in France near the Belgian border

<source> carmagazine.co.uk