"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI'm Keith Barry do you want sunscreen I have some you'll smell like coconut and this is the 2025 mini Countryman for 2025 mini made the Countryman bigger than its predecessor in almost every Dimension it's the biggest car that mini has ever made and also it's been totally redesigned it's based on the BMW X1 and you can't spell minimalism without mini this is a Sleek design we love the interior we love the space but we've had some issues with the transmission and some of the software that makes it a bit glitchy and to add to that mini also we think at least took away a little of the sense of what made mini a mini driving and handling wise we bought a 2025 mini Countryman S all4 as with all cars that we purchased for Consumer Reports we bought it anonymously at a local dealership somewhere in Connecticut so we end up with the exact same car you're going to buy if you were going to go out and buy a mini and we also bought it in the most popular trim level so we can test it the same way that you would get it when you have one at home the Countryman S comes with a 241 horsepower 2 L turbocharged 4cylinder engine it is a seven-speed dual clutch transmission which we'll be talking about later and like every mini Countryman it comes with standard all-wheel drive the starting price is $38,900 but we added some options so we could test them out for $3,200 the iconic trim adds privacy glass power front seats an interior camera more on that later too and a surround sound system the Comfort package Max cost 900 bucks and it comes with comfort access keyless entry an auto dimming rear viiew mirror parking assistant adaptive cruise control Lane centering assistance wireless charging and navigation add those up add on the $995 destination fee which is actually pretty low and our total cost $43,900 there are other versions of the countrymen too if you want a little extra o there's the 312 horsepower John Cooper Works performance Edition and there's an all El electric version the countryman's our first taste of Mini's new design language this is the kind of new face you've got here it's moving away from that sort of fussy steampunk angile uh look and it's moving towards a bit of a sleeker exterior design a car basically could have been made anywhere aside from the fact that you can change the tail lights to look like uh Union Jacks that's about the only British thing about this brand that's left you know mini is owned by BMW this car is built 100% in leig Germany and you know it has lost a little bit of that character but it also gives a little more mainstream appeal it's about 3 more in over its predecessor procor in roof height that does change the way it handles but it also makes for a lot roomier feeling interior and and really good headro overall it's about the same size as a Subaru cross Trek but Minn is trying to go a little more upscale with this and it's competing against the likes of the Audi Q3 the Acura RDX and even the BMW X1 with which it shares a platform but Mini's also made things a little different a little quirky and when we get inside we'll get a of exactly how quirky they got as you can see the the head room makes it really easy to get in and out of the car and it is very roomy in here but I think what what's really cool about the countrymen is that they've done a great job with the fit and finish they made it feel really special this is a really unique vehicle so there's this little strap here holding uh the steering wheel there's different textures on the dashboard yes it's plastic up there but they gave you something kind of interesting to look at you have this this fabric here this texture you have these really easy to aim precision air vents here the upholstery has this cool repeating M pattern which looks really unique in the center console they've made two tiers there's wireless charging up here there's stoage around here there's this little box to you know put things in uh interestingly it doesn't move and the center console the armrest it slides back and forth but it doesn't open up so you're a little short on on places to hide things but it does feel special many gave this this sense of of place and not a lot of cars have that so moving on to the controls uh mini got away from the the knurled metal switches that were really sort of a Nostalgia play and they moved to these uh these sleeker ones but they're still the same shape and form as what used to be in it all of this is controlled or displayed on this round 9.4 in touchscreen there's nothing like in any other car but it is a nod to the original Mini from the 1960s there's also a heads up display over here so you don't have to take your eyes off the road the round display in general it it works pretty well but there's some serious glitches that we've come across and some control issues uh that that give us some pause so for instance the climate control menu so you'd think that this would be a slider here on the of the screen we don't love that it's on the side of the screen instead of in its own display but you know it's 2024 and that's what's happening uh instead you can't slide it up and down you have to actually press it and then you can slide it up and down so it requires an extra press extra time of your eyes off the road extra time of your hands off the wheel more distraction we don't love that there's also this experiences menu and as you can see it's actually pretty cool it togg through a bunch of different designs for the car's interior the display it plays a little music it shows uh different configurations for the speedometer and the controls the problem is is that some of them will actually change the way the car drives like a sport mode like an eco mode uh but other ones just change what the car looks like and there's nothing on the screen without delving into the owner's manual online to find out exactly how these change it so if you like this font you might be getting different shift points you might be getting a different throttle response and conversely if if you want your car to handle differently this experiences menu might not do anything for you depending upon which experience you choose we also had some really really weird experiences with a software when you turn the car on it will tell you that it doesn't recognize its tires uh the speed limit sign it's supposed to recognize what the speed limit is when you're driving half the time it just tells you limit I don't know what that means it means there's a speed limit that's great uh but can you tell me what it is oh now it shows 30 m an hour when we're not when we're nowhere and then also we had some issues with connecting wireless Apple carplay and Android auto uh Android auto seemed to have the the most issues but Apple carplay would get you know songs would skip things just wouldn't show up on the screen properly it was very odd and it felt like it wasn't finished so we are out driving on the consumer reports test track the driving position in the front of the vehicle is very comfortable for me at least we have a a variety of folks who get in and out of the car but for me I have plenty of Headroom I can see really really well the pillars are kind of big but there's a ton of visibility very good greenhouse lots of windows it's easy to see there's this sort of flimsy little popup uh see-through display it's a little harder to use than uh a heads up that's projected directly on the windshield and I wish that they you know BMW had done that like they do on BMWs as opposed to having this special for the mini as far as the Driving Experience is concerned when you're not in go-kart mode at least it does feel like mini has has taken away a little bit of that mini feel the engine sounds amazing and at higher speeds yeah it's it's it's very responsive the transmission's very responsive but we find that that the steering it's fine in the corners but it just sort of has a little bit of a dull feeling on Center and the other thing which we don't love is the Dual clutch transmission it's a seven-speed dual clutch transmission it's like you have a manual transmission with two little robot left feet operating the clutch for you and those robot left feet aren't necessarily as smooth as you would hope they are so at higher speeds it shifts very quickly it's very good at finding in gear but at low speeds and in pulling away from say a stop light or if you're in stop and go traffic there's a lurching and more than one of us here has had a passenger say geez can you can you lay off the throttle uh when you're pulling away from a stoplight and you're saying it's not me it's the car it it has this kind of a hiccupy feeling and that that really detracts from from the experience with the vehicle something really about is that mini finally put blind spot warning on the countrymen it was wild it wasn't available on on the predecessor but it's there now and that's good it's a safety feature that prevents crashes we're glad it's there so that's the 2025 mini countrymen it's a little more practical a little less nostalgic and a little rough around the edges for more about compact luxury SUVs than any other type of car head over to CR .orgI'm Keith Barry do you want sunscreen I have some you'll smell like coconut and this is the 2025 mini Countryman for 2025 mini made the Countryman bigger than its predecessor in almost every Dimension it's the biggest car that mini has ever made and also it's been totally redesigned it's based on the BMW X1 and you can't spell minimalism without mini this is a Sleek design we love the interior we love the space but we've had some issues with the transmission and some of the software that makes it a bit glitchy and to add to that mini also we think at least took away a little of the sense of what made mini a mini driving and handling wise we bought a 2025 mini Countryman S all4 as with all cars that we purchased for Consumer Reports we bought it anonymously at a local dealership somewhere in Connecticut so we end up with the exact same car you're going to buy if you were going to go out and buy a mini and we also bought it in the most popular trim level so we can test it the same way that you would get it when you have one at home the Countryman S comes with a 241 horsepower 2 L turbocharged 4cylinder engine it is a seven-speed dual clutch transmission which we'll be talking about later and like every mini Countryman it comes with standard all-wheel drive the starting price is $38,900 but we added some options so we could test them out for $3,200 the iconic trim adds privacy glass power front seats an interior camera more on that later too and a surround sound system the Comfort package Max cost 900 bucks and it comes with comfort access keyless entry an auto dimming rear viiew mirror parking assistant adaptive cruise control Lane centering assistance wireless charging and navigation add those up add on the $995 destination fee which is actually pretty low and our total cost $43,900 there are other versions of the countrymen too if you want a little extra o there's the 312 horsepower John Cooper Works performance Edition and there's an all El electric version the countryman's our first taste of Mini's new design language this is the kind of new face you've got here it's moving away from that sort of fussy steampunk angile uh look and it's moving towards a bit of a sleeker exterior design a car basically could have been made anywhere aside from the fact that you can change the tail lights to look like uh Union Jacks that's about the only British thing about this brand that's left you know mini is owned by BMW this car is built 100% in leig Germany and you know it has lost a little bit of that character but it also gives a little more mainstream appeal it's about 3 more in over its predecessor procor in roof height that does change the way it handles but it also makes for a lot roomier feeling interior and and really good headro overall it's about the same size as a Subaru cross Trek but Minn is trying to go a little more upscale with this and it's competing against the likes of the Audi Q3 the Acura RDX and even the BMW X1 with which it shares a platform but Mini's also made things a little different a little quirky and when we get inside we'll get a of exactly how quirky they got as you can see the the head room makes it really easy to get in and out of the car and it is very roomy in here but I think what what's really cool about the countrymen is that they've done a great job with the fit and finish they made it feel really special this is a really unique vehicle so there's this little strap here holding uh the steering wheel there's different textures on the dashboard yes it's plastic up there but they gave you something kind of interesting to look at you have this this fabric here this texture you have these really easy to aim precision air vents here the upholstery has this cool repeating M pattern which looks really unique in the center console they've made two tiers there's wireless charging up here there's stoage around here there's this little box to you know put things in uh interestingly it doesn't move and the center console the armrest it slides back and forth but it doesn't open up so you're a little short on on places to hide things but it does feel special many gave this this sense of of place and not a lot of cars have that so moving on to the controls uh mini got away from the the knurled metal switches that were really sort of a Nostalgia play and they moved to these uh these sleeker ones but they're still the same shape and form as what used to be in it all of this is controlled or displayed on this round 9.4 in touchscreen there's nothing like in any other car but it is a nod to the original Mini from the 1960s there's also a heads up display over here so you don't have to take your eyes off the road the round display in general it it works pretty well but there's some serious glitches that we've come across and some control issues uh that that give us some pause so for instance the climate control menu so you'd think that this would be a slider here on the of the screen we don't love that it's on the side of the screen instead of in its own display but you know it's 2024 and that's what's happening uh instead you can't slide it up and down you have to actually press it and then you can slide it up and down so it requires an extra press extra time of your eyes off the road extra time of your hands off the wheel more distraction we don't love that there's also this experiences menu and as you can see it's actually pretty cool it togg through a bunch of different designs for the car's interior the display it plays a little music it shows uh different configurations for the speedometer and the controls the problem is is that some of them will actually change the way the car drives like a sport mode like an eco mode uh but other ones just change what the car looks like and there's nothing on the screen without delving into the owner's manual online to find out exactly how these change it so if you like this font you might be getting different shift points you might be getting a different throttle response and conversely if if you want your car to handle differently this experiences menu might not do anything for you depending upon which experience you choose we also had some really really weird experiences with a software when you turn the car on it will tell you that it doesn't recognize its tires uh the speed limit sign it's supposed to recognize what the speed limit is when you're driving half the time it just tells you limit I don't know what that means it means there's a speed limit that's great uh but can you tell me what it is oh now it shows 30 m an hour when we're not when we're nowhere and then also we had some issues with connecting wireless Apple carplay and Android auto uh Android auto seemed to have the the most issues but Apple carplay would get you know songs would skip things just wouldn't show up on the screen properly it was very odd and it felt like it wasn't finished so we are out driving on the consumer reports test track the driving position in the front of the vehicle is very comfortable for me at least we have a a variety of folks who get in and out of the car but for me I have plenty of Headroom I can see really really well the pillars are kind of big but there's a ton of visibility very good greenhouse lots of windows it's easy to see there's this sort of flimsy little popup uh see-through display it's a little harder to use than uh a heads up that's projected directly on the windshield and I wish that they you know BMW had done that like they do on BMWs as opposed to having this special for the mini as far as the Driving Experience is concerned when you're not in go-kart mode at least it does feel like mini has has taken away a little bit of that mini feel the engine sounds amazing and at higher speeds yeah it's it's it's very responsive the transmission's very responsive but we find that that the steering it's fine in the corners but it just sort of has a little bit of a dull feeling on Center and the other thing which we don't love is the Dual clutch transmission it's a seven-speed dual clutch transmission it's like you have a manual transmission with two little robot left feet operating the clutch for you and those robot left feet aren't necessarily as smooth as you would hope they are so at higher speeds it shifts very quickly it's very good at finding in gear but at low speeds and in pulling away from say a stop light or if you're in stop and go traffic there's a lurching and more than one of us here has had a passenger say geez can you can you lay off the throttle uh when you're pulling away from a stoplight and you're saying it's not me it's the car it it has this kind of a hiccupy feeling and that that really detracts from from the experience with the vehicle something really about is that mini finally put blind spot warning on the countrymen it was wild it wasn't available on on the predecessor but it's there now and that's good it's a safety feature that prevents crashes we're glad it's there so that's the 2025 mini countrymen it's a little more practical a little less nostalgic and a little rough around the edges for more about compact luxury SUVs than any other type of car head over to CR .org\n"