Actually sat in one today! They are quite impressive!

 

No test drive?

 

My wife drove a Countryman-S automatic with all-4 today and she really liked it. She really wants to drive a manual 6 speed next...what a girl.

 

They were driving it off the showroom floor at the time so we were not able to test drive it. It looked really,really good. I am very impressed with this version of the mini! I was not sure I would like the hatch instead of the barn doors, but now realize that aesthetically,they would not work on this model. The rear quarter panel reminds me of the FJ cruiser quarter panels and that look works nicely with this model. The badge on the hatch was huge! THis was a red and black S version, manual.

 

I working to convince my wife to get one as her 04 Murano is getting old. We normally keep our cars until they hit the 70k mark and in her case could take several years (we just hit the 50k mark yesterday ).

She likes the Countryman line (she loves my Clubman) but not sure she will like to drive it, so I still have work to do when we are back for our December vacation with the kids.

 

I sat in one today with my wife. She likes how everyone gets their own door and seat! However, she doesn't find the center rail interesting.....
I'm thinking getting one myself and replace the clubman. It's not I don't like my clubman. I still love it everyday I drive it! Just my wife can't drive a manual car. She has been saying that she would learn since we got the car.... so I'm thinking about getting the Countryman S with automatic.

 

I sat in one the other day while getting my Clubman serviced, and it really is a neat car. The only bad thing, according to the M.A., is the rear seats don't fold flat. He said if I carry a lot of cargo, I'm better off with the Clubman.

 

True about the current rear seats not folding flat. They are planning a bench seat version which was supposed to come out for March 2011 orders, however I was told that it has been rolled back and won't be available until 2012.

Be sure to check out the Countryman forum: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-talk-r60-355/ it seems to reside outside the 2nd generation forum section.