Hi Everyone!

I wanted to get your opinions on the Countryman (preferably manual transmission) vs. the Hardtop Mini Cooper. I'm from Maui so I don't have a Mini dealership nearby to test drive the CM, but I've owned a 2004 MC (automatic) that I loved. My main concern about the CM is the size & driving/handling. I loved the sportiness of the MC, but being the CM is larger, does it lack any ‘sportiness’?


Thanks for all your help & input

 

I test drove both the manual and automatic and went with the automatic. I was not as happy with the manual in the Cm as the one in my MCS. (I also often get stuck in heavy traffic). I do not regret my decision, and I love the sport mode and paddle shifters.

The Cm is bigger and heavier than the hardtop, so I expected it to feel like it, but I was pleasantly surprised that it still retained a MINI character.

 

Well, having owned both, the Countryman is not as sporty as the hardtop. But it is definitely sportier than anything else in its size class, in my opinion. To me, it was nice getting back into the sporty feel after driving a Saturn Outlook for 5 years in between. With 3 kids, this was a great compromise for me to get me back into a car I love that is as close as possible to the feel of the hardtop.
I would definitely recommend the manual transmission in the Countryman. It is the same sized engine as the hardtop, and with the added weight, the automatic can be a bit sluggish. Plus, it's just more fun driving manual!

 

Sportiness is all relative. I think It drives like a sports car, but then I've not been in any other kind of MINI. I have owned an E30 BMW, VW Scirocco, Jetta, and Passat, and a Triumph TR. I can say this is almost as fun to drive as the Triumph, save for the sounds and the convertible.

Really like the manual gearbox too. Having had an auto for the last few years, I lost my appreciation for driving. I got it back when I picked up my CM on Thursday.

LOVE this car!

 

Well first off are you looking for CM or CMS? I have a CMS which i feel is way more sporty than the CM which would be obvious. I drove the CM and i can not in anyway see why anyone would call it anywhere near a sports car or even a sporty car. Maybe the steering but thats it. A car with horse power in the low 100's car never be a sports car. I have had my fair share of Sports cars lately including a C6 Corvette, 2 Audi S5's which i would call sports cars. The CM is no where near, where the CMS is still not there obviously but feels way better than the CM. The Auto is a little sluggish in my CMS off the line it bogs but using the paddles and sport mode will help that. I would go with the manual but i would also tell you if you have the money go with the CMS a base one would be fine but the extra HP in the CMS i feel is a necessity, but i like it in the 400HP range(: Thats why the CMS is the wifes.

 

Thanks for all the quick responses! The 'sluggish' part was my main concern, but I'm glad to hear that the manual trans on the CMS seems to compensate for that problem. Well I have a lot of deciding to do, but either way I'm getting a MINI

By the way Ragner congrats on your new car!

 

In a nutshell: we went in to buy the manual regular countryman - test drove

* stick regular
* stick "s"
* manual regular
* manual "s"

We both hated the feel of the car in manual, went for three different test drives (two different dealerships) just to make sure it wasn't some sort of odd occurrence with the car we happened to test drive the first time. The manual base model and the auto base model were both too sluggish - it had to be the "s" for us. Apparently I've read on these boards that the use the same mechanics for the manual gearbox countryman as the smaller mini - which doesn't help anyone since the countryman is much heavier.

If we purchased the smaller one it would have been stick (even a justa stick) for sure- but for the countryman the automatic just felt much better in this model.

If you do a search you'll find lots of threads from people who also feel this way - could be good info to check out especially if you're not going to do a test drive.

(This from two very pro stick drivers would have other stick cars in our lineup).

 

When we bought our '11 CM 6MT last year we knew it was going to be kind of slow/underpowered, but the fun to drive factor made up for it. In fact, we ended up loving it so much that my husband bought a '12 Hardtop Justa 6MT a few months later. He loves that little car and I will say that it is a total blast to drive even though it isn't an S. The power feels just about right for a normal DD car that gets great MPG's, yet is still fun to drive.

If you don't mind revving higher and shifting a lot more, esp trying to speed up on the highway going up hill or to pass, then the base CM 6MT is probably fine. My 62 year old mom thought it was too fast for her to drive, so it is all kind of relative to what a person is comparing it to I guess. Now I will also say this, after owning many AWD/turbo cars in the past I eventually started to hate the lack of power in my CM, but loved the car overall. So after just 10 months after some unexpected things coming into play we got a great deal and ended up selling our '11 CM for a '12 CMs All4 6MT.

Both the CM and our new CMs All4 are a blast to drive, but the CMs esp with AWD just feels more connected to the road and is more fun to drive. I do think that if our CM had sport seats that would have helped some as the non sport seats are a lot flatter and don't hold you as well.

All in all, I think at this point if I had to do it all over again I probably should have just gone for the CMs All4 to begin with. If I lived in a climate without snow I would get FWD S 6MT in a heartbeat as it feels a little faster than the All4 without a doubt.

 

Maui No Ka Oi! I will have mine there after my move is complete! The BMW dealer has some MINI trained mechanics plus there is at least one indy garage. Good luck in your search for one!

 

Gotta disagree with you on this. Classic Mini's, basically every British Roadster of the 50's/60's/70's, even the original Porsche 911's had HP in the low 100's or less and 0-60 times > 10 seconds. Are these not sports cars? Are they not fun to drive?

Now much of the engineering & technology has changed and the modern versions are much faster and more nimble. Even 20 years ago, a 0-60 time of ~10 seconds was considered respectable.

I think part of this is the difference between Americans (BIG engines, fast acceleration with good handling as secondary--see Mustang, Camaros, etc.) vs. the Brits (nimble handling first, engine secondary (Mini, Lotus, etc). Americans love their power--it's a cultural thing and isn't likely to change.

One could also argue that a true sports car could not be A) Front wheel drive, B) have an Automatic Transmission, or C) have four doors. Would they be right?

 

Relative to an R56, you're going to notice the higher center of gravity and the extra weight. It's got less of that go-kart feel. Relative to any crossover or SUV, you're going to feel like you're in a wizzy little sports car. It depends on what you need and what you want.

I'd say definitely go for the "S." As far as transmission, I test drove both an automatic and a standard, and I bought the manual. I understand people's problems with it, but in my case, it's been a matter of adapting my shifting style a bit. You have to build up a bit more rev than you might be used to before you dump it to the wheels. It's very easy to end up in 1st with insufficient torque available. So you have to get a real feel for when you want to be totally into gear. If you just push down the accelerator and pull out the clutch, which you can get away with in a lot of cars, you'll probably end up in gear too low or even stalled out. You have to give the engine an extra millisecond to spin up before you hit the engagement point on the clutch.

I found with the automatic that the throttle response was more sluggish than what I was able to get out of the manual. I vastly prefer manual driving because of that kind of control, so it was definitely the choice for me. I definitely felt like I had more control and better acceleration in the manual. I also love downshifting for corners, so it was a no-brainer in my case.