In my opinion, it's clear that some (not necessarily you) would like to see the Countryman fail to extend the life of the current Clubby design philosophy or "prove" that the Clubby is better, or something along those lines.

Whether or not people want the Countryman to fail, though, it's been said multiple times that the most reliable sources (MINI and MotoringFile) are indicating that the Countryman will be priced just above the Clubman. So, those suggesting it will start near or above $30K are being willfully ignorant at best. If it's just a simple opinion, why continue proliferating bad info to make your point?

I'm fine wit people not liking it or not thinking it will do well, but use at least relatively legitimate reasoning to do so (like you having actually sat in one, for instance) rather than saying it will never sell based on wrong information.

 

Please explain how the Countryman is too small, but the Cabriolet isn't. Can't quite understand that.

 

Laugh out loud. Well I expect my two door cab to hold an extra third passenger in a pinch and it has already done so on occasion. The new MINI SUV with Four Doors and Four bucket seats I would expect to hold 4 Passengers easily. It doesn't. I'm 6'2" so my doctor tells me, and with me in the front seat of the countryman there is no leg room for a back seat passenger. I'm talking about use of the back seat. Is that so hard to understand? I'm sure the people in the five foot range won't have a problem. If the country man was made to hold two comfortably and three or four in a pinch then why add two more doors? I was excited about the prospect of the car but when I saw it at the auto show I was disappointed. I'm now thinking about getting a panamera. I understand that car is really made for four people.

 

You said it twice:

Being 6'2" the car isn't really big enough for me.

and...

I sat in it at the auto show and it's to small for me.

By the time I posed the question, it was about 3 1/2 hours after your message where you did mention back seat room. Sorry that I don't go around memorizing messages. However, your messages as quoted above seemed to be biased towards you physically as opposed to your intended usage of the car.

Interesting 2nd choice. The Panamera is about 25" longer, maybe 900# heavier and gets 2/3's of the fuel milage. Gee, it ought to seat 4 people.

 

Well, I don't know where the antagonism is rooted, or why I have to defend my opinions, but considering I'm averaging 19-20 mpg in my JCW cabriolet, I figure that I might as well go for a Porsche, and I like the Panamera rear end and all. I understand it's suited for 6 footers drivers AND passengers, And with configurations of 300, 400, and 500hp it's a mover for sure. I'm aiming for a turbo but will wait a year or two until all the kinks are worked out. Who knows I may come back to mini. I love the jcw Clubman but it really needs 2-4 more inches in length to be really useful. Ultimately, I'm disappointed with the gas mileage so I don't know why I compromised on a mini to begin with when I could have just bought a sports car. It's really not giving me the MPG I expected at all, and I never use the sport button so I don't know where the numbers they publish are coming from?

 

Have a 2010 Clubman S with 5650 miles on it and we are averaging 28 4 miles per gallon in Columbia , SC with basically no highway miles. Took it on a trip to Ohio when it was brand new and ran over 80 moiles and hour and averaged 31.5 miles per gallon so if your averaging 17-19 miles per gallon I'd say you have something seriously wrong with your Mini. I average 20 miles per gallon in my 335I convertible aropund Columbia and I drive fast. Just saying your milage is unusually poor. Car and Driver or Motor Trend had a long term test Mini Clubman JCW and they averaged 26.5 miles per gallon for 40,000 miles and I guarantee they ran the snot out of it.

 

NOPE. Nothing wrong with my mini. Just got it serviced at BMWUSA headquarters here in NYC; I wanted to get the break in oil out at 1000 miles. I'm not a kid and I don't drive around the city like a maniac so You can't blame it on speeding. I do drive with the top down... DUH, it's a convertible. BTW did I say 17-19 mpg???? Pay attention! Because you are wrong, I'm getting 19-20 mpg. I barely drive my car. I only have 960 miles on it and this is my average so far including three day trips out of state. Had I known this was going to be my milage I would have just bought a porsche 911 cab but instead I bought the most expensive mini you could buy thinking I would save on gas and help the planet out. IF it improves I'll report back. I'm planning on a trip to california in july but not 100% I'm driving. Anyway, I'm looking forward to my Panamera. Love my mini too; still brings a smile to my face; but now I'm obsessed with the mileage issue and can't stop looking at my MPG indicator which makes me frown a bit.

 

BTW I can't stand BMWs. When I see one I think of a lawyer/banker and as someone who went to lawschool, on average I don't like lawyers.

 

No, I was just trying to understand what you were saying.

Yes, that is low and I don't know why unless it relates to stop-and-go city driving. The other thing is if you don't go very far in cold weather (which it seems like what we had up until a couple of weeks ago), the engine may not spend much time at normal operating temperature.

I thought that was the Cayenne engine. Has there been a recent change in the engine package?

Personally I would be happy with a 2nd suicide door. But to get to your point, I don't think that will happen. So far the various models have been quite distinct from one another. I don't think they would want to bring a couple of models closer together and make the choice more difficult. I think you want to have easy, clear choices. If it becomes difficult, it's real easy to blow it off and go to another manufacturer.-

Well, with any dataset there will always be outliers. I have noticed that my car did 22 or so in the winter, but about 24 in warmer weather. One suggestion: You mention checking the computer for mileage readings. Try doing the calculation on what actually goes in the tank. There seems to be some fluctuation in the data that comes off the computer. As they say, you mileage may vary...

 

Unless it's an M3!!!

 

Porsche just came out with a six cylinder option for the panamera and a lower price too. So now the options are 300, 400, 500 hp.

The country is a cool car, don't get me wrong. When I saw it I didn't like it because it just looked awkward, like a mini on stilts but after thinking about it I think it could be a future classic. I just wish it was roomier. I also don't think I would go to mini for a suv just like I won't buy a cayenne from Porsche either. Beside the gas mileage, there are plenty of pluses with my jcw cab. Parking is a breeze because it is so small. It's fast and its size makes it seem even faster. I get lots of compliments everytime I'm in it. And it's fun to drive and feels solid.

A second suicide door may be enough, but a real station wagon with the same clubman styling cues would be very cool in my opinion. Just a couple more inches is needed: six at most.

I just don't see myself in a bmw ever. Even though a mini is sort of bmw related.

 

I'm assuming this will be a V-6. I can hear the traditionalists warming up and getting ready to speak ill of it. They did it for the V-8 in the 928, the I-4 in the 924, putting the engine in the front, building an SUV, building a 4-door GT car, etc. etc. Same thing happened to BMW when they discontinued the 2002, did V-8's, did SUV's, etc. SS-DD...

Over the years, BMW has shown themselves to be creative and innovative, but still fairly subdued and buttoned down. The MINI allowed them to have a line of small cars that had a separate identity from BMW. But what they don't talk about is that I think it also provided the company with an outlet for incorporating fun and humor into the creative process. Your point about the kinds of people who tend to show up in BMW's is well taken. I don't think the many odd and quirky things about the MINI would have a lot of appeal for the usual BMW buyer.

 

"There's no way it will feel like we're used to a MINI feeling. It will be a different car; not better or worse, but definitely not a "pure" MINI."

Im sure thats what the Morris Mini people said when the BMW MINI came out.

 

My wife loved the idea of a real 4 door car. She is petite and appreciates having the smaller door of a 4 door rather than the longer two door version. Of course it would be good to have instant access to the back seat instead of the procedure you must go through to use the third door in the Clubman.

But the Countryman becomes a no deal for us because of the 4 inch addition width it has over the Clubman. We live in SF and have no garage but are lucky to have a narrow space between houses. The Clubman just fits, with mirrors folded. Countryman would not make it.

I am looking forward to the new Clubman which I read will be here in 2013 with 4 doors. It may also have a 3 cylinder turbo engine. Hope it does not grow in width!

BTW my mileage with mostly city driving is about 20 mpg. No problem with the car- just the terrain.

 

So if it barely fits in the alley, how do you get out of the car? Im trying to visualize this.

 

Out the sunroof?

 

i guess you could pop the rear hatch with the key fob and crawl out the back.

 

Excuse the off subject twist.
The front of the car is between the two houses. You can just squeeze between the car and my neighbors house to get to the alley.
Alley access is a must because there is an apartment entrance there. However the rear of the car has semi open space on the driver's side. I can open the door into my neighbors forgiving foliage and get in or out.

 

have you seen this:






In english:
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/au...ini_minor.html

 

Ok, I've read through this thread so far and didn't think I saw this point talked about, but guys...its kinda big. THE ENGINE!!!!! On the Countryman, won't it be a little underpowered? That's kinda a lot of stress on a 1.6L isn't it? I mean why not try a 1.8L or a 2.0L? As far as I can tell there's enough room in the Countryman's engine bay.

 

Not really. For the Countryman, the MCS model weighs 2,882lb and the MCS ALL4 weighs 3,042lb.

With 118hp:
An automatic Justa Hardtop weighs 2646lb.
An automatic Justa Clubman weighs 2800lb.