By Mike Balaban

You there! Yes, you. The Mini “purist.” The motoring “enthusiast.” The person who insists that things should “do what they say on the tin.” The 2017 Mini Countryman is not for you. It’s the biggest Mini yet, and more fun than most small crossovers—as long as you’re willing to understand how low that bar is to begin with.

(Full Disclosure: Mini wanted us to see the new Countryman so badly that the company flew me to Portland, Oregon, to drive it. We were also provided a bag full of goodies meant to evoke “authenticity.” I was determined to reject these bribes, but there was a toothbrush in there and I forgot mine at home. This toothbrush is my greatest shame.)

Saying “hurr durr why do they call it a Mini it’s not small at all” has become cliché. Some of us have taken this line since BMW re-launched the brand way back in 2001 and the car was ever-so-slightly larger than the original.

At this point it looks like we’re stuck accepting that Minis will grow progressively larger until its bloated variants take over the remaining space we have here on planet Earth. Blame crash safety standards, blame cheap gas, blame buyers’ tastes shifting to SUVs, do whatever you want. Doesn’t change anything.

As some of you might remember, the first new Mini was about two feet longer than the old one. Then it grew a little more with its first facelift. After that, the Mini line exploded like kudzu vines. There were Clubman variants with a longer wheelbase and three doors, a Countryman which had five doors and a jacked up suspension, and then a Paceman which was like a Countryman except it only had three doors, and then larger and larger base Minis, and then a five-door Mini “hatch,” and a five-door Clubman, and on and on unto eternity.

The 2017 Countryman is bigger still. In its own press materials provided for this drive, it compared the new Countryman to a literal mountain... because it’s enormous. In fact, it’s more than eight inches longer than the outgoing Countryman.

Still smaller than today’s four-door 3 Series, but a full four feet longer than the truly mini Mini that made the nameplate famous. Mini’s going big, and you’re just going to have to sit there and like it. Or, I guess, drive something else.

More to read over at Jalopnik...

 

Yeah pretty much how I feel about it.

 

I absolutely love exterior design of the R60-- and your Countryman Beni, is by and large the nicest looking one I have seen. I guarantee you would regret saying goodbye to it for the new model. As someone coming from an R56, and off of a 4 year "MINI" hiatus, the new model (with mixed feelings) is the one I have to lease. I drove both in March. I do enjoy the the interior refinements and amenities of the F60. BMW/MINI has really upped their game. The exterior dimensions and lines of the F60 may grow on me in time, but for me... the R60 is hands down the better looking model. I can't get past the headlights on the F60-- they seem too wide apart and give the front end this weird look in my opinion. I also don't like the new rear hatch with the black or chrome "handle" in the middle-- much prefer the large MINI symbol. I made my decision (as I have said in another thread) on the fact that when I'm in the car-- I'm driving it from the the inside. I can appreciate many different types of cars for many different reasons, but as a pending F60 owner-- I will definitely have to wait for the exterior to grow on me.