The Mini Countryman gets a diesel heart and a lowered price-tag. Will that be enough to turn it into a success? We drive it to find out
The Mini Cooper Countryman has been around for more than a year now and recently BMW launched a new variant powered by a diesel motor. It is called the Cooper D Countryman and it is being assembled at the company’s Chennai plant. This means that it now costs much less than its petrol sibling. But is that enough to make it a more desirable car? We drove it to find the answer.
Design-wise the diesel Countryman looks identical to its petrol counterpart, but changes like the chromed out grille and the Cooper D badge on the tail-gate indicate that it is a diesel Countryman. Everything else on the exterior of the car remains the same as on the petrol variant. Inside, however, BMW have introduced a few changes that are welcome. They have now re-positioned the power window switches from the base of the centre console to a more practical and convenient place: the door arm-rests. Another minor change you will notice is lesser digits on the rev counter, since this is a diesel engine and revs less than its petrol counterpart. Apart from that, the Countryman retains its spacious interior, funky dashboard and door panel design and its upmarket leather upholstery.
The biggest change, however, lies under the bonnet. In India, BMW are offering the Countryman with a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder diesel motor, which is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. It produces 112 PS of power, which may not sound humungous, but it is the Countryman diesel’s 270 Nm of torque that does all the talking. It kicks in at 1,750 revolutions per minute, thus allowing the engine to run a higher gear at lower RPM and making high speed cruising at low revs an easy affair. And even though it is a turbo-charged engine, there is hardly any noticeable turbo lag. What you do notice is the strong bottom and mid-range power that make this car easy to drive. Besides, the six-speed automatic gearbox is pretty quick, whether 
one is shifting up or down. The engine, however, scores poorly on the refinement front; it feels rough and you can clearly hear it running even at low RPM. It may lack refinement, but it performs quite well. Our performance test revealed that the Countryman diesel takes 11.1 seconds to go from naught to 100 km/h and has enough punch to easily attain the claimed top speed of 180 km/h. The roll-on timings were also quite decent as the car took just 13.48 seconds to go from 40 to 120 km/h. Our fuel efficiency test also generated impressive results: the
Countryman returned 10.5 km/l within the city and 15 km/l on the highway.
The handling characteristics of the Countryman are pretty good as well. The high seating position gives you a nice view of the road ahead and the well-weighted steering provides good feel and feedback. The car simply hugs the road and feels composed and solid most of the time. High-speed stability is also pretty good and the car corners well too. In fact, the stiff suspension setting and the low-profile tyres give one the confidence to push it harder into a corner, since it feels quite planted. The only downside of the stiff suspension is bad ride quality that can be felt on uneven surfaces. Furthermore, the tyre and road noise at high speed tend to irritate you.
To put it all in a nutshell, the Mini Countryman diesel is an exciting car to drive that will put a smile on any enthusiast’s face. It handles well, though only on smooth roads, because once you hit uneven or rough surfaces, both the ride quality and the handling go for a toss.
Overall, the Countryman is more practical option than the regular Mini. It has four doors, ample space to seat four, high-quality interior and decent fuel efficiency. But at Rs 28.9 lakh (ex-showroom for the top-spec car we drove), it is a bit too expensive and it also lacks the quintessential Mini character. If you are a Mini enthusiast and prefer something more practical, bigger and more fuel-efficient than the hatch, then we would say, don’t think twice, just go for the Countryman diesel.
The biggest change, however, lies under the bonnet. In India, BMW are offering the Countryman with a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder diesel motor, which is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission
Story: Ravi Chandnani
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
