Mini unveils updated Countryman SUV

MINI has treated its Countryman compact SUV range to a mid-life update which brings revised exterior and interior styling, more standard gear, new colours and improved, Euro 6d compliant engines.

Due to touch down in Australia at the end of the year, the styling updates to the new Countryman include a redesigned radiator grille and lower intake, new bumpers front and rear and a new, lower rear valence.

The headlight and tail-light arrangements have also been given a rework, now all being based around LED technology with the daytime running lights now also doubling as the indicators while the tail-light arrangement traces the outline of the Union Jack in a nod to Mini’s British heritage.

‘White Silver’ and ‘Sage Green’ metallic paint colours have been added to the Countryman’s palette along with a new Piano Black exterior pack which swaps out chrome trim pieces for darkened black ones.

The roof and wing-mirrors can now be painted to match the body or white, black or silver depending on the variant.

Under the bonnet lays the same range of turbocharged petrol engines and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) setup as before however all of them have been tweaked and upgraded with the petrol engines featuring a revised, now integrated exhaust manifold and increased fuel pressure.

Power for the 1.5-litre three-cylinder is still rated at 100kW and 220Nm while the force-fed 2.0-litre four could drop from 141kW to 131kW – with torque remaining the same at 280Nm – due to the aforementioned Euro 6d emissions regulations, with Mini Australia unable to provide which figure the Australia-bound cars will brandish.

Regardless of the power figure however, both engines boast marginally improved fuel economy figures, each improving by between 0.1-0.4-litres per 100km.

As for the PHEV powertrain, all-electric range has been boosted from 40km to between 55 and 61km thanks to its new 9.6kWh lithium-ion battery pack (up from 7.6kWh).

Inside the cabin, the interior switchgear has been rearranged into a more “intelligent” layout while the circular control unit scores a “new refined surface” around its outer edges.

Touch-sensitive bookmark buttons and high-gloss Piano Black surfaces have also been added throughout the cabin to make it feel more upmarket.

For an extra level of sophistication, a new 5.0-inch digital instrument cluster is also able to be optioned.

Several of the infotainment features have been restructured or improved including the Navigation Plus suite, Intelligent Emergency services and Amazon Alexa integration.

So far this year ending April, Mini has shifted 292 examples of the Countryman, accounting for 5.6 per cent of the $40,000+ small SUV segment.

According to Mini, the niche crossover “now accounts for almost 30 per cent of the brand’s new registrations worldwide”.