2025 Mini Countryman S: What's It Like to Live With?
Why did we get it?
We have a habit of taking on Minis here at Edmunds. Not too long ago we added a similarly green Mini Cooper S to our garage. A lot more of Mini's legacy rode on the shoulders of that car because of its more traditional size and shape, and frankly, there was only the faintest whiff of that old magic in that car's bones. But the question here is largely the same. Does Mini still have the juice?
The entire lineup has been reborn since then — all Cooper and Countryman models are new. So does the Countryman offer an exciting, more whimsical alternative to the bland malaise of two-row crossovers you see everywhere? Is it the antidote to the relentless slog of boring, uninspired, bad-to-drive, not-so-cute utes that have taken over our roads? A year of evaluation is going to help us figure out that and much, much more.
What's happened so far?
We've spent a lot of time behind the wheel of our Mini already. A round-trip drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco and back revealed a lot about its credentials as a long-distance cruiser (and just how fuel-efficient it can be). We also already need to take it in for a service. Look for updates about all that (and more) in the coming months. Something tells us it's going to be an interesting year.
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