Countryman - the biggest little Mini yet

The latest Mini offers software that tunes Apple iPhone owners into satellite radio, Google, Facebook and Twitter. Photo / Supplied

It's the first Mini to find its way into the town and country lifestyle segment - and the first to package four doors, optional four-wheel drive and software that tunes Apple iPhone owners into satellite radio, Google, Facebook and Twitter.

The Mini Countryman is the biggest Mini yet, a taller, higher-riding variant more than 4m long with an optional four or five seats and an all-wheel-drive system called All4 adapted from parent company BMW's all-paw xDrive.

The two single seats at the rear are standard but a three-seat rear bench is a no-cost option. Luggage capacity can be increased in several steps from 350 litres to 1170 litres.

The larger than Mini life look continues on the inside, with an enormous circle in the middle of the dashboard housing a speedometer scale inside its perimeter and various menu-driven displays in the centre.

These have also been adapted from BMW's iDrive control system. Add the optional software, use an iPhone to link the Countryman to the internet, and a world of social media streams into the car. It's a digital marriage of convenience.

The software also comes with a "minimalism analyser menu". This monitors driving style, encouraging fuel-efficient progress. It assesses throttle use, gear changing and braking habits and relays the information to the iPhone. Improvements earn points. An iPhone family, for instance, can compete to see who uses the Countryman most efficiently. It's a game of sorts.

Satellite radio offers a wider coverage. Radio NZ is testing it now. In theory it means an Aucklander can drive round Wellington or Christchurch listening to an Auckland station.

Or a sports fan can keep in touch with the live cricket commentary while driving through bad reception areas. Something like that anyway. The Mini range can be ordered with a satellite radio in preparation for its introduction here.

The new Countryman arrives in New Zealand next month, priced from $46,990 for the standard front-drive Cooper with a six-speed manual gearbox through to $61,990 for the top-spec All4 Cooper S with a six-speed automatic transmission.

Countryman comes with the choice of four engines: two 1.6-litre petrol units jointly developed with French company Peugeot and two diesels, one at 1.6 litres, the other at 2.

The naturally aspirated 1.6-litre petrol engine powers the Cooper Countryman, delivering 90kW at 6000rpm and 160NM at 4250 rpm. Town and around fuel consumption is said to be 6 litres/100km with a CO2 exhaust emissions rating of 140 grams per kilometre.

The Cooper S Countryman adds a twin-scroll turbocharger to the same engine for a maximum output of 135kW at 5500 rpm and 240Nm at 1600rpm. An electronic overboost function bumps torque up to 260Nm under a hard throttle.

The Cooper S variant sprints from zero to 100km/h in a claimed 7.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 215km/h. Mini says fuel consumption is 6.6 litres/100km with a CO2 rating of 154gr/km.

The two turbocharged diesel engines come from BMW's workshop. The 1.6-litre four-cylinder is a reworked smaller capacity version of the 2-litre unit that powers the rear-drive 3-Series 320d sedan and Touring wagon. Engineers turned both engines sideways, adapted them to suit the front-drive set-up in the Countryman D models and added a driveshaft to the rear differential for the All4 system.

The 1.6-litre oil-burner is available only with a six-speed manual box. It delivers 82kW at 4000rpm and 270Nm at 1750rpm. Mini claims fuel consumption of 4.4 litres/100km and a CO2 rating of 115gr/km.

It also claims a possible range of 1068km from the car's 47-litre fuel tank, enough, it says, to complete the 1054km from Auckland to Christchurch on a single fill. The 2-litre diesel is mated only to the six-speed auto. It has been deliberately detuned to deliver the same 82kW/270Nm torque as the 1.6-litre. The 2-litre unit's advantage exists in a flatter torque curve, in other words more useable torque.

Mark Gilbert, managing director of BMW Group New Zealand, says the Countryman will open the door to new Mini customers requiring extra space and flexibility. "The Countryman is versatile enough to accommodate any lifestyle while retaining the sense of fun that makes all Minis enjoyable."

The original Mini Countryman could probably fit inside the footprint of the latest example. It had two doors up front and two barn-style doors at the rear. It sat on a slightly longer chassis (2.14m) than the Mini car (2.04m).