Matt K

Reviewed a 2011 MINI FWD on Feb 9, 2011

This car is either a hit or miss for most people. When you think of a Mini you would normally think of a tiny 2 door sports car, and then when you look at the Countryman its 4 doors and a lot bigger than most people think a Mini should be. As to be expected this car has excellent build quality since it is owned by BMW. The performance with this base model was the biggest problem I had with it. The one i drove was equipped with the 6-speed automatic transmission which was in one word, horrible. Every time that I stepped on the gas the engine would rev way above 4000 rpm, and even when i tried to put it in the manual mode i shifted down and the rev's shot up then came back down. Then when i was cruising in the manual mode it randomly went back to automatic which i didn't like. Other than the transmission problems that I had I thought that the little 1.6L 4 cylinder engine would be a great choice for somebody that doesn't seek performance and just wants to cruise around. When I sat inside of the Countryman it felt more like i was sitting in a truck rather than a small crossover, but then when you look out the window you realize that you are still not that far off the ground. Some miscellaneous things that I'd like to mention is the dual rails that split the left and right sides of the car were very cool and the ability to move different items on them such as cup holders to where you want was a good feature. I liked how you could get a panorama sunroof and still get a roof rack to carry different things. Overall on this car I think that it would be a lot better if it had a manual transmission but for someone that sits in traffic all day i don't think that this would be the car for you and it is excellent value in my eyes.