The official MotoringFile review of the highly anticipated F60 Countryman is a few days away. Until then we wanted to bring you a look at the new crossover in comparison with another MINI we know we’ll. MINI USA doesn’t think the Countryman will be consistently cross shopped with the Clubman. But it’s hard not to compare them given the size similarities. And the where each wins may surprise you.

Like the Countryman but slimmer.

Comparing the two, the Countryman is just under an 1″ wider and 1.5″ longer. What that means for passengers is interesting. Up front the Clubman actually has 1″ more legroom than the Countryman and is identical in shoulder room. It’s the rear where the Countryman wins out with 3.3″ extra rear legroom and 1.2″ extra rear shoulder width. In other words the Countryman is a slightly more comfortable kid-mo-bile where as the Clubman is a bit more geared to the driver and front passenger in its layout.







New MINI
Countryman (F60)		 Inches Clubman F60 is greater by Previous
Countryman (R60)		 F60 is greater by
Length 169.8 168.3 1.5 161.7 8.1
Width 71.7 70.9 0.8 66.3 5.4
Height 61.3 56.7 4.6 61 0.3
Wheelbase 105.1 105.1 Same 102.2 2.9
Front track
(Cooper)		 61.5 61.6 2.5 60.2 1.3
Rear track
(Cooper)		 61.6 61.6 2.5 61.3 0.3
Front track
(Cooper S)		 61.6 60.2 1.4 60.2 1.4
Rear track
(Cooper S)		 61.7 61.3 0.4 61.3 0.4
Legroom
(front)		 40.4 41.4 -1 40.4 Same
Legroom (rear) 37.6 34.3 3.3 33.8 3.8
Shoulder room
(front)		 54.8 54.7 0.1 52.8 2
Shoulder room
(rear)		 54 52.8 1.2 52.1 1.9
Headroom
(front)		 40.5 40.2 0.3 39.9 0.6
Headroom
(rear)		 38.3 38 0.3 37.5 0.8
Cargo Volume (rear seats in use) 17.6 17.5 0.1 17.5 0.1
Cargo Volume (rear seats folded flat) 47.6 47.9 -0.3 42.2 5.4

Weight is another area that the Clubman wins. The Countryman S All4 manual we tested recently (coming soon) weighed in at 3629 lbs compared to 3445 lbs for the Clubman equivalent. That gives the Clubman a .4 second advantage to 60 while costing around $2500 less.

Look at that boot.

Comparing the new Countryman to its predecessor it’s a full 7 inches longer. The F60 also heavier with the average weight gain across models around 350 lbs. Yet it’s faster overall with 0-60 times down in most cases. For the Cooper manual this means a 0-60 dash that’s now 1.6 seconds faster. Like the Clubman that came before it, this weight gain only tells a part of the story. This is a larger much more comfortable car that will appeal to a wider array of buyers.

So how does the new F60 2017 MINI Countryman drive? Our upcoming review will tell you everything you need to know.