Driving through the two little sand-coloured towers that marked the entrance to the village, I thought to myself: this must be the best-kept secret of the Abu Dhabi desert, not very far from the city.
From where I turned off the Abu Dhabi – Al Ain highway, I drove twenty-five kilometers with vast stretches on either side, of dunes that got bigger and more pristine with every passing kilometer. The unpaved dirt road – like a sea of sand had parted and made way – accentuated the middle-of-nowhere feeling. Which is why, I chose the “subcompact crossover” from a whole convoy of Mini as my car for the day – the new 2020 Mini Countryman John Cooper Works.
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This was the Arabian Nights Village, an adventure resort where people came to spend a far-removed weekend filled with activities like desert safari, sand boarding, camel rides, buggy rides – the usual stuff including a bellyful feast and a belly-dance. It was fun. And well, Mini is fun too. But this was more about adventure. And Mini is, well… the ALL4 badges beamed at me from the flanks of the Minis series-parked in front of the fort-like wall of the resort. Just a few minutes earlier, the convoy had zipped through the eighty plus kilometres on the highway, like nice, sporty cars and bumped the rest of the way along the sandy rut-roads. Ambitious?
Ambition marks the Mini I have chosen for the day. The new Countryman John Cooper Works bears within, the most powerful engine to grace the type of Minis that get sold in showrooms. (Mini Clubman John Cooper Works, which gets the same engine is missing from the current convoy and wouldn’t arrive in the showrooms until a fortnight later. That saved the confusion anyway. The Countryman it is!) The Cooper S version of the Countryman is also part of the convoy in British racing green. If 192 horses and 280 Nm of torque sounds impressive, it is only until I turn to the red car with the black stripes on the hood. Underneath the stripes a 2.0L engine with twinpower turbo technology holds its fiery breath (twinpower turbo or twin-scroll as the non-BMW world calls it actually has only one turbocharger powered by two down tubes.) With 306 hp and 450 Nm of torque, this BMW engine can catapult the not-so-little Mini from stillness to centum in 5.1 seconds. How massive the leap is can be seen in how far ahead does this place the most powerful Mini from its predecessor – it shaves 1.5 seconds off the 0 – 100 kmph time by adding 75 horses more to the 231 hp engine.
Actually, this Mini Countryman is pretty new – the second generation was revealed only in 2017. A mid-cycle refresh is still further ahead but Mini has chosen to make this model year even more significant by changing the engine output. The 2017 version was 20 cm longer than the first generation, and two and a half centimeters wider. The Cooper Countryman is powered by a turbocharged three-cylinder engine and the Cooper S by a 2.0 L turbocharged Inline 4.
The Mini Countryman did face some flak for its size – that it wasn’t mini enough. But the fact is, the Countryman is the best-seller in the range, second only to the original. It sells more than the Coupe, Convertible and the Clubman bundled up. It is not just a brand that evolves, you see; it is the customers as well. In fact, what I would suggest is to make All4 standard in the Countryman, because this is the model that celebrates the possibility and not just the spirit of adventure.
So, was I really crazy to take the new Countryman JCW across the sandy tracks?
Not at all.
The dunes on either side occasionally poured in fluid sand to ease the traction but the Mini Countryman JCW came with all-wheel drive as standard. The ALL4 badge proclaimed it. Now, I was wondering if the 2.0L turbo engine would soo heat up a lot forcing me to pause the adventure for too long. Far from it. The cooling concept feeds from the know-how gathered on the race track.
The Countryman is built for adventure too with rigid body structure and chassis fastenings and reinforced motor connections.
Two other important changes in the new Countryman is the exhaust system, which sounds as best as any four cylinder that spat out fire, and the 8-speed steptronic sports transmission. There is even integrated mechanical differential lock for front wheels. The transmission doesn’t have to take the engine revving too high for power even as gears are upshifted, so much so that fuel is put to impressive use. According to company handouts, the fuel consumption combined is 7.3 – 6.9 l/100 km and CO2 emissions combined: 166 –156 g/km.
As I sliced through the ruts and slid through the sand, the car did not end up where I did not want it to, or rather, did stop not too far from where I wanted it to. Those bigger sport brakes are helping the maxi experience in this new Mini!
Watch the crazy drive in the desert
