Engine choice

 The engine range remained fairly straightforward throughout the Countryman’s time on sale, the launch units comprising three petrols and a pair of diesels, all of which were Eu5-compliant.

Kicking off the petrol range was a 98bhp engine that was fairly economical at 47.9mpg, the downside being leisurely performance with 0-62mph taking 12.7 seconds.

A slightly pacier alternative was the Cooper’s 122bhp version which cut a couple of seconds off that sprint time. Upgrade to the Cooper S and things got hotter still, the 1.6-litre, four-cylinder ‘Prince’ engine getting a twin-scroll turbocharger and variable valve-timing (essentially, BMW’S Valvetronic set-up) for 184bhp and a beefier 240Nm of torque. Economy and emissions were still reasonable with a claimed 44.8mpg and 146g/km respectively, but the 0-62mph time was cut to 7.4 seconds with a 133mph top speed.

More impressive frugality came with the pair of diesel motors – common-rail BMW N47 units – of aluminium construction and featuring a variable-geometry turbo. In 90bhp and 112bhp flavours, they both claimed to be able to return in excess of 60mpg, while delivering 116g/km CO2 emissions.

All engines offered a range of efficiency-enhancing technology, which MINI dubbed ‘MINIMALISM’, and which included Brake Energy Regeneration, stop/start and an on-demand alternator.

Subsequent changes were fairly limited. The oil-burning choice expanded in 2011 with the Cooper SD, which used a 2.0-litre unit with 143bhp and 305Nm of torque, claiming 57.6mpg while despatching 0-62mph in under 10 seconds.

The hot John Cooper Works model is outlined elsewhere (see p.53), but from April 2014 wider-ranging revisions to the Countryman included all engines being EU6 compliant and a 190bhp output for the Cooper S variant.