All posts in Transportation

My original purpose on this forum was to serve as transportation guru. This is my effort to return to that original focus, beginning with a review of my latest (and first new) automotive purchase, the 2011 MINI Countryman S ALL4.

The Decision:

So as Hot D can attest I have been car shopping for literally 6 months and though I think I knew that the MINI was what I wanted the entire time, the shitty dealer in Raleigh didn’t make me want their vehicles. They were relying on the cars to sell themselves and for me to pay nearly full price. It took driving an hour and a half to Winston-Salem for some sound salesmanship (pun intended, my salesman was an ex opera singer) and a friendly staff who gave my dog undue attention as he played shop mutt on the showroom floor, to win me over.

Why go 2011 and not 2012? you may ask. The simple answer is the economic one. Dealers, especially MINI dealers, aren’t budging on their newly stocked 2012 given that they have months upon months to sell them. The 2011′s however are costing them to sit on the lot for as long as they have, taking up valuable space and devaluing themselves the longer they sit there. As such the dealers are willing to negotiate on these not quite leftovers. I got 10% off the cost of the car, so I’m happy and feeling like i got a decent deal which strongly contributes to my overall satisfaction with the car.

The Review:

So I’ll begin in the positives column since these vastly outweigh the negatives.

• Performance: Led by the handling MINI has become known for, the Countryman, though bigger than the regular cooper in nearly every way, still adheres to the principles that made the original MINI fun to drive.  Plus you can engage the sport button and enjoy more rapid acceleration, tighter steering and quicker gear changes.

• Spacious Tailgater: Regular MINI’s do have a back seat but they are overall cramped and difficult to access. The Countryman supplies 4 doors with ample head and leg room for rear seat passengers and comes standard with rear bucket seats as opposed to the common bench, which just seems like a more sporty and comfortable way to haul around your friends. Though the cargo room with the rear seats up is adequate 99% of the time, putting a seat or two down really lets you utilize the pretty ample cargo space. Corn-hole boards for example fit quite nicely and with no problem fitting into the narrowest of college football stadium parking lots, the MINI makes a great tailgater.
• Uniqueness/Customization Potential: With all the different variations of MINI available and the virtually limitless potential for customization its highly unlikely that I will see another Countryman that looks quite like mine. That being said the styling is also such that I won’t be pulling a Modern Family valet mistake and driving home the wrong car without even noticing. If there’s one thing that can be said for MINIs it’s that they stick out in a crowd (or else are buried underneath Chevy Silverados).
• Gas Mileage: So of all the crossovers/SUVs I looked at the MINI had the best blend of good gas mileage and performance. The Chevy Equinox for example gets excellent gas mileage with its 4 cylinder engine, but given the size and weight of the car it clearly underperformed unless you opted for the 6 cylinder, which of course kills your gas mileage. The MINI gets 31/25, enough for me to park in the fuel-efficient spots at work.
• No Cost Maintenance: For 3 year/36,000 miles I don’t have to do a thing to the MINI except put gas in it. Oil changes, brakes, windshield wipers all taken care of and if i want to double that coverage I can do so when the time comes. This was a deciding factor for me in deciding between a dealer demo Mercedes GLK 350 and the MINI. The Mercedes requiring hundreds in scheduled maintenance every year. No thanks.
• Safety: With seven airbags and a crash sensor system which automatically unlocks the doors, turns on the hazards and cuts off the fuel pump in the event of a crash, all concerns about this being unsafe because its small go out the window like a small child with no seat belt on. Moreover the Countryman earned the IIHS Top Safety Pick designation for, of all things, the strength of its roof. As the IIHS announced on its website, ” The roof of the Countryman withstood a force equal to nearly 5 times the car’s weight. By comparison, the current federal standard is 1.5 times weight.” Ya I think I’m good.

• Dual Pane Sunroof: Need I say more? This is just a must have option.

• Sound System: Another must have option in my mind is the Harmon/Kardon sound system which constantly reminds me of how inadequate the stereo in my old car was. Couple this sound system with standard HD radio and 1 year of free Sirius and you’ll catch me obnoxiously cranking “Teardrops on my Guitar” windows open whilst driving down I-40.
• All Wheel Drive: This was an option I wrestled with since I am in a pretty temperate climate here in NC and will likely only come across snow/ice-covered roads once or twice a year. This feature does also add to the weight of the car and therefore negatively impacts my gas mileage. That being said, I do travel North on more than a rare occasion  and given that DC, PA and the tri-state area are prone to their share of winter storms it’s comforting to know that I should not have too much of an issue during a moderate Nor’easter. Although I’m tempted to off-road with the MINI, its ground clearance (or lack thereof) surely prevents rock crawling.

• Leather Seating: Though not necessary by any means, and certainly an expensive option, the optional leather seating makes a huge difference in the interior. Though for the price you could substitute for a nav system or something, I’m more of a form over function kinda guy, so for me the  looks and comfort justified the price tag.

No car is perfect and so here are my few problem areas with the MINI:

• Premium Gas: So although the car does get 30 mpg highway, due to the nature of the engine it requires premium fuel. I contemplated putting regular in but was assured by the dealer that this would just decrease my miles per gallon to the point that the savings at the pump would not be worth it. I can only assume that in this engine the higher octane burns more efficiently, but either way its something that makes the MPG rating a little deceiving.

• Cup-holder Size: so this is minor but the cup-holders won’t fit my Nalgene. What a white people problem I know. I may need to find an adapter or else a smaller Nalgene.

• Semi-ineffective Rail System: The rail system, though an interesting concept is render largely useless due to the parking brake and arm rest. Though the concept (which includes snap in a sunglasses case, cup holder and cell phone charger) is sound, too many obstacles lie in the way. The area in front of the parking brake is lined to prevent you from putting the attachments in the way of the brake  and the arm rest when down (which it always is) makes access to the sunglasses holder quite difficult. Good in theory but poor execution.
• Nonstandard Options: So like many German-made automobiles the number of options that should come standard are a bit staggering. The arm rest for instance is a $250 option. Bluetooth, optional. Floor mats, optional. Ipod integration, optional. Roof rails, optional. It’s these kinds of things that though make the base price of the car more attractive for media campaigns are infuriating to buyers in the long haul.
• Non-intermittent wipers: This really surprised me but I guess it’s an issue for all MINIs. The wipers are only intermittent when the car is at a standstill. Hit the gas and they pick up pace again with no way of adjusting them on the go. This is particularly infuriating in a light rain when your wipers are going faster than the rain is coming down forcing the driver to turn them on and off again incessantly.

Overall:

Some critics have called the Countryman a jack of all trades, master of none and while I can see what they’re talking about, i think that could be said of nearly any crossover SUV. Good cargo room, but not like an F350. Sporty handling, but not like an M3. All wheel drive but not the ground clearance of a Jeep Wrangler. My point is a Jack of all trades is what a crossover is supposed to be and if i can get 30 mpgs, fit into any tailgate spot, and jam out to Miley Cyrus with two sunroof’s open, but can’t carry enough drywall to rebuild Mar-A-Lago then so be it.