The year was 1966: The international performance rally scene, long dominated by powerful European sports cars, experienced a shocking upset when a tiny little 4-cylinder with scarcely more power than a scooter took the top three spots in the legendary Monte Carlo Rally. Desperate for a loophole, French officials finally disqualified all three on account of their headlights -- but Mini fans know who the real winners were.
Paying homage to original Minis
Fifty years later, I consider it appropriate that I'm participating in an event honouring that celebrated road rally in a car that's descended from the original Mini.
It's only when parked beside a regular Cooper that you realize the MINI Countryman is actually a small crossover -- so seamlessly has its characteristic design been enlarged. Ours, a Cooper S ALL4 in bright blue with racy white rally stripes and matching roof, looks completely in its element and ready to tackle the stages.
The Mini Monte Rally, that loosely pays homage to the historic world class race, is based in Southern Ontario and incorporates roughly 100 km of winding pastoral roads in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.
However, instead of a wild and woolly, all-out race, the "Mini Monte" (my suggestion that we wear "not the Full Monte" T-shirts met with polite smiles) is a "TSD" event, --which stands for Time, Speed, Distance -- and entails ruthless accuracy rather than speed.
Logic not being my strongpoint, the wisest decision I made was to ask good friend James Mewett, an aerospace engineer and driving instructor with Apex and ILR racing schools, to handle the navigational duties. Most drivers are loath to admit that it's actually the navigator who's responsible for winning a TSD rally, but usually don't hesitate to blame them when they lose. Personally, I just hoped we made it to the BBQ at the end.
Surmising that my "navi" would look after all the boring details, I tuned out during the driver's meeting and took in the MINI's competition. Alongside the expected Subaru brigade bristling with snout-mounted Hella Lamps and rally stickers, was a Lotus Evora and a lovely '80s Audi Quattro.
Countryman familiar to anyone who's driven a MINI
The Countryman is surprisingly roomy inside, with three times the cargo space of a regular Cooper: more than Nissan's Juke, but less than the Honda CR-V or Kia Soul. Despite its larger size, it handles the mixture of rural pavement and winding gravel roads like a typical MINI -- if slightly less nimble.
An electrohydraulic differential with limited slip varies the amount of torque to the rears from 50 to as much as 100% if needed. The ride is somewhat firm, which makes the Countryman very stable when we flung it around the gravel roads, but some might find it a bit jarring.
Underhood is a turbocharged 1.6L engine producing 181 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque. Steering is quite sharp with good ratios. Anyone who has driven a MINI embraces its lovely 6-speed gearbox with short throws and crisp clutch take-up. Enthusiasts will probably want to avoid the automatic such as the one in our Countryman. Although it's perfectly adequate, its slower response and lagging in cruise control lacks the joyfulness of the stick shift.
Our 2012 MINI Cooper Countryman proved comfortable and capable over long distances, although it sorely lacked in noise insulation and exhibited plenty of rattles and squeaks from the cabin. A torrential downpour turned the roads to soup -- no problem for the AWD MINI -- but the loud drumming on the steel roof made conversation difficult.
Maybe not a winner, but definitely a contender
No thanks to me, we managed to hit all of our checkpoints without any time penalties. Although the MINI featured the typical gigantic round gauge set-up, complete with online connectivity and navigation, we were unable to use the route guidance since the checkpoints ensured that you adhered to the routebook.
I'm not averse to a little "help," but my straight-as-a-slide-rule navi would have frowned upon such unethical practice. Too bad, because we might not have missed the "Cheese Factory Road" turn, causing us to lose valuable time during the final stage.
However, we managed to achieve our goal of making it to the BBQ in the 2012 MINI Countryman ALL4 while there was still plenty of food. In sixth place, Team MINI may not have been winners, but we did go the full Monte.
This 2012 MINI Cooper S Countryman review was originally published on Auto-Venus.com.
Paying homage to original Minis
Fifty years later, I consider it appropriate that I'm participating in an event honouring that celebrated road rally in a car that's descended from the original Mini.
It's only when parked beside a regular Cooper that you realize the MINI Countryman is actually a small crossover -- so seamlessly has its characteristic design been enlarged. Ours, a Cooper S ALL4 in bright blue with racy white rally stripes and matching roof, looks completely in its element and ready to tackle the stages.
The Mini Monte Rally, that loosely pays homage to the historic world class race, is based in Southern Ontario and incorporates roughly 100 km of winding pastoral roads in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.
However, instead of a wild and woolly, all-out race, the "Mini Monte" (my suggestion that we wear "not the Full Monte" T-shirts met with polite smiles) is a "TSD" event, --which stands for Time, Speed, Distance -- and entails ruthless accuracy rather than speed.
Logic not being my strongpoint, the wisest decision I made was to ask good friend James Mewett, an aerospace engineer and driving instructor with Apex and ILR racing schools, to handle the navigational duties. Most drivers are loath to admit that it's actually the navigator who's responsible for winning a TSD rally, but usually don't hesitate to blame them when they lose. Personally, I just hoped we made it to the BBQ at the end.
Surmising that my "navi" would look after all the boring details, I tuned out during the driver's meeting and took in the MINI's competition. Alongside the expected Subaru brigade bristling with snout-mounted Hella Lamps and rally stickers, was a Lotus Evora and a lovely '80s Audi Quattro.
Countryman familiar to anyone who's driven a MINI
The Countryman is surprisingly roomy inside, with three times the cargo space of a regular Cooper: more than Nissan's Juke, but less than the Honda CR-V or Kia Soul. Despite its larger size, it handles the mixture of rural pavement and winding gravel roads like a typical MINI -- if slightly less nimble.
An electrohydraulic differential with limited slip varies the amount of torque to the rears from 50 to as much as 100% if needed. The ride is somewhat firm, which makes the Countryman very stable when we flung it around the gravel roads, but some might find it a bit jarring.
Underhood is a turbocharged 1.6L engine producing 181 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque. Steering is quite sharp with good ratios. Anyone who has driven a MINI embraces its lovely 6-speed gearbox with short throws and crisp clutch take-up. Enthusiasts will probably want to avoid the automatic such as the one in our Countryman. Although it's perfectly adequate, its slower response and lagging in cruise control lacks the joyfulness of the stick shift.
Our 2012 MINI Cooper Countryman proved comfortable and capable over long distances, although it sorely lacked in noise insulation and exhibited plenty of rattles and squeaks from the cabin. A torrential downpour turned the roads to soup -- no problem for the AWD MINI -- but the loud drumming on the steel roof made conversation difficult.
Maybe not a winner, but definitely a contender
No thanks to me, we managed to hit all of our checkpoints without any time penalties. Although the MINI featured the typical gigantic round gauge set-up, complete with online connectivity and navigation, we were unable to use the route guidance since the checkpoints ensured that you adhered to the routebook.
I'm not averse to a little "help," but my straight-as-a-slide-rule navi would have frowned upon such unethical practice. Too bad, because we might not have missed the "Cheese Factory Road" turn, causing us to lose valuable time during the final stage.
However, we managed to achieve our goal of making it to the BBQ in the 2012 MINI Countryman ALL4 while there was still plenty of food. In sixth place, Team MINI may not have been winners, but we did go the full Monte.
This 2012 MINI Cooper S Countryman review was originally published on Auto-Venus.com.
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