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By Jonathan Crouch

The MINI Countryman is at its fieriest in JCW form. Jonathan Crouch drives it.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 52

The five-door MINI Countryman isn't the obvious choice for hot hatch John Cooper Works treatment but the result might just surprise you. No other MINI offers more power, 300hp in this case, enough to skittle you to sixty two mph in just 5.4s, helped by prodigious all-wheel traction. It's quite a package.

Backgroundword count: 174

Welcome to this, the third generation MINI John Cooper Works Countryman. A few decades ago, the kind of performance figures we're talking about here would have been delivered by a junior level supercar. Times have changed. On first acquaintance, the very name seems contradictory. 'John Cooper Works', after all, is a brand that gives fashionable little MINI models a frantic feel. But there's nothing very little - and you'd think, nothing especially frantic - about the company's Countryman model, a beefy five-door crossover-style design focused on families. Not the kind of thing you'd naturally want to be flinging about the lanes. Yet this is exactly what this car claims to have been designed to do. It's the only John Cooper Works MINI to get four wheel drive and no other JCW model in the range is firmer or more powerful. Yet it still manages to offer standards of fuel economy, safety and space that would shock most MINI buyers. A crossover with a point to prove. And a MINI likely to make its mark.

Driving Experienceword count: 458

There's no getting away from the fact that this car is quick. Seriously rapid, smashing through the 62mph mark from a standing start in just 5.4 seconds. The package is based on the Countryman S ALL4 model, which means that a four cylinder 2.0-litre petrol turbo beats beneath the bonnet, distributing its power via a four-wheel drive system that can split power equally between the axles in normal driving but if necessary, can send up to 100% to either end, depending on where traction is needed. And there's certainly enough power on offer to ensure that the tractional hardware will be fully used. Poke from the little engine has been boosted by 82hp over the standard 'S', providing for a 300hp total that's virtually as high as that boasted by what was previously the ultimate fast MINI, the track-tamed John Cooper Works GP model. But where that car feels like a race track refugee, this one is far more refined in the way that it delivers its pulsating punch. The tyres don't smoke away from rest. Nor does the steering wheel tug away at your arms when powering out of slow corners. It's all very un-John Cooper Works-like. Or at least some of it is. The ride is exactly what you'd probably expect the JCW badge to deliver, the 15mm-lowered suspension noticeably firm - to a point you'd have to like if you were to live with this car. Of course, the payoff comes with quite astonishing levels of body control and lateral grip that pins you into the sculptured sports seats through tighter bends, cornering aided by larger anti-roll bars that are there to keep the high-sided body in check. Plus there's plenty of electronic aid as well, with traction also helped by the fitment of Dynamic Stability Control with Dynamic Traction Control and Electronic Differential Lock Control. In other words, you'll not want for grip, wet or dry. Power is deployed through a seven-speed dual clutch auto gearbox, top speed is a reassuring 155mph; there's a bassy exhaust note (though most of that's artificially embellished by the audio speakers); and peak torque is rated at a chunky 400Nm. The transmission's left hand steering wheel paddleshifter operates a 'Boost' setting; just tug upon the paddle for a few seconds of extra overtaking thrust. For rapid driving, you'll want to match that with the most eager of the provided 'MINI Experience' drive modes - 'Go-Kart'; this allows for the introduction of a brilliant bass pop and crackle from the exhaust on the over-run. Lovely. There are plenty of other 'Experience' settings, though most of them seem to have more to do with coloured ambiance and chimes than driving: choose from 'Core', 'Green', 'Vivid', 'Timeless', 'Personal', 'Balance' and 'Trail'.

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