If you love Minis but you’ve got a hankering for an SUV, then the Mini Countryman is the car to go for. But there’s a problem. The Countryman will have no problem navigating a gravel track or a grassy field on a summer’s day, but when you actually need to venture into the countryside you may need something a little more rugged.
But don’t worry, Mini’s got you covered. The company has released an off-road version of its Countryman called the X-raid, giving the SUV a real attitude. As the name suggests, the car has been developed in collaboration with X-raid, an engineering outfit that builds off-road monsters for the gruelling Dakar rally. In fact, X-raid is the mastermind behind the Mini John Cooper Works Buggy that won this year’s Dakar rally.
The Countryman X-raid isn’t quite as extreme as the car used in the Dakar rally, but it’s still a tough beast. The car sits 40mm higher than a regular Countryman thanks to a tweaked suspension set-up and chunky off-road tyres. The wheel rims, meanwhile, have been specially developed for rally cars and provide greater protection against tyre damage.
Under the skin is the same All4 all-wheel-drive system used in the regular Countryman, though Mini hasn’t confirmed whether the system has undergone any upgrades. Details about the engine are scarce, too, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it uses the same 189bhp 2.0-litre four-pot from the Countryman Cooper S.
Aside from the chunkier wheels, visual changes are nearly non-existent. The team at X-raid have dressed up the rugged Countryman with a set of orange stickers and there are an extra pair of LED lights integrated into the front bumper for better visibility when trudging through a jungle in the middle of the night.
X-raid plans to open the tweaked Countryman up to customers in the near future.
Keyword: Mini Countryman X-raid revealed as Dakar-inspired off-roader